Emmer

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{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Emmer wheat | image = Usdaemmer1.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = Spikes (ears) of cultivated emmer wheat | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Magnoliophyta | classis = Liliopsida | ordo = Poales | familia = Poaceae | genus = Triticum | species = T. dicoccon | binomial = Triticum dicoccon | binomial_authority = Schrank }}

Emmer wheat, also known as farro especially in Italy, 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.

1 Genetics
2 Morphology
3 History
4 Cultivation today
5 Food uses
6 References

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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.

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 tetraploid 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

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Morphology

Image:Usdaemmer2.jpg 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.

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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.

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.

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.

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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 an 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).

Emmer is also grown in some botanic gardens and at archaeological farms such as Butser Ancient Farm.

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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.

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