Durum

Durum wheat ( Triticum durum)

The durum wheat ( Triticum durum), also known as durum, durum wheat or glass, is according to common wheat (Triticum aestivum), the most economically important wheat species. The cultivation is usually done as a summer crop.

Features

Durum wheat reaches a height of 80 to 150 cm. The blade is thick-walled and filled in the upper part with Mark. The nodes are bald.

The inflorescence is a spike. Without awns it measures 4 to 6 cm, with a width of 12 to 18mm. It is compressed laterally, and in cross-section approximately a square. The ears axis is not brittle to maturity, the durum wheat is thus a naked wheat. Sit tufts of hair at the point of attachment of the spikelet. Spikelets contain from four to seven flowers, two to four of which are fertile. The spikelet is 10 to 15 mm long, as well as long as wide. The glumes are 9-12 mm long, almost as long as the lowest florets. You are membranous and sharply keeled to leaf. The keel terminates in an upright tooth. The side keel terminates in a lateral tooth. The lemmas have nine to 15 nerves, 12 mm long and have an up to 20 mm long awn.

The caryopsis is oblong - pointed. She is wrapped loosely from the top and palea and falls to maturity of the ear from. The endosperm is vitreous.

The set of chromosomes is allopolyploid with 2n 2n = 28

Characteristic of durum wheat are its high gluten content, the yellow color and a high resistance to boiling. It has a higher protein content and also lower starch content than winter wheat.

Average composition

The composition of durum wheat fluctuates naturally, both depending on the environmental conditions (soil, climate ) as well as the cultivation techniques (fertilization, crop protection).

Information per 100 g edible portion:

1 mg = 1000 ug

The physiological calorific value is 1424 kJ ( 339 kcal) per 100 g edible portion.

Dissemination

Durum wheat is known only as a culture. It was created presumably from the Emmer (Triticum dicoccon ). He is thermophilic and requires less than 500 mm rainfall. Major growing areas are the Mediterranean Sea area and Asia Minor.

Durum wheat represents about 10 % of the world wheat quantity. The main producing countries in Europe for durum wheat in 2007 were Italy (4 million tonnes), France ( 1.9 million tonnes), Spain ( 1.2 million tonnes ) and Greece ( 0.9 million tonnes ). In Germany in the same year 38,000 t and 53,000 t harvested in Austria.

Use

The semolina is particularly rich in protein (mean content about 16 %), the obtained therefrom elastic dough is particularly suitable for the production of pasta, especially for classic Italian pasta. Also, couscous and bulgur are made from durum wheat.

Others

In the European Union, the consumption exceeds production. In order to keep the price still low, there is on durum wheat export duty - currently (as of January 2014) the only EU.

Durum wheat