Eragrostis tef

Teff ( Eragrostis tef )

Teff Tef or dwarf grass ( Eragrostis tef ) is a species within the family of grasses ( Poaceae ). The natural range is in Ethiopia, but the species is also cultivated in other tropical and subtropical regions, where it is often neglected. The seeds are gluten-free and rich in essential fatty acids. This type of millet is the most important grain in Ethiopia, where it is further processed into pita bread and beer and used as cattle feed.

Description

Appearance and leaf

Teff is an annual, tufted upright growing, 30 centimeters to 1 meter tall grass. The most upright, simple or branched stems reach heights of growth to 90 cm and have no glands. The nodes ( more nodes ) are bald.

The foliage leaf is divided into leaf sheath and blade. The leaf sheath is bald. The ligule ( ligule ) has a line of hairs ( trichomes ). Simple, bare lamina is rolled up linear, flat or in a length of 6 to 30 cm and a width of 2 to 4 mm to the top; it has no glands.

Inflorescence, flower and fruit

The inflorescence is a 10 to 50 centimeters long, contracted or open, often overhanging panicle with long Rispenästchen. The twigs are arranged lively in the lower part of the inflorescence, all other above are not lively. The spikelets are 4 to 9 mm long, slender, thread-like stems. The branches are bare or sparsely distributed long fine hairs. Also the top spikelet is fertile. Spikelets are flattened narrow elongated and somewhat to the side at a length from 5.5 to 9 mm and a width of 1.5 to 2 millimeters.

Each spikelet contains four to twelve flowers. The flowers remain some time at the Ährchenachse. The unequal glumes have almost half the length of the adjacent lemma. There are no awns present. The keeled, lanceolate in outline barren glumes have a sharp or pointed upper end; the bottom is 1.2 to 2.5 mm long, and the upper 1.7 to 3 mm long. The keeled, thin-skinned lemma is oblong - elliptic to oblong- ovate with a length of 2 to 2.7 mm and has significant lateral nerves. The palea wilted late in the lemma. The palea is bald on the sides and her keel is slender, wingless and rough. The three anthers are 0.3 to 0.6 mm long.

The whitish or dark red-brown caryopses are oval or elongated and swollen, and 1 to 1.5 millimeters long. The caryopses remain in the mature spikelets.

Set of chromosomes and Ethnicity

In Tef Allotetraploidie exists with 2n = 4x = 40. The basic chromosome number is x = 10, so The origin of this cereal from diploid wild species within the species-rich genus Eragrostis is unknown.

Dissemination

The dwarf millet comes from the highlands of Ethiopia, where it is preferably grown at altitudes between 1000 and 3000 meters as a grain. It is cultivated beyond its range in tropical and subtropical areas and is often neglected until the mid-latitudes.

Taxonomy

The first publication was in 1775 under the name ( basionym ) Poa tef by Attilio Zuccagni in Dissertazione Ditef. The recombination Eragrostis tef to ( Zucc. ) Trotter was published in 1918 by Alessandro Trotter in Bolle Tino della Società Botanica Italiana, p 62; he put this kind so in the genus Eragrostis. The specific epithet comes from the Amharic tef and is used in Ethiopia for the dwarf millet.

Other synonyms for Eragrostis tef ( Zucc. ) Trotter are: Poa abyssinica Jacq, Poa radicans Moench, Poa cerealis Salisb. . nom. Superfl. , Cynodon abyssinicus ( Jacq. ) Raspail, Eragrostis abessinica ( Jacq. ) Link orth var, Eragrostis abyssinica ( Jacq. ) link, Poa flaccida Moench ex Steud. per syn., Eragrostis pilosa subsp. abyssinica ( Jacq. ) Asch. & Graebn. , Eragrostis abyssinica var alba Hochst. ex Chiov. , Eragrostis abyssinica Hochst var viridis. ex Chiov. , Eragrostis pilosa var tef ( Zucc. ) Fiori, Eragrostis tef f spiciformis Serp., Eragrostis tef subsp. spiciformis ( Serp. ) Portal & H.Scholz.

Use

Teffsamen are gluten-free and rich in essential fatty acids. They are, despite their small size, the most important grain in Ethiopia and ground processed into bread or porridge. In Ethiopia, teff flour is the basis of the Ethiopian national dish injera, a pancake -like unleavened bread, which is eaten with vegetable and meat dishes. Teff is also the basis for the production of Tella, a beer and other alcoholic beverages such as Kati Kalla. As a bread grain whitish seeds are preferred braunsamigen varieties are used as cattle feed and used for beer production. The straw of plants is a valued animal feed.

Calorific value and ingredients

100 grams of Teff have a calorific value of 1541.4 kJ, equivalent to 367 kcal. The same amount has the following ingredients:

Cultivation

Sowing takes place mostly in the rainy season. The plants grow quickly and are in demand for water frugal. Teff is harvested about three months after sowing.

The seeds are very small (less than 1 mm in diameter, thousand grain mass from 0.35 to 0.47 g). This property makes teff particularly suited for semi-nomadic lifestyles, because the seeds for large areas can be carried easily in luggage. In Ethiopia, the average yield is about 9 t / ha. The best varieties supply to nearly 30 dt / ha. For several years there has been a successful crop of Nachzüchtungen in the Netherlands. Lately Teff is also cultivated in Germany. In Europe, the yield is 7-13 t / ha, depending on the climatic history of the year.

Diseases

Economically important is the infestation with the rust fungus Uromyces eragrostidis.