In restaurants and supermarkets, bread wheat reigns supreme and quinoa is the superfood du jour. But plant scientists want to re-introduce ancient grains einkorn, emmer and spelt.
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Ancient grain gets a fast food makeover
Spelt has been around for thousands of years, but not in the delicious form you'll discover when the Agape Organic Food Truck stops near you.
In the latest issue of Trends in Plant Science, German researchers say the cereal industry should take advantage of the demand for "novel, healthy and interesting in taste" foods and re-introduce old wheat species that would boost biodiversity and farmer income.
While thousands of years of cultivation produced different types of wheat, industrial farming had narrowed the focus down to just one - bread wheat.
"The diversity of these old species lies frozen in gene banks," write Friedrich Longin and Tobias Würschum from the University of Hohenheim in Germany.
"The German gene bank alone holds 126, 316, and 233 accessions of spelt, emmer, and einkorn respectively and the challenge is now to ... identify those species, which are suited for a self-financing reintroduction in the consumer market."
Chef Simon Lawson has been using spelt flour, instead of common wheat, for the past 10 years. He runs Agape Organic Food Truck which offers crispy spelt battered fish, spelt rolls and spelt brownies.
He said spelt started gaining traction, along with quinoa, about seven years ago, but fell by the wayside with the growth in consumers seeking gluten-free foods.
"Spelt gives a nuttier, heartier, wholesome flavour. It's not pronounced, but you can tell it's different," he said.
"Some of my customers who know about spelt say: 'I can't believe it, it's so amazing you use it'."
Spelt and einkorn have high amounts of protein, while emmer (also known as farro) has appreciable amounts of antioxidants, according to the Grains and Legumes Nutrition Council's website.
Michelle Broom, the council's general manager, says she would like to see consumers eat a variety of grains, as they do with fruits and vegetables.
She said the small amount of spelt grown in Australia largely went to artisan bakers who made bread suitable for those with irritable bowel syndrome.
"If farmers can get a premium price for growing emmer, a quality grain in limited supply, then that would be great for them," she said.
"At the same time, it adds variety to our diets. It adds interest, may bake slightly differently, have different nutritional profiles."
Geoff Brown from Buckwheat Enterprises in Parkes, NSW, is one of the very few Australian producers of emmer and spelt. He has previously grown einkorn.
He's convinced there's a market for the two wheat types. In the 90s, most of his spelt was exported to the US. Now, most of the 2000 tonnes are sold to food makers in Australia.
"It's just going to keep on growing. We've been waiting a long time for this, for 15 years," he said.
"Bread wheat is high yielding and there's more money per acre. Ancient grains aren't going to yield as much, but because they don't, they're naturally higher in protein."
Dr Longin and Dr Würschum said the loss of biodiversity over the past couple of centuries had contributed to the extinction of species, vulnerability of ecosystems, and would make it difficult to tackle challenges brought on by climate change.
They said re-introducing ancient grain crops would satisfy "emotionally driven consumer demand" in Western markets for "artisanal 'unmodified' products" while increasing crop and food diversity.
Nitika Garg, consumer behaviour researcher at the University of NSW, said shoppers often wanted to do something "right" and obtain a greater satisfaction when making a purchase.
She said if producers and advertisers were thinking of attaching a "super food" label to an ancient grain, they should be ready to back up the claim with scientific evidence.
"They need to back it up with science, because in the long run consumers need to have confidence in these claims," she said.