Spelt 847308 225769548 2008-07-15T09:12:59Z 81.152.43.194 /* Literature references */ {{otheruses4|the wheat species|the alternate spelling of the word spelled|Spelling}} {{wiktionary}} {{Taxobox | name = Spelt | image = Spelt.jpg | image_width = 250px | regnum = [[Plantae]] | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]] | classis = [[Liliopsida]] | ordo = [[Poales]] | familia = [[Poaceae]] | genus = ''[[Triticum]]'' | species = '''''T. spelta''''' | binomial = ''Triticum spelta'' | binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]] }} '''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 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''. ==Evolution== Spelt has a complex history. It is a [[hexaploid]] [[wheat]] species known from genetic evidence to have originated as a [[Hybrid (biology)|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 [[common wheat|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 event between emmer and bread wheat. Recent [[DNA]] evidence supports an independent origin for European spelt, through this hybridisation.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14564390&dopt=Abstract | accessmonthday = February 14 | accessyear = 2006 | title = About the origin of European spelt (Triticum spelta L.): allelic differentiation of the HMW Glutenin B1-1 and A1-2 subunit genes. | publisher = PubMed | year = 2004 | author = Blatter RH, Jacomet S, Schlumbaum A }}</ref> However whether spelt has two separate origins in [[Asia]] and Europe, or single origin in the Near East, is currently unresolved.<ref>{{cite paper | author=Blatter,R.H. et al. | title=About the origin of European spelt (Triticum spelta L.): allelic differentiation of the HMW Glutenin B1-1 and A1-2 subunit genes| date=2004 | format=html | url = http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=14564390&dopt=abstract}}</ref><ref>{{cite paper | author=Ehsanzadeh, Parviz | title=Agronomic and Growth Characteristics of Spring Spelt Compared to Common Wheat| date=1999 | format=pdf | url = http://library2.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-10212004-001220/}}</ref> ==Early history== The earliest archaeological evidence of spelt is from the fifth millennium BC in [[Transcaucasia]], north of the [[Black Sea]]. However, the most abundant and best-documented archaeological evidence of spelt is in Europe.<ref>{{cite paper | author=Cubadda, Raimondo and Marconi, Emanuele| title=Spelt Wheat in Pseudocereals and less Common cereals: Grain Properties and utilization Potential (eds. Belton, Peter S.; Taylor, John R.N.) | date=2002 | format=html | url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN3540429395&id=NRMdXx8fC8kC&dq=Pseudocereals+and+less+Common+cereals:+Grain+Properties+and+utilization+Potential}}</ref> Remains of spelt have been found in some later Neolithic sites (2500 - 1700 BC) in Central Europe.<ref>{{cite paper | author=Cubadda, Raimondo and Marconi, Emanuele| title=Spelt Wheat in Pseudocereals and less Common cereals: Grain Properties and utilization Potential (eds. Belton, Peter S.; Taylor, John R.N.) | date=2002 | format=html | url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN3540429395&id=NRMdXx8fC8kC&dq=Pseudocereals+and+less+Common+cereals:+Grain+Properties+and+utilization+Potential}}</ref><ref>{{cite paper | author=Akeret, Ö.| title=Plant remains from a Bell Beaker site in Switzerland, and the beginnings of Triticum spelta (spelt) cultivation in Europe | date=2005 | format=html | url = http://china.springerlink.com/content/j0453274uw744tw9/?p=9a73f75a245d448a844fbf12f99e7740&pi=0}}</ref> 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, and by 500 BC also in southern Britain.<ref>{{cite paper | author=Cubadda, Raimondo and Marconi, Emanuele| title=Spelt Wheat in Pseudocereals and less Common cereals: Grain Properties and utilization Potential (eds. Belton, Peter S.; Taylor, John R.N.) | date=2002 | format=html | url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN3540429395&id=NRMdXx8fC8kC&dq=Pseudocereals+and+less+Common+cereals:+Grain+Properties+and+utilization+Potential}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite paper | author=Nesbitt, Mark | title=Wheat evolution: integrating archaeological and biological evidence | date=2001 | Format=PDF | url=http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/scihort/ecbot/papers/nesbitt2001wheat.pdf}}.</ref> ==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 in almost all those areas in which it was still grown by bread wheat. As spelt requires fewer [[fertilizer]]s, the [[organic farming]] movement made it more popular again towards the end of the century. ==Nutrition== Spelt contains about 57.9 percent [[carbohydrate]]s (excluding 9.2 percent [[fibre]]), 17.0 percent [[protein]] and 3.0 percent [[fat]], as well as [[dietary mineral]]s and [[vitamin]]s.<ref>{{cite paper | author=Parr RM et al. | title= Contributions of calcium and other dietary components to global variations in bone mineral density in young adults | date=2002 | format=pdf | url = http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food/fnb23-3s-5.pdf}}</ref> As it contains a moderate amount of [[gluten]], it is suitable for [[baking]]. In Germany, the unripe spelt grains are [[drying (food)|dried]] and eaten as ''[[:de:Grünkern|Grünkern]]'', which literally means "green grain". Spelt is closely related to [[common wheat]], and is not suitable for people with [[celiac disease]]. Some people with [[wheat allergy]] or wheat intolerance tolerate spelt. ==Products== Spelt flour is becoming more easily available, being sold in [[British]] supermarkets since 2007.<ref>[http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/organic/info-spelt.htm Information from Spelt flour producer]</ref> 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 speciality shops. The raw grain when chewed releases trace amounts of gluten giving the mass a slight resilience, not unlike gum{{Fact|date=February 2007}} (whereas wheat becomes a sticky glutinous mass, similar to thick jam).{{Fact|date=February 2007}} The texture is slightly crunchy. The nutty flavour is more intense than it is in most breads and some prefer the raw substance to the baked goods. 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]].<ref>http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Dinkelbier.html</ref> Spelt [[matza]] is baked in [[Israel]] for [[Passover]] and is available in some [[American]] grocery stores. ==Literature references== While today spelt is merely a specialty crop, its popularity as a peasants' staple food of the past has been attested in literature works that still enjoy currency. Although today's [[Russian]]-speaking children may not know what exactly spelt is, they may have heard [[Alexander Pushkin|Pushkin]]'s well-rhymed story of [[The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda|workman Balda]] asking his employer the priest "to feed me boiled spelt" ("есть же мне давай варёную полбу"). ==References== {{wiktionary|spelt}} <references/> *{{cite book | author=Padulosi, Stefano, Karl Hammer and J. Heller | title=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 | year=1996 | url=http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/publications/pubfile.asp?ID_PUB=54}} *{{cite book|title=Domestication of plants in the Old World|author=Zohary, Daniel and Maria Hopf|location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press|id=ISBN 0-19-850356-3|year=2000}} {{Wheat}} {{Cereals}} [[Category:Wheat]] [[Category:Cereals]] [[Category:Underutilized crops]] [[br:Yell]] [[ca:Espelta]] [[cs:Pšenice špalda]] [[da:Spelt]] [[de:Dinkel]] [[et:Speltanisu]] [[es:Triticum spelta]] [[eo:Spelto]] [[eu:Espelta]] [[fr:Épeautre]] [[is:Spelt]] [[it:Triticum spelta]] [[he:כוסמין]] [[lb:Spelz]] [[nl:Spelt]] [[no:Spelt]] [[nn:Spelt]] [[pl:Pszenica orkisz]] [[pt:Espelta]] [[ru:Полба]] [[sl:Pira]] [[fi:Spelttivehnä]] [[sv:Dinkel]] [[wa:Speate]]