Composition of whole and refined meals of Kamut (T. turanicum Jakubz.) under southern Italian conditions.

Due to the need for crop diversification and sustainable agriculture, and the increasing demand of healthy foods, a renewed interest in the so-called 'ancient wheats' took place in the last decades. In this study, whole and refined meals of Oriental wheat accession QK-77, registered as Kamut (R), were compared with four cultivars, one each for common wheat, cv. Rio, durum wheat, cv. Norba, emmer, cv. Farvento, and spelt, cv. Forenza. Fifteen parameters related to meal composition were investigated. Kamut (R), emmer and spelt cultivars showed the higher protein and ash contents. Distinctive traits of Kamut were higher amounts of selenium and pigments. To better perceive the differences among the cultivars, data were submitted to the Principal Component Analysis (PICA). Two sub-groups, corresponding to whole and refined meals, were distinguishable in the three-dimensional plot. Overall compositional traits of Kamut meals were comparable with those of cv. Norba.