Vavilov'S Wheat

Description

Triticum spelta, spelt, which is sometimes classified as a variety of common wheat, T. aestivum var. spelta, is an annual grass in the Poaceae (grass family) native to the Mediterranean region and southwest Asia. Spelt is one of several species and numerous varieties of cultivated wheat, which was an important grain in Europe from the Bronze Age until medieval period, when it was largely replaced by other forms of wheat (T. aestivum and T. durum, durum wheat), although it continued to be commonly used in Central Europe through the 1800s and early 1900s, and cultivated in the Mediterranean. It has received renewed attention in the past two decades due to the organic farming movement (because it requires less fertilizer and fewer pesticides than other forms of wheat) and as a health food (because it is tolerated by some people who are allergic to common wheat).