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Mixture of grains (evolutive grain): no thanks!

by luciano

Ma di che si tratta esattamente? Una popolazione evolutiva non è altro che una mescolanza di tantissime varietà diverse della stessa specie. Un concetto tanto semplice, quanto concretamente utile: Questi miscugli servono a far fronte al cambiamento climatico grazie alla loro capacità di evolversi nel tempo. Proprio per questa loro capacità Ceccarelli preferisce chiamarle popolazioni evolutive, e non miscugli come si fa spesso. Vi faccio un esempio concreto: nel 2008 mentre lavoravo ad Aleppo ho mescolato un migliaio di tipi di semi di orzo e li ho portati ad alcuni agricoltori in cinque paesi diversi: Siria, Algeria, Eritrea, Giordania e Iran. Il risultato è stato subito un raccolto abbondante, che poi è stato distribuito ad altri agricoltori, e le sementi così selezionate sono state diffuse. L’anno successivo ho fatto lo stesso con frumento duro (mescolando 700 tipi diversi) e con il frumento tenero (mescolando 2000 tipi diversi). Con gli anni queste tre popolazioni si sono moltiplicate, hanno viaggiato per tutto il Medio Oriente e nel 2010 sono arrivate e hanno cominciato a diffondersi in Italia. Una diffusione avvenuta spontaneamente tra gli agricoltori con il semplice passaparola. I vantaggi. Si tratta di miglioramento genetico partecipativo-evolutivo, facilmente spiegabile attraverso la teoria dell’evoluzione, secondo cui coltivando una popolazione evolutiva, ci si mette al riparo da malattie ed erbe infestanti nuove o cambiamenti climatici perché tra gli individui di una popolazione ce ne sarà sempre una parte che riuscirà a cavarsela. Non solo, con le popolazioni evolutive si evita di sottostare al monopolio dei semi e all’impoverimento dei raccolti e della dieta quotidiana. “ Fonte: https://www.gamberorosso.it/notizie/articoli-food/grano-evolutivo-storia-e-vantaggi-del-miscuglio/ intervista al Dott. Salvatore Ceccarelli.

The consumer demand is increasingly oriented to knowing what they put on the plate, or rather to have the possibility to know the whole product chain and its characteristics. The wine and oil supply chain, to cite just two important examples, testify to the importance of complete and possibly exhaustive information, which is also the key, together with the quality, of the success of the most famous products. With wheat do we want to walk this path backwards? Do we eat what the field produces as mother nature decides?

Integrated Evaluation of the Potential Health Benefits of Einkorn-Based Breads

by luciano

Integrated Evaluation of the Potential Health Benefits of Einkorn-Based Breads
Fabiana Antognoni, Roberto Mandrioli, Alessandra Bordoni, Mattia Di Nunzio, Blanca Viadel, Elisa Gallego, María Paz Villalba, Lidia Tomás-Cobos,
Danielle Laure Taneyo Saa and Andrea Gianotti. Published: 11 November 2017

“Abstract
Nowadays the high nutritional value of whole grains is recognized, and there is an increasing interest in the ancient varieties for producing wholegrain food products with enhanced nutritional characteristics. Among ancient crops, einkorn could represent a valid alternative. In this work, einkorn flours were analyzed for their content in carotenoids and in free and bound phenolic acids, and compared to wheat flours. The most promising flours were used to produce conventional and sourdough fermented breads. Breads were in vitro digested, and characterized before and after digestion. The four breads having the best characteristics were selected, and the product of their digestion was used to evaluate their anti-inflammatory effect using Caco-2 cells. Our results confirm the higher carotenoid levels in einkorn than in modern wheats, and the effectiveness of sourdough fermentation in maintaining these levels, despite the longer exposure to atmospheric oxygen. Moreover, in cultured cells einkorn bread evidenced an anti-inflammatory effect, although masked by the effect of digestive fluid. This study represents the first integrated evaluation of the potential health benefit of einkorn-based bakery products compared to wheat-based ones, and contributes to our knowledge of ancient grains. “
Depeening
Integrated Evaluation of the Potential Health Benefits of Einkorn-Based Breads. Fabiana Antognoni et altri

