The flinty wheat (Triticum turgidum), or «pasta» grain, is known for its special grain hardness, high protein content, rich yellow color, pleasant smell, and also excellent baking values. From 25 to 30 million tons of durum wheat is produced annually in the world, which is equal to 4% of the total world wheat production.
Classification of wheat by grain quality:
Group I
These are hard wheat varieties with excellent grinding and baking characteristics.
Group II
This group contains different wheat varieties, not all of which have potential for use in baking. Some varieties are not hard enough in comparison with the group I; others are too soft, whereas the contrast still others are quite suitable for the production of professional flour.
Group III
This group contains soft wheat varieties that are ideal for the production of biscuit, pastry and other flour varieties, where the main requirements are soft grinding characteristics, low protein content, good flour yield and tensile, but not elastic gluten.
Group IV
These varieties of wheat are mainly cultivated as forage fodder.
