Ancient Grains – How we got where we are today.

 There is quite a selection of these flours available to home bakers. This article lists the

Ancient grains and explains where they fit into the long development which led to modern wheat.

Ancient grains are different from Heritage grains. Heritage grains are older varieties of modern wheats. They get a mention in this article too.

It also looks at the direction of modern wheat development and the flours our children might one day be baking with.

The Story

Einkorn

Einkorn, meaning First Corn, is the very first grain to be domesticated. Genetically it is quite simple compared to modern wheats. It is thought that early humans first harvested it when they came across it in the wild and later they learned horticulture and started planting it. Einkorn does not thresh off the stalk very easily and removing the tough outer layers to release the grain kernel is also difficult. It is thought that it would have been eaten as a porridge, or perhaps as unleavened biscuits baked on hot flat stones by their neolithic fires. The quality of the grain was improved, in very ancient times, by the farmers selecting the best grain each season to be used at the next planting. It is not a ‘true wheat’ in the same way that our ancient primate ancestors were not true humans.

The Mystery Grain

An unknown ancient grass crossed with Einkorn. This doubled the genetic code and produced Wild Emmer. This is the first big step toward modern wheat.

Wild Emmer

Again, the farmers got to work and started selecting grains from the best plants and over many centuries this led to two varieties of grain, Emmer and Durum Wheat.

Einkorn has one set of chromosomes. The Einkorn - Unknown grass cross gave Wild Emmer and Durum, two sets of chromosomes.

Emmer

Came from farmers selecting the best Wild Emmer seed. (above)

Genetically Emmer and Durum are very close. I have been milling Emmer today and, just like Durum, it mills to a coarse sandy texture. So, I put it through the mill twice, just as the modern millers do to make Durum Rimacinata. Rimacinata is Italian for twice milled. The flour also has a yellow colour characteristic of Durum flour. They are very close relatives.

 Durum

Durum wheat is another variety of grain which was developed by selecting grains from wild emmer.

These selections were continuous and it might have taken many centuries for Durum to evolve as a distinct variety. The word Durum means hard and the grain is indeed hard. It needs to be put through a stone mill twice to make flour from the grain. The selection process continues to this day.

Wild Emmer Goat Grass Cross – Spelt.

I have put this in red as it is the big genetic step forward which was the genesis of modern wheat. Prior to this cross the grains were substantially more primitive.

This cross produced Spelt. This is where the magic of modern wheat came from. All of the grains, above, had either one set of chromosomes (Einkorn),  or two sets (Wild Emmer). They  were very poor for bread making because of low and poor quality glutenin levels. Glutenin makes gluten in the bread baking process. Though they had high levels of protein overall and were very nutritious. Without stronger gluten they were not able to make dough which was strong enough to support the weight of a fermenting loaf. They were better for flat breads and ‘cakes’ a Saxon term for what we now call English Muffins.

Spelt has a third set of chromosomes and it had many advantages over the grains previously mentioned. It was easier to thresh the husk off and the grain was softer and easier to mill. Though it’s glutenin was better for bread making, it still had weak gluten development compared to modern wheat. Spelt was considerably better for making leavened bread. It was the wheat of choice for the Roman army as it marched through Europe and the Near East.

Common Wheat – Modern Wheat

All common wheat (Triticum Aestivum) was developed from Spelt. No further crossing took place. The Wheat genome is something in the order of ten times the size of the human genome. It is so complex that it was not believed possible to map it, though eventually an international collaborative effort succeeded. Over the centuries different varieties have emerged and each has its own story. A Club wheat was developed in Scotland and a farmer took it to the U.S. when he migrated. It is now one of the ancestors of modern North American Red Wheat. A diaspora of farmers from the Russian steps migrated South through the Caucasus before taking boats to North America. On their way they came across a good variety of Red wheat growing in a harsh mountain climate. This was eventually sown on the North American plains and it too is now a parent of the modern North American Red Wheat makeup.

The other ancient grains

As we have seen there are a number of step developments in the story of wheat. Each one formed a family with variations on their genetic base. Here are the different species that developed from each base.

Derivatives of Wild Emmer – All genetically pre-dating the Wild Emmer.

