Durum

Durum is bought for semolina yield and the pasta performance that follows. The attributes that drive it are vitreous kernel content, protein and gluten quality, and vitreousness is the one buyers new to the category most often omit because it does not appear in a general wheat specification.

Canadian durum comes principally from southern Saskatchewan, where the dry growing season suits the crop. That climate dependence makes quality more variable between seasons than common wheat, so crop year is a live commercial term rather than a formality.

Semolina is milled durum and a different product line with its own granulation specification. Buyers who intend to mill locally are purchasing durum; buyers supplying a pasta plant directly are usually purchasing semolina, and the two should not be quoted interchangeably.