Wheat (Triticum L.) is an annual herbaceous plant in the Poacae (Gramineae) family and settles in the Triticeae (Hordeae) subfamily. It is of great ethnobotanical importance. Other cereal crops such as maize, rice, barley, and millet are also domesticated from this family. Together they constitute the most economically important plant family in modern times, providing food, forage, building materials (bamboo, thatch), and fuel (ethanol) to support a diverse range of human activities. In recent years, however, due to the awareness of gluten in wheat-based diet, there has been a rise in interest in its wild relatives and landraces as new resources for consumption. Accordingly, crop scientists have also begun to reexamine the origin, evolution, and unique characteristics of cultured and non-cultured hulled wheats. Although hulled wheats, which include einkorn, emmer, wild emmer, spelta, macha, and vavilovii, are still grown in limited quantities on the higher areas of Turkey, Italy, Germany, Morocco, Israel, and Balkan countries, they have been sought after for their health promoting effects. However, despite the newfound popularity of hulled wheats in the lay communities, there lacks a critically reviewed resource for the researchers and professionals who wish to further develop these crop species.
In this book, we provide an overview of hulled wheats with special attention to genetic diversities, conservation, and applications.
Author Biography
Nusret Zencirci is a graduate of Cukurova University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crops. He worked as a wheat breeder in the Central Research Institute of for Field Crops, Ankara and served as a National and International Coordinator to National and Internatioanal Wheat programs and also to Interntaional Winter Wheat Improvement Program. He is professor now at Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Science and Art Faculty, Biology Department, Bolu, Turkey. He is a member of various editorial boards in many international journals. He is, with his team, breeder of 22 bread and durum wheat cultivars. His research interests are Cereals, Biotic and Abiotic Stresses, Plant Genetic Resources, and Wheat Breeding.
Hakan Ulukan is a graduate of University of Ankara, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crops. He is professor at the same department. He is a member of various editorial boards as a reviwer, editor-in-chief, and associate editor of many high level national and international journals such as JAS, Euphytica, CRC, PJBS, IJAB, etc. His research interests are Cereals and Legumes, Biotic and Abiotic Stresses, Agronomy, Ecology, Plant Genetic Resources, Gene Banks, Gene Centers, Wild Wheats, Plant Domestication, Plant Breeding, Rust Resistance Sources in Wheats, Global Warming Effect(s) on Crops.
Calvin Qualset is Professor Emeritus at the University of California-Davis, USA. He taught courses in genetics, genetic resources conservation, plant breeding and agronomy and mentored more than 75 graduate students and postdoctorals. His team developed 20 varieties of wheat, oat, and triticale. He is past President of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America. He was a Fulbright Scholar to Australia and Serbia. He has been Principal Investigator on several multi-institutional projects on wheat genomics and in situ conservation of milpa crops in Mexico. He has served on Editorial Boards of several journals and led reviews of a number of international centers and programs.
Mark Nesbitt does research into useful plants informed by Kew's collections, science strategy and heritage. His research portfolio includes plant fibres (barkcloth, textiles, basketry), medicinal plants and the history of useful plants and botanical institutions in the last 200 years. He has strong collaborative links with universities, including AHRC-funded research projects with the University of Glasgow, and Royal Holloway, and Newton-funded work with Birkbeck College. He carries out postgraduate teaching with these, and Camberwell, University of the Arts, the Royal College of Art, and the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. He curates the Economic Botany Collection, including managing acquisitions, conservation, loans, sampling and hosting of researchers.
