Wheat as a crop, food and source of adverse reactions
What it found
Wheat is the main crop in temperate countries and provides protein, minerals, vitamins and fibre, especially in wholegrain products.
But wheat proteins can also trigger coeliac disease and allergies in some people.
What they found
Studies in people
Coeliac disease
Coeliac disease is estimated to affect 1% of the population of Western Europe. It is an autoimmune response triggered when gluten peptides bind to immune cells in people with certain HLA types.
Bakers' asthma
Respiratory allergy to wheat flour has been known since Roman times and is one of the most important forms of occupational allergy. It has been reported to affect over 8% of apprentice bakers in Poland after only 2 years of exposure.
Food allergy to wheat
True IgE-mediated food allergy to wheat is fairly infrequent in adults, though it may affect up to 1% of children. Wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis is linked to a group of omega-5 gliadins.
Other findings
Wheat dominates temperate farming
Over 600 million tonnes of wheat are harvested worldwide each year, and about 95% of that is hexaploid bread wheat. The rest is mostly tetraploid durum wheat, used mainly for pasta.
Gluten makes dough work
Gluten proteins make up about 80% of the total grain protein in European wheats. Their unusual properties let flour be made into bread, pasta, noodles and other foods.
Nutrition from wheat
Wheat grain provides essential amino acids, minerals, vitamins and dietary fibre, with these components concentrated in wholegrain products. Only lysine is present at levels below adult requirements.
What the authors conclude
“Wheat is the dominant crop in temperate countries being used for human food and livestock feed.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say that wheat will keep its dominant position in UK and European farming because of its adaptability and consumer acceptance.
- They note that it may need to adapt to changing demands from farmers, food processors, governments and consumers.
- They suggest that combining breeding and gene-silencing approaches may produce less toxic wheat for coeliac patients without losing processing quality.
How it was done
The author set out to explain why wheat has become so successful as a crop and food source, and to review its composition, nutritional role and the adverse reactions it can cause.
The author reviewed published research on wheat, covering its origin and domestication, the genetics and biochemistry of its gluten proteins, its nutritional content, and the immune reactions it can trigger. No new experiments were carried out.
What it can’t tell you
- This is a review of other researchers' work, so it does not present new experiments of its own.
- Some reported links between wheat and conditions such as schizophrenia or autism come from single studies and are not established causes.
- Some effects of gluten peptides were shown only in lab tests, so their importance in the body is not known.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (from the PubMed record).
The paper
- Title
- Wheat
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Shewry PR (2009). Wheat. Journal of experimental botany. doi:10.1093/jxb/erp058Free full textPubMed 19386614DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error