Chemical composition of wild and feral diploid wheats and their bearing on domesticated wheats

• Seven wild, two feral and six domesticated wheats were analysed for composition.
• Wild einkorn has abundant protein, tocol, carotenoid and anthocyanin, low β-amylase.
• Triticum urartu has abundant protein and tocol, low carotenoid and high β-amylase.
• The PCA separated T. urartu from wild, feral and domesticated einkorn.
• Domesticated einkorn preserves the nutritional quality of its wild relative.

The diploid wild wheats Triticum monococcum ssp. thaoudar and Triticum urartu are the direct ancestors of all domesticated wheats, but almost nothing is known about the chemical composition of their kernels. Aim of this research was to assess their content in several compositional traits and to compare it with that of domesticated wheats. To this end, fifteen diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid accessions belonging to different Triticum species were tested for 1000 kernel weight, protein, ash and starch content, β-amylase activity, carotenoid, tocol, anthocyanin and polyphenol concentration. The wild einkorns had high protein (21.7 ± 0.74 g/100 g), ash (3.0 ± 0.06 g/100 g), tocol (75.1 ± 3.95 mg/kg), carotenoid (8.0 ± 0.91 mg/kg) and anthocyanin (43.0 ± 4.66 mg/kg) content, and low β-amylase activity (20.2 ± 0.84 B3U/g). T. urartu instead coupled high protein (28.0 ± 0.07 g/100 g), ash (3.3 ± 0.03 g/100 g) and tocol (63.9 ± 2.91 g/100 g) content with low carotenoid (2.7 ± 0.02 g/100 g) and high β-amylase (57.7 ± 0.11 g/100 g) levels. These results fit well with those observed in the derived wheats, i.e. domesticated and feral einkorn on one side and emmer, durum, spelt and bread wheat on the other. Several positive nutritional traits present in the diploid wild species were not lost during the transition from wild to domesticated forms.