Triticum turgidum dicoccon - (Schrank.)Thell.

(Schrank.)Thell.

Emmer

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Description

Triticum turgidum dicoccon is a ANNUAL. It is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil.

Edible Uses

Seed - cooked. It is usually ground into a flour and used as a cereal for making bread, biscuits etc. The seed retains its glumes when it is threshed

Distribution

Original habitat is obscure.

Where It Grows

(Triticum turgidum) TEMPERATE ASIA: Iran (west), Iraq (north), Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey (east).

Cultivation

An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most well-drained soils in a sunny position. Succeeds in poor rocky and in dry soils. One of the oldest cultivated wheats, it arose over 10,000 years ago through cultivation of the wild emmer, T. dicoccoides. Its cultivation is declining but it is still grown in some mountainous regions of Europe. There are some named varieties. A rather low yielding species compared to modern cultivars. It is believed that a cross between this species and Aegilops squarrosa, probably about 8,000 years ago, introduced an extra protein gene into the seed making a much stronger flour for baking as bread. Most modern species and cultivars of wheat have been developed from this cross. A tetraploid species.

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring or autumn in situ and only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within a few days.

Other Uses

Biomass Mulch Paper Starch Thatching. The straw has many uses, as a biomass for fuel etc, for thatching, as a mulch in the garden etc. A fibre obtained from the stems is used for making paper. The stems are harvested in late summer after the seed has been harvested, they are cut into usable pieces and soaked in clear water for 24 hours. They are then cooked for 2 hours in lye or soda ash and then beaten in a ball mill for 1½ hours in a ball mill. The fibres make a green-tan paper. The starch from the seed is used for laundering, sizing textiles etc. It can also be converted to alcohol for use as a fuel.