Einkorn wheat

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iEinkorn Wheat

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Liliopsida
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Genus:	Triticum
Species:	T. monococcum

Binomial name

Triticum monococcum
L.

Einkorn wheat (from German Einkorn, literally "one 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 ('husk') 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.

Image:Wildeinkorn.jpg

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 years ago, in the Pre Pottery Neolithic A or B periods. Its cultivation decreased in the Bronze Age, and today it is considered 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.

1 Gluten toxicity
2 Further reading
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Gluten toxicity

In contrast with more modern forms of wheat, there is evidence that the gliadin protein of einkorn is not toxic to sufferers of coeliac disease.<ref>Pizzuti, Daniela; Buda, Andrea; D'Odorico, Anna; D'Incà, Renata; Chiarelli, Silvia; Curioni, Andrea; Martines, Diego (November, 2006). Lack of intestinal mucosal toxicity of Triticum monococcum in celiac disease patients. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.</ref> It has yet to be recommended in any gluten-free diet.