Swabian thick-headed wheat

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Swabian thick-headed wheat, cultivated in a field near Beuren (Haldenhof)

The common wheat species Dickkopf (general name because of the short-garnished spikelets that are dense and slightly wider at the top) Triticum aestivum var. Lutescens , belongs to the sweet grass family (Poaceae) and here to the genus wheat (Triticum). Common wheat has a six-fold set of chromosomes , i.e. 2n = 6x = 42 chromosomes.

Emergence

The thickened ear shape on shorter plant stalks, which is strikingly thickened for Dickkopf wheat, was found in his wheat field around 1860 by the Scottish farmer Samuel D. Shirreff and continued to breed. This wheat is therefore called Shirreff's Squarehead Wheat. Presumably it was a mutation. The shorter growth, the good stability and the higher yields (than with the local varieties used at the time) led to a rapid spread, also in Germany. However, since the grains of Squarehead wheat had poor baking properties and were not so winter-proof, they were crossed with the tried and tested longer regional varieties. Numerous shorter, more winter-resistant and higher-yielding varieties were created. A special development of such new varieties can be reported from southern Germany. Until about 1888 the most common type of grain there was spelled ( Triticum aestivum spelta ). The crossings of the squarehead with the closely related spelled (it is also hexaploid with 42 chromosomes) led to the emergence of particularly high quality varieties. These inherited from the spelled u. a. a high winter hardiness and grain quality, from the squarehead shorter growth, yield and bare grain in the threshing , so that a complex peeling , which is typical for spelled, was omitted. As early as 1937, only 46,000 hectares of spelled were cultivated in Württemberg and more than 108,000 hectares of wheat, mainly thick-headed varieties. In this way they had assumed a certain “bridging function” between the spelled and wheat eras in Württemberg for around 70 years. With the emergence of the short high-breeding varieties with higher yields and good combine properties, however, the Dickkopf varieties gradually fell into oblivion after 1950 and disappeared from cultivation.

Rediscovery and cultivation of the Swabian Dickkopf country wheat

Jan Sneyd ( University of Economics and Environment Nürtingen-Geislingen ) filtered out a high-quality genotype of thick-headed wheat in a collection and evaluation project on old grains that has lasted over 20 years . The research showed that it is a typical old, Württemberg genotype from the gene pool of crosses between wheat and spelled ( Triticum aestivum x spelta ). It was not until 2008 that cultivation could begin in a project run by the Veit bakery in Bempflingen . In 2011 the "Swabian Dickkopf-Landweizen" was added to the " Red List of Endangered Native Crops in Germany ". In 2013 the variety “Schwäbischer Dickkopf-Landweizen” was recognized as a “ Slow Food Ark Passenger” and in 2015 it was approved for cultivation as a “conservation variety” by the Bundessortenamt Hannover; this, however, with the variety name "Schwäbischer Veit Dickkopf". The propagation areas on the Haldenhof in Beuren and the Tannenhof in Metzingen have increased continuously since 2009. In 2015, 28 tons could already be harvested. The yields achieved so far are below those of the German high-bred varieties, but the cultivation is carried out (due to a certain susceptibility to storage and outgrowth) in an integrated, medium-intensive cultivation method with reduced use of nitrogen and plant protection measures only when necessary.

Properties of the thick-headed grains

Over the years, the high baking quality properties and the high values ​​of various ingredients have been confirmed. Thick wheat has high yellow pigment contents, iron and zinc contents, as well as vitamins E, B, very high antioxidant contents, good digestibility, polyphenols and is also suitable as flakes for muesli .

meaning

The example of the rediscovery, recultivation and reintroduction of thick-headed wheat in Baden-Württemberg shows that it is still possible to use the genetic potential of "old" varieties and thus preserve the variety of varieties.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eduard Birnbaum: Plant cultivation. 1st edition (reprint of the original from 1896), Salzwasser Verlag GmbH Paderborn, 2015, ISBN 978-3-8460-6618-8 , ( limited preview in Google book search)
  2. ↑ a b c The Association of Württemberg Plant Breeders, their businesses and their varieties. Ed .: Württemberg State Plant Breeding Institute Hohenheim, 1925
  3. ↑ a b c d "Slow Food Proposal from the Convivium Stuttgart / Prof. Dr. R. Lenz and S. Erb-Weber on the recognition of the Swabian Dickkopf-Landweizen as a passenger of the Ark of Taste ”from March 2012.
  4. ^ State archive Ludwigsburg / library documents: "District of Nürtingen and Reutlingen earlier, statistical information on cultivation areas in the 19th and 20th centuries"
  5. ↑ a b c Bäckerhaus Veit INFO newspaper 2014, 2015; Brochure Dickkopf-Landweizen
  6. ↑ "Dickkopfweizen Project"; Ms. Erdmute Veit-Murray and Ms. Susanne Erb-Weber, Minutes 2010
  7. ↑ Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food, Bonn 2011. Application from Ms. Susanne Erb-Weber and Mr. Jan Sneyd
  8. ↑ Descriptive variety list of the Federal Plant Variety Office 2015, Kennr: 5196 - Conservation sites; Bäckerhaus Veit, Mr. Johannes Klümpers, Bempflingen
  9. ^ Max Rubner Institute , Detmold
  10. ↑ Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Office Stuttgart / Fellbach
  11. ↑ Daniela Sumczynski, Zuzana Bubelova, Jan Sneyd, Susanne Erb-Weber, Jiri Mlcek: Total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, crude fiber and digestibility in non-traditional wheat flakes and muesli . In: Food Chemistry . tape 174 , May 2015, p. 319-325 , doi : 10.1016 / j.foodchem.2014.11.065 ( PDF ).