Plant breeding for organic and sustainable, low-input agriculture

Hulled wheats and naked barley – Prime examples for participatory research
Heinrich Grausgruber, Firdissa Eticha, Christine Sailer, Negash Geleta, Ingrid Weinzetl,
Julia Schmidt, Susanne Siebenhandl
Department of Applied Plant Sciences and Plant Biotechnology, BOKU–University of Natural
Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
Years ago, einkorn (Triticum monococcum), emmer (T. dicoccum), and naked (hull-less) barley
(Hordeum vulgare) were rediscovered by organic farmers due to their adaptability to harsh
climatic conditions and soils of low-productivity, and their status as niche and specialty grains.
Newly, einkorn, emmer and naked barley became increasingly popular due to the discovery of
health promoting phytochemicals (Abdel-Aal & Wood, 2005) and the growing interest of
consumers towards ‘slow food’. Due to their neglected and under-utilized status and the nonexistence
of intensive breeding programmes einkorn, emmer and naked barley represent prime
examples for participatory research. At present seeds of some genebank accessions are
multiplied by farmers only at random. Efficient screening of the diversity of genotypes for
valuable traits required by producers and processors is essential.
Accessions of genebanks and seed savours networks were tested in Eastern Austria. Agronomic
traits were evaluated together with farmers. Quality traits, e.g. yellow pigment content of
einkorn, beta-glucan content of barley were studied by food scientists. Processing quality, e.g.
suitability for dehulling, pearling and milling, cooking quality of pearled grain or baking quality,
was investigated by food technologists, processors and farmers.
Yield, yield stability and tolerance to lodging are major agronomic traits required by farmers.
Although genetic variability is available no emmer or einkorn was found without lodging. Net
kernel yield is dependent on gross yield, dehulling suitability and kernel size. Plump kernels are
required for pearling and cooking, whereas for whole-grain flour kernel size is of less
importance. Variability in health promoting compounds is considerable: contents of yellow
pigments in einkorn and beta-glucan in naked barley are up to 22 ppm and 7.4%, respectively.
For marketing reasons unique quality characteristics are demanded more increasingly by
processors. Products already marketed cover einkorn bread and pastry, einkorn and emmer
pearled grain, and polished and/or pearled naked barley grain. Research on naked barleys with
high contents of beta-glucan and polyphenolics and their use in food products is ongoing.
Acknowledgement: Parts of the work are financially supported by the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management and the city of Vienna
(Hochschuljubiläumsstiftung).
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