Abstract
Durum wheat plays a central role for Italy, a country characterized by an historical tradition of pasta making. This crop is one of the major sources of starch in the Mediterranean diet, also providing substantial amounts of nutrients, either essential or healthy, such as minerals and phytochemicals. In this study, the effect of cropping system (organic (ORG) and conventional (CONV)) on the content of proteins, wet gluten, minerals, and total polyphenols (TPC), as well as on the antioxidant activity (AA) and yield characteristics were evaluated in nine genotypes of whole durum wheat. The analysis of variance confirmed the key role of cropping system, which explained more than 50% of the total variation for some minerals (Na, K, and Fe), and more than 80% for proteins, wet gluten, and TPC. The CONV reported the highest levels of proteins, wet gluten, and ash, whereas the TPC and AA were statistically higher in the ORG ones. The quality traits under study were also genotype dependent. For instance, ‘Ramirez’ had a higher ash content under ORG than CONV, while ‘Core’ had an opposite behavior. This study provides a better understanding about the effect of both cropping system (ORG vs. CONV) and genotype on the yield and qualitative traits of the whole grain durum wheat.
Highlights
Wheat is ranked fourth in the top 50 commodities of FAO list
The cropping system explained more than 80% of total variation for yield, protein content, and wet gluten (Table 2)
A clear understanding of the relationships between cropping system and product nutritional quality is definitely useful to the community, given that research data on this topic are limited, and very important for designing agricultural management strategies which are environmentally sustainable while able to improve consumer’s health parameters in the product
Summary
Wheat is ranked fourth in the top 50 commodities of FAO list (http://faostat3.fao.org/browse/rankings/commodities_by_regions/E). Durum) represents about 8% of the total world wheat production [1]. It is one of the most widely grown food crops in the Mediterranean area: it can be used as it is (as in the case of cuccìa), or processed as semolina for the production of pasta, couscous, bulgur, and bread [2]. Whole grain products are recommended for healthy diets being recognized sources of dietary fiber and antioxidant compounds [7]. The former, especially phenolic compounds, are located in the outer layer of cereal seeds, both in free and insoluble forms. The health properties of whole grain appear to be dependent on a synergism among its Agriculture 2020, 10, 46; doi:10.3390/agriculture10020046 www.mdpi.com/journal/agriculture
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