Editing Einkorn

{{Short description|Primitive wheat}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Einkorn wheat
|image = Triticum monococcum0.jpg
|genus = Triticum
|species = monococcum
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|synonyms = ''Triticum monococcum'' subsp. ''monococcum''
}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Wild einkorn
|image = Triticum boeoticum Boiss. ssp. thaoudar (Reuter ex Hausskn.) Schiem. - wild einkorn - TRBOT - Tracey Slotta @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database.jpg
|genus = Triticum
|species = boeoticum
|synonyms = [[#Triticum monococcum subspecies boeoticum|''Triticum monococcum'' ssp. ''boeoticum'']]
}}

'''Einkorn wheat''' (from German ''Einkorn'', literally "single grain") is either a wild species of [[wheat]] (''Triticum'') or its [[common wheat|domesticated form]]. The wild form is '''''T. boeoticum''''' (syn. ''T. m.'' subsp. ''boeoticum''), and the domesticated form is '''''T. monococcum''''' (syn. ''T. m.'' subsp. ''monococcum''). Einkorn is a [[diploid]] species (2''n'' = 14 chromosomes) of hulled wheat, with tough [[glume]]s ([[husk]]s) that tightly enclose the [[grain]]s. The cultivated form is similar to the wild, except that the [[Shattering (agriculture)|ear stays intact when ripe]]<ref name = "Complex-Origins" /> and the seeds are larger. The domestic form is known as {{lang|fr|petit épeautre}} in French, {{lang|de|Einkorn}} in German, "einkorn" or "littlespelt" in English, {{lang|it|piccolo farro}} in Italian and {{lang|es|escanda menor}} in Spanish.<ref name=LeBrun1992>{{cite journal |last=Le Brun |first=Alain |id=[[Centre national de la recherche scientifique]] (França) |title=El poblamiento neolítico en la Isla de Chipre: el establecimiento de Khirokitia |journal=Treballs d'Arqueologia |issue=2 |pages=51–67 |date=1992 |url=https://ddd.uab.cat/record/60623}}{{open access}}</ref> The name refers to the fact that each [[spikelet]] contains only one grain.

Einkorn wheat was one of the first plants to be [[crop domestication|domesticated]] and [[crop farming|cultivated]]. The earliest clear evidence of the domestication of einkorn dates from 10,600 to 9,900 years [[Before Present|before present]] (8650 BCE to 7950 BCE) from [[Çayönü]] and [[Cafer Höyük]], two Early [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]] archaeological sites in southern [[Turkey]].<ref>{{ Cite journal |last1=Weiss|first1=Ehud|last2=Zohary|first2=Daniel|date=October 2011|title=The Neolithic Southwest Asian Founder Crops: Their Biology and Archaeobotany|journal=[[Current Anthropology]]|volume=52|issue=S4|pages=S239–S240|doi=10.1086/658367 |s2cid=83924400 }}</ref> Remnants of einkorn were found with the iceman mummy [[Ötzi]], dated the late 4th millennium BCE.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/07/news-otzi-iceman-food-DNA-diet-meat-fat/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713113513/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/07/news-otzi-iceman-food-DNA-diet-meat-fat/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 13, 2018|title=5,300 Years Ago, Ötzi t'he Iceman Died. Now We Know His Last Meal.|date=2018-07-12|magazine=[[National Geographic]]|department=Science & Innovation|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref>

== Description ==

Einkorn is a short variety of wild wheat, usually less than {{convert|70|cm|inch}} tall and is not very productive of edible seeds.<ref name=ZoharyHopf3343/> The principal difference between wild einkorn and cultivated einkorn is the method of seed dispersal. In the wild variety the seed head usually shatters and drops the kernels (seeds) of wheat onto the ground.<ref name="Complex-Origins"/> This facilitates a new crop of wheat. In the domestic variety, the seed head remains intact. While such a [[mutation]] may occasionally occur in the wild, it is not viable there in the long term: the intact seed head will only drop to the ground when the stalk rots, and the kernels will not scatter but form a tight clump which inhibits germination and makes the mutant seedlings susceptible to disease. But harvesting einkorn with intact seed heads was easier for early human harvesters, who could then manually break apart the seed heads and scatter any kernels not eaten. Over time and through selection, conscious or unconscious, the human preference for intact seed heads created the domestic variety, which has slightly larger kernels than wild einkorn. Domesticated einkorn thus requires human planting and harvesting for its continuing existence.<ref>Weiss and Zohary, pp. S239–S242</ref> This process of domestication may have taken only 20 to 200 years, resulting in a wheat that was easier to harvest.<ref>{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Patricia C. |year=1991 |chapter=Harvesting of Wild Cereals During the Natufian as seen from Experimental Cultivation and Harvest of Wild Einkorn Wheat and Microwear Analysis of Stone Tools |title=Natufian Culture in the Levant |editor-first=Ofer |editor-last=Bar-Yosef |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan |series=International Monographs in Prehistory |page=523 |publisher=Berghahn Books}}</ref>

