Einkorn wheat Information & Einkorn wheat Links at HealthHaven.com

Einkorn Wheat
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae;
(unranked):	Angiosperms;
(unranked):	Monocots;
(unranked):	Commelinids;
Order:	Poales;
Family:	Poaceae;
Genus:	Triticum;
Species:	T. monococcum;
Binomial name
	Triticum monococcum; L.

Wild einkorn, Karadag, central Turkey

Einkorn wheat (from German Einkorn, literally "one grain" or "a 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.

Einkorn 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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

[edit] 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.^[4] It has yet to be recommended in any gluten-free diet.

[edit] References

^ Hopf, Maria; Zohary, Daniel (2000). Domestication of plants in the old world: the origin and spread of cultivated plants in West Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley (3rd ed.). Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. p. 38. ISBN 0-19-850356-3.
^ Heun, Manfred; et al. (1997). "Site of Einkorn Wheat Domestication Identified by DNA Fingerprinting". Science 278 (5341): 1312–4. doi:10.1126/science.278.5341.1312.
^ Zohary and Hopf, Domestication, pp. 33f
^ Pizzuti D, Buda A, D'Odorico A, D'Incà R, Chiarelli S, Curioni A, Martines D (November 2006). "Lack of intestinal mucosal toxicity of Triticum monococcum in celiac disease patients". Scand. J. Gastroenterol. 41 (11): 1305–11. doi:10.1080/00365520600699983. PMID 17060124. http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&doi=10.1080/00365520600699983&magic=pubmed||1B69BA326FFE69C3F0A8F227DF8201D0.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Triticum monococcum

Ancient Grain Varieties in Archaeology
"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
Wheat evolution: integrating archaeological and biological evidence
Official Einkorn Wheat Website

[0] Hopf, Maria; Zohary, Daniel (2000). Domestication of plants in the old world: the origin and spread of cultivated plants in West Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley (3rd ed.). Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. p. 38. ISBN 0-19-850356-3.

[Heun1997-1] Heun, Manfred; et al. (1997). "Site of Einkorn Wheat Domestication Identified by DNA Fingerprinting". Science 278 (5341): 1312–4. doi:10.1126/science.278.5341.1312.

[2] Zohary and Hopf, Domestication, pp. 33f

[pmid17060124-3] Pizzuti D, Buda A, D'Odorico A, D'Incà R, Chiarelli S, Curioni A, Martines D (November 2006). "Lack of intestinal mucosal toxicity of Triticum monococcum in celiac disease patients". Scand. J. Gastroenterol. 41 (11): 1305–11. doi:10.1080/00365520600699983. PMID 17060124. http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&doi=10.1080/00365520600699983&magic=pubmed||1B69BA326FFE69C3F0A8F227DF8201D0.

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