Einkorn wheat

Taxobox
name = Einkorn Wheat


image_width = 240px
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Liliopsida
ordo = Poales
familia = Poaceae
genus = "Triticum"
species = "T. monococcum"
binomial = "Triticum monococcum"
binomial_authority = L.

Einkorn wheat (from German "Einkorn", literally "one grain") can refer either to the wild species of wheat, "Triticum boeoticum" (the spelling "baeoticum" is also common), or to the domesticated form, "Triticum monococcum". The wild and domesticated forms are either considered separate species, as here, or as subspecies of "T. monococcum". Einkorn is a diploid species of hulled wheat, with tough glumes ('husks') that tightly enclose the grains. The cultivated form is similar to the wild, except that the ear stays intact when ripe and the seeds are larger.

thumbnail|150px|left|Wild einkorn, Karadag, central TurkeyCredit: Mark NesbittEinkorn wheat was one of the earliest cultivated forms of wheat, alongside emmer wheat (T. dicoccon). Grains of wild einkorn have been found in Epi-Paleolithic sites of the Fertile Crescent. It was first domesticated approximately 9000 BP (9000 BP ≈ 7050 BCE), in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A or B periods. [Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, "Domestication of plants in the Old World", third edition (Oxford: University Press, 2000), p. 38.] Evidence from DNA finger-printing suggests einkorn was domesticated near Karacadag in southeast Turkey, an area in which a number of PPNB farming villages have been found. cite journal | last = Heun | first = Manfred | authorlink = | coauthors = "et al." | year = 1997 | month = | title = Site of Einkorn Wheat Domestication Identified by DNA Fingerprinting | journal = Science | volume = 278 | issue = 5341 | pages = 1312–1314 | doi = 10.1126/science.278.5341.1312 | url = | accessdate = | quote = ] Its cultivation decreased in the Bronze Age, and today it is a relict crop that is rarely planted. It remains as a local crop, often for bulgur (cracked wheat) or as animal feed, in mountainous areas of France, Morocco, the former Yugoslavia, Turkey and other countries. It often survives on poor soils where other species of wheat fail. [Zohary and Hopf, "Domestication", pp. 33f]

Gluten toxicity

In contrast with more modern forms of wheat, there is evidence that the gliadin protein of einkorn may not be as toxic to sufferers of coeliac disease. cite journal | last = Pizzuti | first = Daniela | authorlink = | coauthors = "et al." | year = 2006 | month = | title = Lack of intestinal mucosal toxicity of "Triticum monococcum" in celiac disease patients | journal = Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology | volume = 41 | issue = 11 | pages = 1305–1311 | doi = 10.1080/00365520600699983 | url = | accessdate = | quote = ] It has yet to be recommended in any gluten-free diet.

References

External links

* [http://www.newarchaeology.com/articles/ancient_grain.php Ancient Grain Varieties in Archaeology]
* [http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/publications/pubfile.asp?ID_PUB=54 "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
* [http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/scihort/ecbot/papers/nesbitt2001wheat.pdf Wheat evolution: integrating archaeological and biological evidence]