Einkorn wheat is a wild species of wheat, Triticum boeoticum. Einkorn is a diploid species with a shattering ear and small seeds, making it difficult to harvest. The cultivated variant is Triticum monococcum.
Einkorn wheat was one of the earliest cultivated varieties of wheat. Kernels have been found in Epi-Paleolithic and early Neolithic sites of the Fertile Crescent. It was first domesticated approximately 9000 years ago. Its cultivation decreased in the Bronze Age and is considered a relic crop that is rarely planted today.
The cultivated variety is similar to the wild, except that the ear stays intact when ripe and the seeds are larger. All of these traits are essential for cultivation.
Einkorn is thought to have originated in the upper area of the fertile crescent of the Near East (Tigris-Euphrates regions).
The wild and cultivated einkorn are differentiated by the brittleness of the rachis.
Einkorn along with emmer and spelt are often referred to as "the covered wheats," since the kernels do not thresh free of the glumes or the lemma and palea when harvested (Fig.
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