An important characteristic facilitating the domestication of einkorn and other annual grains is that the plants are largely self-pollinating. Thus, the desirable (for human management) traits of einkorn could be perpetuated at less risk of cross-fertilization with wild plants which might have traits – e.g. smaller seeds, shattering seed heads,<ref name = "Complex-Origins" >{{ Cite journal |language=en |year=2009 |first4=Robin |first3=Wayne |first2=Martin |first1=Terence |last4=Allaby |last3=Powell |last2=Jones |last1=Brown |publisher=Cell Press |type=Review |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |issn=0169-5347 |title=The complex origins of domesticated crops in the Fertile Crescent |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=103–109 |doi=10.1016/j.tree.2008.09.008 |pmid=19100651 |bibcode=2009TEcoE..24..103B |url=https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/367/1/WRAP_Allaby_.pdf }}</ref> as less desirable for human management.<ref>{{ Cite book |last=Bellwood |first=Peter |year=2005 |title=First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies |location=Malden, MA |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |pages=46–49}}</ref>

== Ecology and distribution ==

Einkorn wheat commonly grows wild in the hill country in the northern part of the [[Fertile Crescent]] and [[Anatolia]], although it has a wider distribution reaching into the [[Balkans]] and south to [[Jordan]] near the [[Dead Sea]].<ref name=ZoharyHopf3343/> 

== History ==

=== Early human use ===

Einkorn wheat is one of the [[Neolithic founder crops |earliest cultivated forms]] of wheat, alongside [[emmer]] wheat (''T. dicoccum'').  Hunter gatherers in the [[Fertile Crescent]] may have started harvesting einkorn as early as 30,000 years ago, according to archaeological evidence from [[Syria]].<ref>Arranz-Otaegui, A., Carretero, L. G., Ramsey, M. N., Fuller, D. Q., & Richter, T. (2018). "Archaeobotanical evidence reveals the origins of bread 14,400 years ago in northeastern Jordan." [[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]]. doi:10.1073/pnas.1801071115</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Crops evolving ten millennia before experts thought |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171023094942.htm |website=ScienceDaily |access-date=23 October 2017 |date=23 October 2017}}</ref><ref name=Allaby>{{cite journal |last1=Allaby |first1=Robin |last2=Stevens |first2=Chris |last3=Lucas |first3=Leilani |last4=Maeda |first4=Osamu |last5=Fuller |first5=Dorian | title=Geographic mosaics and changing rates of cereal domestication |journal=[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B]] |publisher=[[The Royal Society]] |volume=372 |issue=1735 |pages=20160429 |date=Oct 2017 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2016.0429 |pmid=29061901 |pmc=5665816}}</ref> 

=== Domestication ===

Although gathered from the wild for thousands of years, einkorn wheat was first domesticated approximately 10,000 years BP in the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] (PPNA) or [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B |B]] (PPNB) periods.<ref name=ZoharyHopf38>{{cite book |first1=Daniel |last1=Zohary |first2= Maria |last2=Hopf |first3= Ehud |last3=Weiss |title=Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Domesticated Plants in Southwest Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean Basin |isbn=9780199549061 |edition= Fourth |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] (OUP) |year=2012 |page=38}}</ref> Evidence from [[DNA fingerprinting]] suggests einkorn was first domesticated near [[Karaca Dağ]] in southeast Turkey, an area in which a number of PPNB farming villages have been found.<ref name="Heun1997">{{ cite journal |author1=Heun, M. |author2=Schäfer-Pregl, R. |author3=Klawan, D. |author4=Castagna, R. |author5=Accerbi, M. |author6=Borghi, B. |author7=Salamini, F. | title = Site of Einkorn Wheat Domestication Identified by DNA Fingerprinting | year = 1997 | journal = [[Science (journal) |Science]] | volume = 278 | issue = 5341 | pages = 1312–1314 | doi = 10.1126/science.278.5341.1312 |bibcode=1997Sci...278.1312H }}</ref> One theory by [[Yuval Noah Harari]] suggests that the domestication of einkorn was linked to intensive agriculture to support the nearby [[Göbekli Tepe]] site.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Harari |first1=Yuval N. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/896791508 |title=Sapiens : a brief history of humankind |translator-last=Purcell |translator-first=John |last2=Watzman |first2=Haim |date=10 February 2015 |isbn=978-0-06-231609-7 |publisher=Harper |edition=First U.S. |location=New York |oclc=896791508}}</ref>

