Spelt

Spelt (Triticum spelta) is a hexaploid species of wheat. Spelt was an important staple in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times; it now survives as a relict crop in Central Europe and northern Spain and has found a new market as a health food. Spelt is sometimes considered a subspecies of the closely related species common wheat (T. aestivum), in which case its botanical name is considered to be Triticum aestivum subsp. spelta.

Spelt
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocotyledons
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Triticum
Species: T. spelta
Binomial name
Triticum spelta
L.

Contents

Evolution

Spelt has a complex history. It is a wheat species known from genetic evidence to have originated as a hybrid of a domesticated tetraploid wheat such as emmer wheat and the wild goat-grass Aegilops tauschii. This hybridisation must have taken place in the Near East because this is where Ae. tauschii grows, and it must have taken place prior to the appearance of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum, a hexaploid free-threshing derivative of spelt) in the archaeological record c. 8,000 years ago.

Genetic evidence shows that spelt wheat can also arise as the result of hybridisation of bread wheat and emmer wheat, although only at some date following the initial Aegilops-tetraploid wheat hybridisation. The much later appearance of spelt in Europe might thus be the result of a later, second, hybridisation between emmer and bread wheat. Recent DNA evidence supports an independent origin for European spelt through this hybridisation.[1] Whether spelt has two separate origins in Asia and Europe, or single origin in the Near East, is currently unresolved.[2][3]

Early history

The earliest archaeological evidence of spelt is from the fifth millennium BC in Transcaucasia, north of the Black Sea, though the most abundant and best-documented archaeological evidence of spelt is in Europe.[4] Remains of spelt have been found in some later Neolithic sites (2500–1700 BC) in Central Europe.[4][5] During the Bronze Age spelt spread widely in central Europe. In the Iron Age (750-15 BC) spelt became a principal wheat species in southern Germany and Switzerland; by 500 BC it was in common use in southern Britain.[4]

References to the cultivation of spelt wheat in Biblical times (see matzo), in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and in ancient Greece are incorrect and result from confusion with emmer wheat.[6] Nevertheless, as a Triticum species, spelt is still forbidden for use during the Jewish holiday of Passover, except in the form of matzo.

Later history

In the Middle Ages, spelt was cultivated in parts of Switzerland, Tyrol and Germany. Spelt was introduced to the United States in the 1890s. In the 20th century, spelt was replaced by bread wheat in almost all areas where it was still grown. The organic farming movement revived its popularity somewhat toward the end of the century, as spelt requires fewer fertilizers.

Nutrition

Spelt contains about 57.9 percent carbohydrates (excluding 9.2 percent fibre), 17.0 percent protein and 3.0 percent fat, as well as dietary minerals and vitamins.[7] As it contains a moderate amount of gluten, it is suitable for some baking. Because spelt contains gluten, it is not suitable for people with coeliac disease.[8] Nonetheless, many other people with allergies or intolerances to common wheat can tolerate spelt.[9][10][11]

Spelt, uncooked
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 1,415 kJ (338 kcal)
Carbohydrates 70.19 g
- Starch 53.92 g
- Dietary fibre 10.7 g
Fat 2.43 g
- polyunsaturated 1.258 g
Protein 14.57 g
Water 11.02 g
Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.364 mg (32%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.113 mg (9%)
Niacin (vit. B3) 6.843 mg (46%)
Vitamin B6 0.230 mg (18%)
Folate (vit. B9) 45 μg (11%)
Vitamin E 0.79 mg (5%)
Iron 4.44 mg (34%)
Magnesium 136 mg (38%)
Phosphorus 401 mg (57%)
Zinc 3.28 mg (35%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Products

Spelt flour is becoming more easily available, being sold in British supermarkets since 2007.[12] Spelt is also sold in the form of a coarse pale bread, similar in colour and in texture to light rye breads but with a slightly sweet and nutty flavour. Biscuits and crackers are also produced, but are more likely to be found in a specialty bakery or health food store than in a regular grocer's shop.

Spelt pasta is also available in health food stores and specialty shops.

