Agronomic and nutritional characteristics in emmer and spelt.

Emmer and spelt are two of the three cultivated species of hulled wheat called farro in Italy. A new flourishing market has arisen in some Italian regions for these two neglected crops. The germplasm collection of emmer and spelt stored in the genbank of Bari has been characterised and evaluated for some agronomic, genetic and nutritional data. A wide variation was noticed for plant height, lodging susceptibility, grain yield and SDS test. MG5400/5 and MG5320/2 were the best lines of emmer and spelt , respectively, with a production of 3.0 and 2.6t/ha of naked grains. Emmer showed a higher polymorphism than spelt for both HMW glutenin and gamma-gliadin fraction. Nineteen HMW glutenin subunits were identified. New subunits, attributable to novel alleles at Glu-A1 and Glu-B1 loci, were found in some emmer accessions. A very low variation characterized the gamma-gliadin fraction. Spelt showed the highest protein content and SDS test values. All this information could be useful in a breeding program. The farro ideotype should posse: a shorter height, higher yield, a stiffer rachis and a weaker glume adhesion to facilitate the dehusking.