Kernel Weights of Triticum, Hordeum, Avena, Secale and Panicum Species can be used for Better Estimation of Importance of Different Cereal Species in Archaeobotanical Assemblages

Compositional Traits of Grains and Groats of Barley, Oat and Spelt Grown at Organic and Conventional Fields

“…Therefore, it is widely used in crop research as a measurement indicator that depends on the variety, environmental conditions, and agricultural practices [8,24]. As reported by Hejcman et al [25], the descending order of the cereals we studied in terms of their TKW relative to Triticum aestivum was comparable when the TKW of T. aestivum (44.6 g) was taken as 100%, i.e., Triticum spelta (100%), hulled Hordeum vulgare (99%), and hulled Avena sativa (49%). Kulathunga et al [15] found an average TKW of 38.3 ± 4.9 g in the threshed grains of three spelt genotypes, while Tóth et al [23] studied 90 spelt genotypes whose TKWs ranged from 23.2-49.7 g and protein contents ranged from 12.1-22.2%.…”

“…From a field management perspective (conventional vs. organic), the crude fibre content was generally higher in organic crops, the TKW and fat content were higher only in organic barley, the protein content was higher in conventional barley and spelt, the ash content was higher in organic barley and oats, and the β-glucan content was higher only in organic oats. The cultivation of hulled wheat (Triticum spelta) has been associated with the expansion of organic farming and the increasing interest in products with high nutritional quality in the past two decades, although Hordeum varieties dominate in today's Europe [25]. Although organic spelt already occupies a niche market in North America and Europe [15], there are still many opportunities for organic or small-scale farms to offer minimally processed spelt products, such as whole grains and groats.…”

Carbonised macro-remains from a Germanic settlement in Jevišovka-Nová. A contribution to current archaeobotanical knowledge of the Roman period

“…Therefore, the weight and nutritional value of cereal grains are also considered in archaeobotany (cf. Hajnalová 2012;Kuna et al 2013;Látková 2015;Hejcman et al 2016).…”

“…To determine if and to what extent variations can occur in individual cereal percentage ratios, the values of cereal finds first needed to convert from MNI to grams and kilocalories. The conversion to grams was based on the published archaeobotanical literature in which the method was applied ( Hajnalová 2012;Kočár in Kuna et al 2013;Hejcman et al 2016). The weight of particular cereal grain in grams was obtained from the mentioned literature, calculated from 1000 grains (Thousand grain weight -TGW, s.s. Hajnalová 2012, Tab.…”