Khorasan – Khorasan is still grown in Iran, its ancient birthplace, but it is now only used for animal feed there. In the U.S. Khorasan is often sold as Kamut, a made up name for the purpose of creating a patent. How someone can patent a grain freely available in other countries is beyond me.

Rivet – Highly praised for flavour and as a bread flour, but it makes bread tending toward the heavy side for modern palates.

Polish Wheat – Is famed for making flavourful breads with a soft mouthfeel. I have not been able to source this… Yet.

Derivatives of Spelt Wheat. – The Spelt Family

These are the true wheats. They are all in the same Spelt family. They vary in the strength of gluten they can develop and so their bread making qualities vary too. Spelt, for example, though high in protein, develops less gluten which is of a poorer quality than Common (Modern) Wheat. All of the Spelt family have the same triple sets of chromosomes because of the two crossings detailed above.

The sub species ‘wheats’: there are so many different varieties of wheat in this family some of which are still being grown in isolated pockets around the world. Gradually breeders and seed bank collectors are finding them, collecting samples and cataloguing them. Over centuries each variety has adapted to the local soils and climate, but they still share the basic common wheat genome. Currently there are a number of wheat seed banks with thousands of varieties. The seed bank catalogues are online and are worth a quick look. The amount of work done developing wheat over the millennia is awesome, in the proper sense of that word.  

The Spelt Family

Common Wheat (Modern Wheat).

Spelt

Macha

Indian Dwarf Wheat

Dinkel

Club Wheat

A note on Spelt

When we buy spelt we are most likely buying a modern variety of it. The ancient art of the farmer selecting the best varieties has continued throughout the centuries. Now that process has been boosted by modern science and laboratories. Is it true spelt? Yes, it is. Spelt is not a single variety. Recent research shows that it was developed, by selection, in many different places. Occasionally I see heritage spelt flour for sale. This is just an older variety. I do not know if it is any better or worse than modern spelt.

Modern Wheats

It is worth saying a little about modern wheat. In the 1960’s it became apparent that the worlds population was growing faster than the worlds wheat harvest. Wheat breeders raced to develop new varieties which cropped more heavily and which were more resistant to issues such as  wind flattening the crop. These new varieties could also thrive on petrochemical fertilisers and they also have shorter stalks so the crops don't get flattened by the wind so easily (lodging). There is a constant race against Rust as well. As these monocrops are sown year after year a variety weakens and becomes more prone to diseases like Rust. Wheat breeders are constantly producing new varieties which are disease resistant and which may have other merits too, such as being tolerant of poor seasons. Drought can be a serious issue for modern wheats as they are shallow rooted and cannot reach the deeper moist soils in times of drought.

This 1960’s wheat breeding period was called the ‘Green Revolution’. World wheat cropping levels soared. The varieties chosen produce flours which are more suitable to machine bread production too. They have higher levels of gluten, and so they produce lighter breads as well. Bread flavour was not a priority for the wheat breeders and so the modern wheat varieties produce much less flavourful breads than their heritage counterparts.

Heritage Grains

Ancient wheats are those grains which developed along the way as the Wheat genome developed into what it is today. Heritage wheats have the modern wheat genetic matrix, but they are older varieties. These older varieties have deeper roots so they tend to be higher in minerals. Their deep roots also make them more drought resistant. However, they do not crop as heavily as modern wheats and they do not tolerate modern fertilisers. The advantage of them is that they have  much more flavour than the modern varieties. Though the gluten they develop is of a poorer quality and the breads they make are denser. For this reason I blend them with a modern strong white bread flour.

Modern wheats have a protein balance of about 2/3 glutenin and 1/3 gliadin. Together these form gluten. The higher glutenin levels makes more gluten and they have been bred to make stronger gluten as well. So, these modern breads are lighter. Heritage grains have a more of a half and half gliadin to glutenin mix. The gluten developed is not as elastic, strong, as modern wheats and so the breads made form them tend to be heavier, denser.

Modern Wheat Breeding Trends

We live in very exciting times!

