Nutritional quality of einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.) kernels

Einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.) is a hulled wheat, widely cropped and eaten in prehistoric times but largely neglected today. Current trends towards low-impact and sustainable agriculture as well as an increase in the consumption of healthy and functional food suggest that it may still play a role in human consumption. Therefore, einkorn potential for human consumption was assessed by analysing the chemical composition of several T. monococcum accessions, as well as T. turgidum and T. aestivum controls, grown at S. Angelo Lodigiano, Italy. A broad within-einkorn variation for all the traits analysed was observed. Compared to the controls, on average einkorn seeds had high protein content (18.2 ± 1.48%), high ash content (2.35 ± 0.165%), low total starch (65.5 ± 2.56%) and average amylose (25.7 ± 1.23% of total starch). Carotenoids and tocols (lipophilic antioxidants) were more concentrated in T. monococcum than in T. turgidum and T. aestivum: carotenoids, mostly lutein, averaged 8.4 ± 1.40 mg/kg, and several accessions showed significant amounts of carotenes (above 25% of total carotenoids); tocols, mainly btocotrienol, averaged 78.0 ± 8.73 mg/kg dm. Einkorn had also high contents in fructan (1.90 ± 0.19 g/100 g) and microelements: Zn (69 ± 9 mg/kg), Fe (49 ± 4 mg/kg), Mn (43 ± 4 mg/kg) and Cu (8 ± 0.4 mg/kg). Furthermore, lipid content was abundant (4.2 ± 0.40 g/100g) and 14 compounds were identified, mainly linoleic (50.8%) and oleic (24.8%) acids; 80.6% of total fatty acids were unsaturated. The analysis of several chemical parameters across a representative sample of T. monococcum, T. turgidum and T. aestivum confirmed the superior nutritional value of einkorn.