by Melissa Camerlink, University College Ghent,
Department of Bio- and Food Sciences, Belgium
During the past two years, the ALTERBAKE-project has investigated the application potential of alternative cereals in the development of innovative bakery products. This project was a collaboration between Ghent University (UGent) and the University College Ghent (HOGENT). The scope of the research project included several ancient grains such as three ancient wheats (einkorn, emmer and khorasan), teff and three pseudo-cereals (quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat). In addition, tritordeum, a relatively new cereal, was studied.
Ancient grains
Ancient grains are defined as the populations of primitive grains, which were not subject to modern selection or breeding programs. They sometimes still have characteristics of their wild ancestors such as individual variability and ear length, a fragile ear and a low yield index. Over the course of time, ancient grains were bred towards species with higher yields. Nowadays, 95 percent of the cultivated wheat is bread wheat (or Triticum aestivum), while the other five percent mainly consists of durum wheat (Triticum durum).
However, ancient grains are gaining renewed interest because of the increasing demand in organic, traditional or artisanal food products. They are considered an highly adaptable species and there is a strong demand to preserve genetic diversity in the field. Moreover, some ancient grains are being characterised by interesting nutritional properties.
Ancient wheats
Ancient wheats are for example einkorn, emmer, khorasan and spelt. These ancient wheat plants can grow very high (>1 metre), which makes them very susceptible to lodging so yields can be very low compared to modern bread wheat varieties. Ancient wheats are suitable for organic farming since they are considered low input crops.
The oldest ancestor of common bread wheat is einkorn or Triticum monococcum. The name of this ancient wheat species reveals that one husk contains just one kernel. Other commonly used names are ‘small spelt’, ‘petit épeautre’ and ‘farro piccolo’. Einkorn was first cultivated 14,000 years ago and knows its origin in Turkey, Iran and Iraq.
Over time, einkorn spread to Europe and, about 10,000 years ago, emmer wheat emerged. Later on, about 8000 years ago, spelt was derived from emmer. Emmer (Triticum dicoccum) contains two kernels in each husk and this crop is still being cultivated in some areas of Europe. Meanwhile spelt (Triticum spelta) is a well-known cereal in Europe.
Einkorn, emmer and spelt are all hulled wheat species that first need to be dehulled before they can be processed into flour. Because of the low yields and this extra dehulling step, it became less interesting to grow these ancient wheats and more interesting to grow common bread wheat (a high-yielding, disease resistant wheat species with dwarfing genes). Khorasan (Triticum turgidum ssp. turanicum) is also an ancient wheat. Khorasan is a free-threshing cereal and most likely originates from Polish wheat and durum wheat. It is better known as the registered trademark KAMUT® (variety QK-77). Khorasan is mainly cultivated in Canada and North America by KAMUT International.
During the research project milling and functional properties of commercially available samples einkorn (2-3), emmer (5-6) and kamut (1-2) were investigated.
Read more HERE.
During the past two years, the ALTERBAKE-project has investigated the application potential of alternative cereals in the development of innovative bakery products. This project was a collaboration between Ghent University (UGent) and the University College Ghent (HOGENT). The scope of the research project included several ancient grains such as three ancient wheats (einkorn, emmer and khorasan), teff and three pseudo-cereals (quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat). In addition, tritordeum, a relatively new cereal, was studied.
Ancient grains
Ancient grains are defined as the populations of primitive grains, which were not subject to modern selection or breeding programs. They sometimes still have characteristics of their wild ancestors such as individual variability and ear length, a fragile ear and a low yield index. Over the course of time, ancient grains were bred towards species with higher yields. Nowadays, 95 percent of the cultivated wheat is bread wheat (or Triticum aestivum), while the other five percent mainly consists of durum wheat (Triticum durum).
However, ancient grains are gaining renewed interest because of the increasing demand in organic, traditional or artisanal food products. They are considered an highly adaptable species and there is a strong demand to preserve genetic diversity in the field. Moreover, some ancient grains are being characterised by interesting nutritional properties.
Ancient wheats
Ancient wheats are for example einkorn, emmer, khorasan and spelt. These ancient wheat plants can grow very high (>1 metre), which makes them very susceptible to lodging so yields can be very low compared to modern bread wheat varieties. Ancient wheats are suitable for organic farming since they are considered low input crops.
The oldest ancestor of common bread wheat is einkorn or Triticum monococcum. The name of this ancient wheat species reveals that one husk contains just one kernel. Other commonly used names are ‘small spelt’, ‘petit épeautre’ and ‘farro piccolo’. Einkorn was first cultivated 14,000 years ago and knows its origin in Turkey, Iran and Iraq.
Over time, einkorn spread to Europe and, about 10,000 years ago, emmer wheat emerged. Later on, about 8000 years ago, spelt was derived from emmer. Emmer (Triticum dicoccum) contains two kernels in each husk and this crop is still being cultivated in some areas of Europe. Meanwhile spelt (Triticum spelta) is a well-known cereal in Europe.
Einkorn, emmer and spelt are all hulled wheat species that first need to be dehulled before they can be processed into flour. Because of the low yields and this extra dehulling step, it became less interesting to grow these ancient wheats and more interesting to grow common bread wheat (a high-yielding, disease resistant wheat species with dwarfing genes). Khorasan (Triticum turgidum ssp. turanicum) is also an ancient wheat. Khorasan is a free-threshing cereal and most likely originates from Polish wheat and durum wheat. It is better known as the registered trademark KAMUT® (variety QK-77). Khorasan is mainly cultivated in Canada and North America by KAMUT International.
During the research project milling and functional properties of commercially available samples einkorn (2-3), emmer (5-6) and kamut (1-2) were investigated.
Read more HERE.
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