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Whole-wheat flour Milled from the entire wheat kernel, whole-wheat flour contains all of the grain’s bran, germ and endosperm. Also known as wholemeal and, in the USA, graham flour, it is used for baking and general cooking. In unbaked doughs the fibrous bran pierces the gluten network, damaging its structure. Thus breads and cakes made with whole-wheat, rather than refined, flour rise less and bake to a closer texture.

Wheat flakes The large, thick, firm flakes produced when whole-wheat kernels are steamed, then flattened between rollers. Because the flakes retain the bran and germ, most of the kernel’s nutrition remains, although the oils in the germ rapidly become rancid. Also called rolled wheat, the flakes, like rolled oats, are cooked as porridge or added to baked goods.

Wheat germ The small flakes milled from the embryo, or germ, which is separated from the wheat grain during the milling of white flour. Rich in nutrients, it is added to baked goods and breakfast cereals, or sprinkled over dishes, adding a nutty flavour. Because the germ’s high oil content causes it rapidly to become rancid, it should be stored airtight, and chilled.

Unbleached wheat flour Creamy coloured flour which has not undergone an artificial bleaching process. As it ages, wheat flour naturally bleaches from the oxygen in the air, resulting not only in bread with a whiter crumb but also a greater volume, plus a finer, softer crumb. Bleached flour is treated with oxidizing agents to simulate this process, albeit more quickly.

Wheatmeal Wheat flour containing 80 to 90 percent of the whole grain, the bulk of the bran being removed in milling but much of the germ remaining. In colour, flavour, baking and keeping qualities, it falls midway between wholewheat and white flours. Wheatmeal is also known as brown flour.

White flour A fine powder, ground principally from the starchy endosperm of the wheat grain, with almost all the bran and germ removed during milling. For baking, flour is distinguished by degrees of hardness; the harder the flour the more gluten-forming proteins it contains. Thus hard flour, called strong flour in the UK, and bread flour or hard flour in the USA, is better for yeast-raised products, while weaker, soft flour, called plain or all-purpose flour in the UK, and cake flour or soft flour in the USA, being more able to absorb fat, is better for cakes and short pastry.

Wheat bran Flakes, fine or coarse, of the fibrous outer layer of the wheat grain, separated during milling. Consisting mostly of indigestible cellulose, bran is consumed for the health benefits of roughage. However, its consumption does have a negative effect. The fibre renders bran’s high concentrations of minerals and vitamins digestively unavailable and its phytic acid impairs the absorption of calcium. Bran is sprinkled over fruit, or added to breakfast cereals, and baked goods such as breads, biscuits and muffins.