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. |
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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]
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.
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.
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]
| 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 |
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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').
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".
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