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Wheat is an important and widespread cereal. It is classified in two fundamental groups: tender wheat and hard wheat.
In Northern Italy, the sowing time is early in November, while in Southern Italy it is in December. Harvesting or reaping takes place between June and July.
Modern harvesters are complex machines that cut the wheat, thresh it (removing the wheat from the chaff), put the seeds into sacks, and pack the straw.

Bread is made of flour, water, and yeast, with or without the addition of salt. Bread-making includes the following stages:

• mixing consists of combining flour, water, yeast and salt. The yeast used in this process is constituted by micro-organisms (a kind of fungus) which produce enzymes able to change chemically the dough during the process of fermentation
• shaping consists of forming rolls which can have almost any shape or size. They can be handmade or made by a machine
• rising is obtained by keeping the rolls for some time at a temperature of 30°C; the fermentation takes place thanks to added baking-powders. During this process the starch in contact with water decomposes, in successive stages, into glucose, which, in its turn, ferments changing into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This gas increases the volume of the dough and makes it light and spongy
• during the baking process complex physical and chemical transformations take place to give bread taste and digestibility. Oven temperature is kept at around 220-270°C. Alcohol and carbon dioxide developed during the rising are removed. Some water of the dough evaporates; the gluten coaugulates, outside a crust is made and at last glucose candies
• once bread is baked, it is left to cool down in dry and ventilated rooms: the loaf loses weight and becomes more crumbly and more digestible.

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