Dutch jenever makers distill a special kind of gin made with spelt as a curiosity gin marketed for connoisseurs. Beer brewed from spelt is sometimes seen in Bavaria[13] and spelt is distilled to make vodka in Poland[14] and elsewhere.[15][16]

Spelt matzo is baked in Israel for Passover and is available in some American grocery stores.

Flour from sprouted spelt grains is increasingly available throughout North America in grocery and health food stores.

In Germany, the unripe spelt grains are dried and eaten as Grünkern ('green grain').

Literature references

While today spelt is a specialty crop, its popularity as a peasants' staple food of the past has been attested in literature. Although today's Russian-speaking children perhaps don't know exactly what polba (spelt) looks or tastes like, they may recognize the word as something-or-other that can be made into porridge—having heard Pushkin's well-rhymed story in which the poor workman Balda asks his employer the priest "to feed me boiled spelt" ("есть же мне давай варёную полбу"). In Horace's Satire 2.6 (late 31 - 30 B.C.), which ends with the story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse, the country mouse eats spelt at dinner while serving his city guest finer foods.

Spelt is also mentioned in the Bible. Ezekiel 4:9 says: "Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof ...", though as noted above this is presumably a mistranslation and should be "emmer".

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Blatter RH, Jacomet S, Schlumbaum A (2004). "About the origin of European spelt (Triticum spelta L.): allelic differentiation of the HMW Glutenin B1-1 and A1-2 subunit genes.". PubMed. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14564390&dopt=Abstract. Retrieved February 14, 2006. 
  2. ^ Blatter,R.H. et al. (2004). About the origin of European spelt (Triticum spelta L.): allelic differentiation of the HMW Glutenin B1-1 and A1-2 subunit genes. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=14564390&dopt=abstract. 
  3. ^ Ehsanzadeh, Parviz (1999) (pdf). Agronomic and Growth Characteristics of Spring Spelt Compared to Common Wheat. http://library2.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-10212004-001220/. 
  4. ^ a b c Cubadda, Raimondo and Marconi, Emanuele (2002). Spelt Wheat in Pseudocereals and less Common cereals: Grain Properties and utilization Potential (eds. Belton, Peter S.; Taylor, John R.N.). http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN3540429395&id=NRMdXx8fC8kC&dq=Pseudocereals+and+less+Common+cereals:+Grain+Properties+and+utilization+Potential. 
  5. ^ Akeret, Ö. (2005). Plant remains from a Bell Beaker site in Switzerland, and the beginnings of Triticum spelta (spelt) cultivation in Europe. http://china.springerlink.com/content/j0453274uw744tw9/?p=9a73f75a245d448a844fbf12f99e7740&pi=0. 
  6. ^ Nesbitt, Mark (2001) (PDF). Wheat evolution: integrating archaeological and biological evidence. http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/scihort/ecbot/papers/nesbitt2001wheat.pdf. .
  7. ^ Parr RM et al. (2002) (pdf). Contributions of calcium and other dietary components to global variations in bone mineral density in young adults. http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food/fnb23-3s-5.pdf. 
  8. ^ Comparative investigations of gluten proteins from different wheat species, Wieser H., 2010.Accessed: November 01, 2010.
  9. ^ Grow your own - spelt: the new wonderfood, Sarah Raven, Daily Telegraph, London, 13 July, 2009.Accessed: 08 August, 2010.
  10. ^ Grains: Spelt, Grains2mill, Haslemere, Surrey, Undated.Accessed: 08 August, 2010.
  11. ^ Nutritional Value And Baking Applications of Spelt Wheat, Zlatica Kohajdova, Jolana Karovicova, Technologia Alimentaria, University of Life Sciences, Poznan, Poland, 2008.Accessed: 08 August, 2010.
  12. ^ Information from Spelt flour producer
  13. ^ Dinkelbier, German Beer Institute, URL accessed Nov 2009
  14. ^ Orkiisz, LuxLux Distillery, URL accessed November 2009.
  15. ^ Snowleopardvodka.ca.uk
  16. ^ Vlvodka.com

Notations

External links