=== Spread of cultivation ===

From the northern part of the Fertile Crescent, the cultivation of einkorn wheat spread to the [[Caucasus]], the Balkans, and central Europe. Einkorn wheat was more commonly grown in cooler climates than [[emmer wheat]], the other domesticated wheat. Cultivation of einkorn in the Middle East began to decline in favor of emmer wheat around 2000 BC. Cultivation of einkorn was never extensive in [[Italy]], southern [[France]], and [[Spain]]. Einkorn continued to be cultivated in some areas of northern Europe throughout the [[Middle Ages]] and until the early part of the 20th century.<ref name=ZoharyHopf3343>{{cite book |last1=Hopf |first1=M. |last2=Zohary |first2=Daniel |title=Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Cultivated Plants in West Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, Oxfordshire |year=2000 |pages=33–43 |isbn=0-19-850356-3 |edition=3rd }}</ref>

== Taxonomy and phylogeny ==

{{see also|Wheat#Genetics and breeding|Wheat taxonomy}}

Cultivated Einkorn was described as a taxon, ''Triticum monococcum'', by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1753. Later descriptions by other taxonomists, now treated as synonyms, include ''Triticum pubescens'' by [[Friedrich August Marschall von Bieberstein|von Bieberstein]] in 1800; ''Triticum hornemanii'' by Clementi in 1818; ''Nivieria monococcum'' <!--by Scr.?--> in 1841; ''Triticum vulgare monococcum'' by [[Friedrich Georg Christoph Alefeld|Alefeld]] in 1866; ''Triticum monococcum subsp. cereale'' by [[Albert Thellung]] in 1918.<ref name="Zaharieva 2014"/> Wild Einkorn is known either as ''Triticum monococcum'' subsp. ''aegilopoides'' or as ''Triticum boeoticum''.<ref name="Zaharieva 2014"/>

[[File:Polyploid wheat origins.svg|thumb|center|upright=2.5|Einkorn is related to emmer and bread wheat but is not a hybrid.<ref name="Golovnina-2007"/>]]

Wild and domesticated einkorns are [[diploid]] wheats. Unlike [[emmer]] and [[bread wheat]], which were formed by [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridisation]] with ''[[Aegilops]]'' goatgrasses, einkorn is not a hybrid.<ref name="Golovnina-2007">{{cite journal |last1=Golovnina |first1=K. A. |last2=Glushkov |first2=S. A. |last3=Blinov |first3=A. G. |last4=Mayorov |first4=V. I. |last5=Adkison |first5=L. R. |last6=Goncharov |first6=N. P. |title=Molecular phylogeny of the genus Triticum L |journal=[[Plant Systematics and Evolution]] |volume=264 |issue=3–4 |date=2007-02-12 |doi=10.1007/s00606-006-0478-x |pages=195–216 |bibcode=2007PSyEv.264..195G |s2cid=39102602 }}</ref>

== Agronomy ==

Einkorn wheat is low-yielding but can survive on poor, dry, marginal soils where other varieties of wheat will not. It is primarily eaten boiled in whole grains or in porridge.<ref name=ZoharyHopf3343 /> As with other ancient varieties of wheat such as [[emmer]], Einkorn is a "covered wheat" as its kernels do not break free from its seed coat ([[glume]]) with threshing. This makes it difficult to separate the husk from the seed.<ref name=Stallknecht>Stallknecht, G. F., Gilbertson, K. M., and Ranney, J.E. (1996), "Alternative Wheat Cereals as Food Grains: Einkorn, Emmer, Spelt, Kamut, and Triticale" in J. Janick, ed., ''Progress in New Crops'', Alexandria, VA: ASHA Press, pp. 156–170</ref>

