The Holy Grail of Ancient Cereals

Abstract

The interest in ancient cereals has been revived during the last decades due to the demand for products with health benefits, better taste and favourable nutritional composition. Especially the ancient wheat species -einkorn, emmer, khorasan and spelt- play a special role within the group of ancient cereals. The ancient wheat species evolved thousands of years ago and were the dominant wheat species in former times, but today their cultivation and use are negligible compared to modern wheats. A possible higher nutritional value of ancient wheat species compared to modern ones was the subject of several studies indicating that ancient wheat species only have slightly higher contents of e.g., bioactive phytochemicals. One characteristic of einkorn, emmer and spelt is that they are gluten-containing cereals, which give them better baking quality compared to pseudocereals, but gluten ingestion can also lead to adverse reactions in susceptible individuals. In modern wheat, the gluten is responsible for the superior baking quality and changes at the molecular level of this two-component glue explain the poorer baking quality of ancient wheat species. Nevertheless, ancient wheat species are not suitable for a gluten-free diet, even if differences in their immunogenic potential were identified in the context of celiac disease and wheat sensitivity.