? Emmer wheat
Spikes (ears) of cultivated emmer wheat
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Poales Family: Poaceae Genus: Triticum Species: T. dicoccon
Binomial name
Triticum dicoccon Schrank

Emmer wheat is a low yielding, awned wheat. It was one of the first crops domesticated in the Near East. It was widely cultivated in the ancient world, but is now a relict crop in mountainous regions of Europe and Asia. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (581x666, 139 KB) Summary Triticum turgidum subsp. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also called angiosperms) are a major group of land plants. ... Orders Base Monocots: Acorus Alismatales Asparagales Dioscoreales Liliales Pandanales Family Petrosaviaceae Commelinids: Arecales Commelinales Poales Zingiberales Family Dasypogonaceae Monocotyledons or monocots are a group of flowering plants usually ranked as a class and once called the Monocotyledoneae. ... Families (APG) Anarthriaceae Bromeliaceae Centrolepidaceae Cyperaceae Ecdeiocoleaceae Eriocaulaceae Flagellariaceae Hydatellaceae Joinvilleaceae Juncaceae Mayacaceae Poaceae Rapateaceae Restionaceae Sparganiaceae Thurniaceae Typhaceae Xyridaceae The Poales is a cosmopolitan order of monocotyledonous flowering plants. ... Subfamilies There are 7 subfamilies: Subfamily Arundinoideae Subfamily Bambusoideae Subfamily Centothecoideae Subfamily Chloridoideae Subfamily Panicoideae Subfamily Pooideae Subfamily Stipoideae The true grasses are monocotyledonous plants (Class Liliopsida) in the Family Poaceae, also known as Gramineae. ... Species T. monococcum T. spelta References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat (Triticum spp) is a grass that is cultivated around the world. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Species T. boeoticum T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat (Triticum spp. ...

Genetics

Wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides) grows wild in the fertile crescent of the Near East. It is a tetraploid wheat formed by the hybridisation of two diploid wild grasses, Triticum urartu (closely related to wild einkorn, T. boeoticum), and an as yet unidentified Aegilops species related to Ae. searsii or Ae. speltoides. The Fertile Crescent is a region in the Middle East incorporating present-day Israel, West Bank, and Lebanon and parts of Jordan, Syria, Iraq and south-eastern Turkey. ... Binomial name triticum boeoticum Einkorn wheat is a wild species of wheat, Triticum boeoticum. ... Species See text Aegilops is a genus of plants belonging to the family Graminaceae. ...

Strong similarities in morphology and genetics show that wild emmer is the wild ancestor of domesticated emmer, Triticum dicoccon (also known as T. dicoccum). Because wild and domesticated emmer are interfertile with other teraploid wheats, some taxonomists consider all tetraploid wheats to belong to one species, T. turgidum. Under this scheme, the two forms are recognized at subspecies level, thus T. turgidum subsp. dicoccoides and T. turgidum subsp. dicoccon. Either naming system is equally valid; the latter lays more emphasis on genetic similarities.

For a wider discussion, see Wheat#Genetics & Breeding and Wheat taxonomy Species T. boeoticum T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat (Triticum spp. ... Miracle wheat (Triticum turgidum var. ...

Morphology

Spikelets of cultivated emmer wheat

Like einkorn and spelt wheats, emmer is a hulled wheat. In other words, it has strong glumes (husks) that enclose the grains, and a semi-brittle rachis. On threshing, a hulled wheat spike breaks up into spikelets. These require milling or pounding to release the grains from the glumes.





Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1500x1500, 340 KB) Summary Emmer spikelets Triticum turgidum subsp. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1500x1500, 340 KB) Summary Emmer spikelets Triticum turgidum subsp. ... Binomial name triticum boeoticum Einkorn wheat is a wild species of wheat, Triticum boeoticum. ... Binomial name Triticum aestivum spelta L. Spelt (Triticum aestivum spelta) is a subspecies of common wheat. ...