Einkorn Characterization for Bread and Cookie Production in Relation to Protein Subunit Composition

by luciano

The research showed, through tests to make bread and biscuits, the best varieties of monococcum wheat among the 24 examined: among these the varieties ID140, ID280 and Id361 were the best for both uses. The research also shows how, due to the rheological properties of the flours, the presence or absence of a very limited number of storage protein subunits is important, highlighting the importance of LMW

Einkorn Characterization for Bread and Cookie Production in Relation to Protein Subunit Composition M. Corbellini, S. Empilli, P. Vaccino, A. Brandolini, B. Borghi, M. Heun, and F. Salamini. Cereal Chem. 76(5):727–733
Abstract
“Twenty-four einkorns were evaluated for agronomic traits in Italy and in Germany in replicated plot trials. After dehulling and milling, the harvested kernels, flour protein content, sedimentation volume, falling number, carotenoid, and dry gluten content were determined. Farinograph profiles were obtained with a farinograph and baking and cookie quality were evaluated with standard microtests. Significant differences in yield potential were observed between the two locations, with a three-fold increase in Germany as compared with Italy. One of the einkorn lines (ID529) had farinograph stability and degree of softening indices better than those of the control bread wheat. All the samples analyzed for breadmaking aptitude showed some degree of stickiness, but it was possible to handle the dough during the different steps of breadmaking. On average, cookies produced with einkorn flour were larger in diameter and thinner than those produced with soft wheat flour. The composition in α, β and γ-gliadins and in high molecular weight glutenin subunits was similar in all the lines. In contrast, the pattern exhibited in low molecular weight glutenin subunits correlated strictly with baking quality. In particular, the lines with bands arbitrarily designated a and b showed a high breadmaking poten- tial, while the lines lacking these bands had an ample range of variability but, on average, a much lower baking potential. Our data point to a simple genetic control of the breadmaking aptitude and indicate einkorn not only as a promising source of specialty foods but also as an ideal species for genetic investigations on wheat quality”.

NOTE:
LMW-GS: Low Molecular Weight – Glutenin Subunit

(Table extracted from the research)

Electrophoretic characterization of reserve proteins: glutenins and gliadins. They represent, with the different respective bands, the genetic imprint that defines and identifies the variety. (Table extracted from the research)

Monococcum wheat (einkorn) and wheat allergy

by luciano

The research reported in the summary highlighted the absence of ω-5 gliadin in the monococcum wheat responsible for wheat allergy: another important characteristic of the monococcum wheat!

Study on the Immunoreactivity of Triticum monococcum (Einkorn) Wheat in Patients with Wheat-Dependent Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis for the Production of Hypoallergenic Foods. Carla Lombardo, Michela Bolla Roberto Chignola Gianenrico Senna Giacomo Rossin Beatrice Caruso, Carlo Tomelleri Daniela Cecconi Andrea Brandolini Gianni Zoccatelli. Cite This:J. Agric. Food Chem.201563378299-8306. Publication Date:September 2, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.5b02648 Copyright © 2015 American Chemical Society Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Abstract
“Wheat [Triticum aestivum (T.a.)] ingestion can cause a specific allergic reaction, which is called wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA). The major allergen involved is ω-5 gliadin, a gluten protein coded by genes located on the B genome. Our aim was to study the immunoreactivity of proteins in Triticum monococcum (einkorn, T.m.), a diploid ancestral wheat lacking B chromosomes, for possible use in the production of hypoallergenic foods. A total of 14 patients with a clear history of WDEIA and specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) to ω-5 gliadin were enrolled. Skin prick test (SPT) with a commercial wheat extract and an in-house T.a. gluten diagnostic solution tested positive for 43 and 100% of the cases, respectively. No reactivity in patients tested with solutions prepared from four T.m. accessions was observed. The immunoblotting of T.m. gluten proteins performed with the sera of patients showed different IgE-binding profiles with respect to T.a., confirming the absence of ω-5 gliadin. A general lower immunoreactivity of T.m. gluten proteins with scarce cross-reactivity to ω-5 gliadin epitopes was assessed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Given the absence of reactivity by SPT and the limited cross-reactivity with ω-5 gliadin, T.m. might represent a potential candidate in the production of hypoallergenic bakery products for patients sensitized to ω-5 gliadin. Further analyses need to be carried out regarding its safety”.