== Food use and nutrition ==

Einkorn is a common food in northern [[Provence]] (France).<ref>{{cite book|last=Payany|first=E|year=2011|title=Le Petit Épeautre|publisher=LaPlage|isbn=978-2-84221-283-4}}</ref> It is used for [[bulgur]] or as [[animal feed]] in mountainous areas of countries including France, India, Italy, Morocco, the [[former Yugoslavia]], and Turkey.<ref name=Stallknecht/> It contains [[gluten]] (so is not suitable for people with [[gluten-related disorders]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Is Einkorn Gluten-Free? |url=https://www.beyondceliac.org/gluten-free-diet/is-it-gluten-free/einkorn/ |website=Beyond Celiac |access-date=20 November 2024}}</ref>) and has a higher percentage of protein than modern red wheats. It is considered more nutritious because it has higher levels of [[fat]], [[phosphorus]], [[potassium]], [[pyridoxine]], and [[beta-carotene]].<ref name=Stallknecht/>

== As a resource for plant breeding ==

Einkorn is the source of many potential introgressions for immunity – [[Nikolai Vavilov]] called it an "accumulator of complex immunities."<ref name="Zaharieva 2014">{{cite journal |year=2014 |issue=3 |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC |last1=Zaharieva |first1=Maria |last2=Monneveux |first2=Philippe |pages=677–706 |volume=61 |s2cid=16551824 |doi=10.1007/s10722-014-0084-7 |journal=Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution |issn=0925-9864 |eissn=1573-5109 |title=Cultivated einkorn wheat (''Triticum monococcum'' L. subsp. ''monococcum''): the long life of a founder crop of agriculture}}</ref> ''T. monococcum'' is the source of ''Sr21'', a [[stem rust resistance gene]] which has been [[introgressed]] into [[hexaploid wheat |hexaploid]] worldwide.<ref name = "Concepts-and-Methods" >{{cite book |last1=Roelfs |first1=Alan P. |last2=Singh |first2=R. P. |last3=Saari |first3=E. E. | title=Rust diseases of wheat : concepts and methods of disease management |publisher=[[CIMMYT]] (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) |publication-place=Mexico, D.F |date=1992 |isbn=968-6127-47-X |oclc=26827677 |page=81}}</ref> It is also the source of ''Yr34'', a [[plant disease resistance gene |resistance gene]] for [[wheat yellow rust |yellow rust]].<ref name="Locate rust resistance gene donated from Einkorn">{{cite journal |journal=Euphytica |issue=11 |year=2022 |last=Baranwal |volume=218 |first=Deepak |title=Genetic and genomic approaches for breeding rust resistance in wheat |s2cid=252973250 |doi=10.1007/s10681-022-03111-y |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The salt-tolerance feature of ''T. monococcum'' has been bred into [[durum]] wheat.<ref>{{ cite web |url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120311150717.htm |title = World Breakthrough On Salt-Tolerant Wheat |publisher=ScienceDaily |date = March 11, 2012 }}</ref>

== Images ==

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180>
File:Usdaeinkorn2.jpg|From [[Thuringia]], Germany
File:Triticum monococcum MHNT.BOT.2015.2.37.jpg|[[MHNT]]
File:wildeinkorn.jpg|Wild einkorn, [[Mount Karadağ]]
File:Triticum boeoticum Bajuwarenhof Kirchheim 2012-08-05.jpg|
File:Associations of wild cereals and other wild grasses in northern Israel.jpg|Associations of wild cereals and other wild grasses in northern Israel
File:Usdaeinkorn1 Triticum monococcum.jpg|The seeds remain inside the threshed [[spikelet]]s.
File:Leiden University Library - Seikei Zusetsu vol. 17, page 004 - 大麦奴 - Triticum monococcum L., 1804.jpg|''T. monococcum'', Japanese agricultural encyclopedia ''[[Seikei Zusetsu]]'' (1804)
</gallery>

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

{{Commons}}
{{Wikispecies|Triticum monococcum}}
{{Wheat}}
{{Cereals}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q161397}}

[[Category:Wheat]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:History of agriculture]]
[[Category:Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]]
[[Category:Wheat cultivars]]
[[Category:Founder crops]]
[[Category:Göbekli Tepe]]
[[Category:Ötzi]]
[[Category:Grasses of Lebanon]]