The wild emmer / goat grass cross (in red above) was the big step leading to modern wheat. One of the odd things about it was that after that cross wheat was no longer able to cross fertilise very easily by natural means. Modern wheat is pretty much locked into itself with modern wheat variety crosses having to be done in the laboratory. This has led to the wheat genome being exceptionally narrow. It is not possible to develop varieties suitable for wet land, drought prone areas, or unseasonal cold spells. The genes required are just not in the genome.

Enter the geneticists. They found that all wheats had the same Wild Emmer – Goat grass cross. Put another way out of the many thousands of different Goat Grasses only one crossed with wild emmer. This probably happened in a particular area at a particular time. This explains why the wheat genome is so narrow. The goat grass family is large. Different varieties grow in conditions as diverse as swamps, semi desserts, icy climates and more.  Breeders are now attempting recross wild emmer with different goat grasses in the hope of developing wheats which can tolerate much wider conditions. They are also looking at a wider range of other qualities such as deep roots, flavour and good cropping without petrochemical fertilisers.

Genetically Modified Wheat

There has been some GM work done to develop new strains of wheat. Notably the HB8 strain developed in Argentina to produce a drought resistant strain. Argentina is a major wheat grower and exporter. Over recent years they have had falling yields because of increasingly severe droughts. Their first full production year using drought resistant HB8 wheat gave them yields far below their normal cropping rates. It is uncertain whether they will continue to grow this strain and there are no other GM strains on the market.

No GM Wheats are licensed to be grown in the U.S.  Growing, importing and selling G.M. foods is illegal in the UK. In the EU as a whole GM crops are heavily restricted and each strain has to be individually licensed. Most of the GM products imported into the EU are for animal feed. Most individual EU countries, along with India and Russia, have outright bans on GM foods.

In the U.S. Monsanto dropped their application for a license, to the FDA, to sell GM wheat. They said that over half of the Wheat grown in the U.S. goes to export and most of the recipient countries have bans on importing and growing GM wheat. The FDA has not approved any other GM Wheat strains for growing in the U.S.

In Canada, there are five permited genetically modified crops on the market, these are canola, soybeans, maize and sugar beets. GM wheat is not licensed to be grown in Canada.

We can never be certain what goes on behind the doors of the Agro-industrial world. However, it appears that genetically modified wheat is not receiving the sorts of investment that some other crops have received. It appears that too many countries have G.M. food bans to make GM development worthwhile.

The main thrust in wheat development is re-breeding using selected goat grasses as described above. I have seen articles and photographs from Washington State University (a wheat breeding department with a tremendously successful past) and they already have test plots seeded with new Goat Grass – Emmer wheat varieties. This kind of experimental breeding is taking place globally. With the deterioration of cropping, due to increasingly adverse weather patterns affecting many of the major wheat growing countries, we may well see these appearing on the market quite soon.  

Flour Anomalies to be aware of

Atta Flour – Chapati Flour

This is made from an Indian variety of Durum wheat. As part of the milling process it is heated to the point where, what little gluten development potential it has, is destroyed. It is only suitable for making chapatis. Modern varieties of Durum have now been developed in India. They are a major wheat exporter with world class research and breading facilities. Their bread wheat is excellent as well.

Durum wheat

A little care needs to be taken when buying Durum flour. Canada is one of the largest growers of Durum wheat and most of the varieties they grow have been developed specifically for making pasta. Most of the durum grain grown in the U.S. is also pasta varieties. I buy Italian Durum wheat which is clearly labelled as being suitable for bread making.

Farro

Farro is the Italian name for Einkorn, Spelt, or Emmer grain. Sometimes it is a mixture of all three.

A final word

If you are trying some of these ancient, or heritage grains, for the first time, consider starting by using about 10% - 30% of them blended with a modern strong white bread flour.  You can always increase the amounts you use in increments over a number of bakes. I say this as baking with low gluten grains requires slightly different methods and it takes time for the baker to get their eye in.

I have covered baking with Heritage and Ancient Grains in other articles. Their doughs need to be treated more gently because of their weak gluten which can tear. Slightly different baking regimes are needed to get the best from them. Even adding 5% - 10% to your usual white bread recipe will add tremendous flavour, with little deterioration in loaf volume.