History

Wild emmer grains are found at the archaeological site of Ohalo II in Israel, dating to c. 23,000 years ago, and at the Pre Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) site of Netiv Hagdud (10,000-9400 years ago), also in Israel. Domesticated emmer is reported from PPNA sites, and becomes abundant in the PPNB period (9200 - 8000 years ago). Emmer wheat and barley were the dominant crops of the ancient Near East, and spread in the Neolithic to Europe and the Indian subcontinent. Composite satellite image of the Indian subcontinent Map of South Asia. ...

In the Near East cultivation of emmer wheat begins to decline in the Early Bronze Age, from about 3000 B.C. Emmer had a special place in ancient Egypt, where it was the only wheat cultivated in Pharaonic times, even though neighbouring countries also cultivated einkorn, durum and common wheat. In the absence of any obvious functional explanation, this may simply reflect a marked culinary or cultural preference. Emmer and barley were the primary ingedients in ancient Egyptian bread and beer. Map of Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was a civilization along the Lower Nile, reaching from the Nile Delta in the north as far south Jebel Barkal at the time of its greatest extension (15th century BC). ...

Emmer wheat is one of the five grains forbidden to Jews during Passover; it is often incorrectly translated as spelt in older literature. Spelt did not grow in ancient Israel; emmer was a significant crop until the end of the Iron Age. Likewise, references to emmer in Greek and Latin texts are traditionally translated as "spelt," even though spelt was not common in the Classical world until very late in its history. An image of a machine-made Matzo Matzo (also Matzoh, Matzah, Matza, Hebrew מַצָּה maṣṣā), an unleavened bread, is the official food of Passover. ... Binomial name Triticum aestivum spelta L. Spelt (Triticum aestivum spelta) is a subspecies of common wheat. ...

Cultivation today

Today emmer is primarily in relict crop in mountainous areas. Its value lies in its ability to give good yields on poor soils, and its resistance to fungal diseases such as stem rust that are prevalent in wet areas. Emmer is grown in Morocco, Spain (Asturias), the Carpathian mountains on the border of the Czech and Slovak republics, Albania, Turkey, and Italy.

Italy is an interesting case as, uniquely, emmer cultivation is well established and even expanding. In the mountainous Garfagnana area of Tuscany emmer (known as farro) is grown by farmers as a IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta) product, with its geographic identity protected by law. Production is certified by a co-operative body, the Consorzio Produttori Farro della Garfagnana. IGP-certfied farro is widely available in health food shops across Europe, and even in some British supermarkets. The demand for Italian farro has led to competition from non-certified farro, grown in lowland areas and often consisting of a different wheat species, spelt (Triticum spelta). Binomial name Triticum spelta L. Spelt (Triticum spelta) was an important wheat species in Europe from the Bronze Age to Roman times. ...

Emmer is also grown in some botanic gardens and at archaeological farms such as Butser Ancient Farm. Butser Ancient Farm, near Petersfield in Hampshire, England, is a working replica of an Iron Age farmstead where long-term experiments in prehistoric and Roman agriculture, animal husbandry and manufacturing are held to test ideas posited by archaeologists. ...

Food uses

Although used as an animal feed, emmer's main use is as a food. Ethnographic evidence from Turkey and other emmer-growing areas suggests that emmer makes good bread (judged by the taste and texture standards of traditional bread), and this is supported by evidence of its widespread consumption as bread in ancient Egypt. In Italy farro is traditionally consumed as whole grains, in soup. Its use for making pasta is a recent response to the health food market; some judge that emmer pasta has an unattractive texture.

Emmer wheat is closely related to durum wheat and common wheat and is therefore unsuitable for sufferers from wheat allergies or coeliac disease. Coeliac disease (also called celiac disease, non-tropical sprue, c(o)eliac sprue, gluten enteropathy and gluten intolerance) is a digestive disorder. ...

References

• Daniel Zohary, Maria Hopf (2000). Domestication of plants in the Old World, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198503563.

• Hulled Wheats. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 4. Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Hulled Wheats 21-22 July 1995, Castelvecchio Pascoli, Tuscany, Italy

• Zohary, Michael (1982). Plants of the Bible, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24926-0. Up-to-date reference to cereals in the Biblical world.

• Wheat evolution: integrating archaeological and biological evidence

• Alternative Wheat Cereals as Food Grains: Einkorn, Emmer, Spelt, Kamut, and Triticale

See also