Wheat

Cereal grass of the Gramineae (Poaceae) family and of the genus Triticum and its edible grain, one of the oldest and most important of the cereal crops. Two wild forms of wheat are found in the Near East today, wild einkorn (Triticum boeoticum) and wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides). Wild einkorn and, less commonly domestic einkorn, appear in the Near East at such early farming sites as Ali Kosh before 7000 BC. Emmer, both wild and domestic, was much more common than einkorn and has been found on most early Neolithic sites in the Near East. Domestic emmer subsequently spread throughout Europe. Hexapolid wheats (club wheat, bread wheat) appear in the Near East before 6000 BC. Spelt wheat was being cultivated at Yarim Tepe in northern Mesopotamia in the 6th millennium BC. In Europe there are some Neolithic occurrences of spelt, but it became common only in the Iron Age.

Group of cereals, members of the genus Triticum. Two wild forms of wheat are found in the Near East today, wild einkorn (Triticum boeoticum) and wild emmer (T. dicoccoides). A closely related group, the goat grasses (Aegilops) is also present in the area. Species of Aegilops can cross with Triticum and most of the wheats grown today result from such hybridization. Wild and domestic einkom ( T. monococcum) are diploid wheats, having two sets of chromosomes. Emmer results from the crossing, at some time in the past, of T. boeoticum with Ae. speltoides. As a result, wild and domestic emmer (T. dicoccum) are both tetrapioid wheats, retaining two sets of chromosones from each species in the cross. Other domestic tetrapioid species include macaroni wheat ( T. durum), now grown for pasta. Most of today’s wheats, however, are hexapioid, resulting from a further cross, of emmer with Ae. squarrosa. The main species in this hexapioid group, all of which are domesticated, are spelt ( T. spelta), club wheat ( T. compactum) and bread wheat (T. aestivum). Varieties of the latter form the bulk of today’s wheat crop. Wild einkom, and less commonly domestic einkom, appear in the Near East at such early farming sites as Ali Kosh before 7000 be. Emmer, both wild and domestic, was much more common than einkorn and has been found on most early Neolithic sites in the Near East. Domestic emmer subsequently spread throughout Europe. Hexapioid wheats appear in the Near East before 6000 be, as club wheat and bread Spelt wheat was being cultivated at Yarim Tepe in northern Mesopotamia in the 6th millennium be. In Europe there are some early (Neolithic) occurrences of spelt, but it became common only in the Iron Age. Einkorn, emmer and spelt, which do not thresh free from the chaff, are called glumed or hulled wheats. Naked, or free-threshing wheats, such as macaroni, club and bread wheat, have a distinct advantage when the crops are processed.