Wheat germ

One US cup of wheat germ weighs 115 grams. Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.87 cups.

Also called toasted wheat germ, raw wheat germ, crude wheat germ, Kretschmer wheat germ, Bob's Red Mill wheat germ.

Two sources agree within tolerance. USDA FoodData Central publishes Wheat germ, crude (SR Legacy) at 1 cup = 115 g, implying a density of 0.4861 g/mL. King Arthur's Ingredient Weight Chart lists 'Wheat germ' at 1/4 cup = 28 g, extrapolating to 112 g per cup and 0.4734 g/mL. The gap between them is 2.68 percent, well inside the 10 percent milled tolerance, so this entry publishes USDA's figure of 115 g per cup and names both sources. Neither source names a specific filling method.

Wheat germ is the embryo portion of the wheat kernel, separated from the bran and endosperm during milling. It makes up approximately 2.5 percent of the whole grain by weight, and is high in vitamin E, folate, thiamine, magnesium, zinc, and healthy fats. Because of the fat content (approximately 10 percent by weight), wheat germ is prone to rancidity once separated from the kernel, which is why commercial products are almost always packed in oxygen-barrier packaging or refrigerated. USDA has two distinct records: 'Wheat germ, crude' (raw wheat germ, 360 kcal per 100 g) and 'Cereals ready-to-eat, wheat germ, toasted, plain' (toasted, 382 kcal per 100 g). The calorie difference reflects moisture loss during toasting rather than any actual composition change. Toasted wheat germ packs at slightly higher density due to that moisture loss, but the difference is small enough to fall within measurement precision.

At 0.4861 g/mL, wheat germ packs lighter than most whole-grain products on this site. Whole wheat flour publishes at approximately 0.5 g/mL and all-purpose flour at 0.53 g/mL. Wheat berries publish at 0.81 g/mL because whole intact grains pack tightly. Wheat germ sits between the fine flours and the intact grain because it is a coarse granular product: individual germ pieces are approximately 1 to 3 mm and roughly flat-oval, packing loosely enough to leave air gaps but densely enough that fine flour still trumps it. Flax meal on this site range-publishes at 100 to 112 g per cup (density 0.42 to 0.47), quite close to wheat germ, because both are similarly-sized granular products derived from seed or grain embryos.

Commercial wheat germ is dominated in the US market by Kretschmer (owned by Quaker Oats) and Bob's Red Mill. Kretschmer's product is toasted; Bob's Red Mill offers both raw and toasted variants. Both products fall within the 112 to 115 g per cup range documented by KA and USDA respectively. Third-party brand product labels sometimes report slightly different serving sizes (typically 2 tablespoons at 14 grams, extrapolating to 112 g per cup), which converges on the KA figure.

Product variants: raw versus toasted wheat germ differ by approximately 5 percent in moisture content, which slightly increases the toasted product's density but keeps both within category tolerance. Wheat germ oil, extracted separately as a high-vitamin-E vegetable oil, is a distinct product not covered by this entry. Defatted wheat germ (used in some protein-supplement applications) has a different composition and would earn its own entry if a second authoritative source becomes available. Fermented wheat germ extract (marketed under names like Avemar) is a specialty dietary supplement with different physical properties and no baking application.

Wheat germ is placed in the milled category alongside other granular grain-derived products. The category rule tracks physical packing behavior: coarse granular products pack by scoop with air gaps in the same way as flours and whole seeds. The 10 percent category tolerance applies here, and the 2.68 percent observed gap between sources sits comfortably inside it.

No standards body publishes a bulk density for wheat germ. Codex Alimentarius does not have a dedicated commodity standard for wheat germ at the time of publication. Two independent authoritative sources agree within tolerance, so this entry is held at medium confidence. A third independent source, such as a professional culinary reference or a producer's laboratory measurement, matching within tolerance would move it to high confidence.