Spelt: Agronomy, Quality, and Flavor of Its Breads from 30 Varieties Tested across Multiple Environments

Abstract

Spelt (Triticum aestivum L. ssp. spelta) is an old hulled wheat currently receiving renewed interest of consumers, bakers, millers, and farmers. Our objectives were (i) to assess the genetic variability and heritability of agronomic and quality traits together with the flavor and odor of breads, (ii) to investigate correlations among these traits, and (iii) to draw conclusions for spelt breeding targeting improved yield, quality, and flavor of end products. Therefore, we investigated 30 spelt varieties in up to six field locations and determined important agronomic parameters and numerous quality traits, as well as flavor and odor of breads made from all varieties. As for the closely related bread wheat (T. aestivum L. ssp. aestivum), protein and gluten content were tightly correlated in spelt, but both were only moderately correlated with protein quality. The correlation between the sedimentation volume determined either with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDSS) or according to Zeleny was very high (r = 0.94, p < 0.001). However, SDSS differentiated the spelt varieties better and is thus proposed for future spelt breeding and evaluations. We determined a significant genetic variation for bread flavor with a heritability of 0.56. Furthermore, this flavor was not correlated with traits important for spelt breeding, i.e., protein quality and agronomy. Thus, future breeding can simultaneously target improved yield, bread‐making quality, and a more aromatic bread flavor of new spelt varieties, which would also be of interest for bread and durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). These findings highlight the need of an intensified interdisciplinary research to develop faster methods for flavor and odor evaluation of breads.

Quality Parameters and Rheological Dough Properties of 15 Spelt (Triticum spelta L.) Varieties Cultivated Today

“…A weak but significant correlation was found between GI and dough stability ( r = 0.596), which clearly indicated that dough stability was influenced by gluten quality, not quantity. Rapp et al (2017) also demonstrated that the quality of dough made from spelt flour was not correlated with gluten quantity, but it was significantly correlated with GI. The inference is that the quality of spelt gluten is lower than the quality of common wheat gluten.…”

“…Spelt is a high-yielding crop in organic farming systems (Żuk-Gołaszewska et al 2015). Breeders are under mounting pressure to develop new spelt varieties that can be effectively grown in various systems with the use of modern technologies that are suitable for industrial processing and that meet consumer expectations (Rapp et al 2017). The growing popularity of spelt can be attributed to its resistance to environmental stressors and relatively low soil requirements.…”

An Evaluation of Spelt Crosses for Breeding New Varieties of Spring Spelt

“…The revived interest in spelt can be attributed to the high nutritional value of its grain, which is rich in protein, macronutrients and micronutrients [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45], resistance to fungal pathogens [18,[46][47][48][49][50][51], and higher adaptability to varied environments and simplified farming systems in comparison to bread wheat [52][53][54]. The milling quality of spelt grain has been recently investigated by Wiwart et al, Rapp et al,and Sobczyk et al [44,45,55]. The suitability of ancient wheats, including spelt, for the production of functional foods has been discussed by Arzani and Ashraf [26].…”

“…Longin et al [43] observed a significant negative correlation between grain yield and protein content in bread wheat, durum wheat, spelt, and emmer, where the corresponding values of the correlation coefficient were determined at: −0.87 (p < 0.001), −0.58 (p < 0.05), −0.83 (p < 0.01), and −0.71 (p < 0.01), respectively. Highly significant negative correlations between hulled yield and protein content (r = −0.60, p < 0.001) were observed in 30 contemporary varieties and breeding lines of winter spelt in six locations in Germany [45].…”

“…Ash content represents concentrations of minerals that determine the nutritional value of grain. According to numerous studies, spelt grain is a rich source of macronutrients and micronutrients [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45]. The macronutrient and micronutrient content of four species of spring wheat (einkorn, emmer, spelt, and bread wheat) grown under the same conditions was analyzed by Suchowilska et al [42].…”