What is hard white wheat?

Hard white wheat is the newest class of wheat marketed in the U.S., but it is
not new to the rest of the world. Wheat in this class has a hard endosperm and
white bran (Figure 1). Except for the absence in color in the outer seed coat and
being typically more prone to weathering, hard white wheat is identical to hard
red wheat. The white bran color does not alter the starch characteristics or protein
functionality of the kernel.
Hard white wheat is used in whole-wheat and high-extraction fl our applications,
such as pan breads, fl atbreads and specialty noodles. Within the hard white wheat
quality class, the U.S. Department of Agriculture makes no distinction between
winter and spring types.
Production of hard white wheat in the U.S. is on less than 2 million acres, but
it expanded signifi cantly from 2002 to 2005 with the aid of an incentive program
the USDA funded. Kansas and Colorado, the largest hard white producing states,
grow winter types. Much of the wheat grown in China and South Asia, and virtually
all of the wheat in Australia, is hard white wheat. Canadian producers recently
increased production of hard
white wheat, which is being marketed
as two classes: Canadian
Prairie Spring White, (targets the
fl atbread market) and Canadian
Western Hard White (targets
the noodle and leavened bread
markets).
Joel K. Ransom, William A. Berzonsky and Brian K. Sorenson
Figure 1. Kernels of Alsen hard red spring wheat
(left) and Lolo hard white spring wheat (right).

http://www.ndwheat.com/uploads/resources/568/hardwhitewheatbrochure.pdf
Joel K. Ransom, William A. Berzonsky and Brian K. Sorenson