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Home , Ancient grains, Khorasan wheat, Salvia hispanica, Teff

❯ HEALTH & WELLNESS

back to the Latin term “far” (). Consum- NUTRACEUTICAL PLATFORMS ers with a intolerance or celiac disease have to recur to other than , spelt, and , to prevent gluten-relat- ed digestive problems. Gluten free cereals Ancient for include , , and . Pseu- docereals (, , and Modern Times chia) are all gluten free. Barley, Spelt and Among the , barley stands Having been with us for thousands of years, ancient out as one of the earliest cultivated cereal species. In Medieval Europe, barley was con- grains have enjoyed a remarkable rise in popularity sumed as a e.g. , while in the Middle East and modern Tibet barley is among Western consumers. Nutritional qualities back still very popular as a cereal ingredient for various dishes. In the Western world, barley up this consumer interest beyond any hypes. is nowadays mostly used for beer produc- tion and animal feed, but barley bread has by Rob Barnhoorn seen renewed consumer interest in recent years, particularly in outlets for health food s a popular term, “” are Nutritional Qualities and organic foodstuffs. The same goes for defined in different ways by different Generally speaking, small kernel grains spelt (Triticum spelta), the elder kin of mod- Aconsumer groups, but generally they like Indian grass, teff and quinoa tend to ern wheat. Health food stores and organic refer to staple crops cultivated of old which have a relatively higher content than food stores are nowadays the main suppliers were replaced in modern times by big com- maize/corn and rice, while quinoa can con- for consumers. Another ancient Triticum ce- mercial crops such as wheat, rice and tain up to 50% more protein than maize and real is , of which one specific corn. Ancient grains can be categorized in rice, and more or less matches wheat’s pro- variety is traded as KAMUT khorasan wheat. two main groups: cereals, such as spelt, oats, tein content. Botanically, modern commercial Oats are also a gluten containing ancient sorghum, millet and teff, all pertaining to the wheat varieties are closely related to ancient grain, although levels can be considerably large family of grasses ( or Gramine- grains of the Triticum genus like spelt, lower than in wheat, rye and barley. A well- ae); and , like buckwheat, and einkorn. In Roman times, spelt was the known health-promoting substance in oats amaranth, quinoa and chia, all of which bear number one staple food that kept the Roman are beta glucans, a type of that grain-like without being related to empire going, feeding cities and armies alike. exerts strong positive effects on the immune grasses at all and actually pertaining to very This importance is still reflected in the mod- system and . The relatively high different genera and families. ern French word “farine” () which traces dietary fiber content also leads to higher sa- tiety and lower GI levels.

Gluten Free Cereals Interestingly, several cereals, including Indian rice grass, the sorghum family and the various millet types, including teff, are all gluten free. In recent years, they have gained substantial consumer interest. Teff flour is used as a main ingredient in -ris- SOURCE: INNOVA MARKET INSIGHTS MARKET SOURCE: INNOVA en Ethiopian , . Sorghum Sor( - ghum bicolor), currently the fifth most impor- tant cereal grown worldwide (behind rice, wheat, maize/corn and barley), actually origi- nates from Northern Africa and has spread to various warm climate zones, including South East Asia, Northern , the US and . Besides for livestock feed and bioethanol production, it is also used for bread (), fermented and distilled alco- holic beverages (China), molasses or sweat sorghum syrup, and increasingly as gluten free wheat substitutes. A product example of the latter is gluten free Australian Weet-bix, produced with sorghum. For the gluten free market, sorghum now provides an optimal substitute for wheat. ❯ Sanitarium Weet-Bix Gluten Free Breakfast Biscuits inlcude a variant with sorghum Buckwheat is an ancient and another with sunflower seeds and puffed rice. botanically related to sorrel and rhubarb,

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which was domesticated early in agricultural Market Trends unable to meet global demand. history, probably 8,000 years ago, in South Besides nutritional factors as oil and pro- Marcel Minor, senior researcher and pro- East Asia. Russia was and is still known for tein content, the mainstreaming of gluten tein expert at Food & Biobased Research, its buckwheat production. China and Japan free products has clearly been of key impor- Wageningen UR, discussed the potential still use buckwheat in various dishes, includ- tance. According to Innova Market Insights, of quinoa seeds referring to new non-bitter ing noodles. Protein levels are relatively high, North America saw a 15% rise in launches of varieties, smart fractionation processing and hovering at around 18% and the products that contain ancient grains in the resulting ingredient opportunities. Until re- profile is very advantageous, including- es past year. Quinoa was the number one most cently, quinoa seeds were treated with wet sential amino acids like lysine, threonine, used ancient grain, while the highest growth processing, a necessary step to wash out tryptophan and the sulphur-containing ami- was accounted for by sorghum (+49%) and the intensely bitter saponins. But with the no acids, cysteine and methionine. Currently chia (+22%). Health positionings of these new non-bitter quinoa varieties developed buckwheat is highly valued as a quality raw products included allergy and gluten free, at Breeding, a research department material for gluten free beer production. wholegrain, high/source of fiber and - or at Wageningen UR, the wash-out step is no Amaranth species are pseudocereals that ganic. The combination of quinoa with oats longer necessary. Instead, dry processing were once used as staple foods in Central as ingredients in cereal bars and biscuits and can be applied, polishing the hull, compara- America and have spread to other conti- cookies is another interesting trend. ble to polishing the outer coat of rice kernels. nents too. Particularly Amarantus caudatus A further processing refinement is achieved is now also being cultivated in Eastern Af- Tailor-Made Quinoa by separating the embryonic root and cotyle- rica, where it is sometimes mixed with teff Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) is a dons, (appearing as a miniature tube around for preparing injera flatbread. Besides their pseudocereal originating from the the grain) from the nutritive kernel. seeds, which are used in breakfast food, bak- region, botanically related to goose- While the kernel holds most of the seed’s ery products, extruded foods, gluten free foot. In the past few years it has seen a steep , the tubelike plant embryo foods, injera bread and also for local bever- rise in popularity, to the extent that prices tri- contains relatively high levels of protein and ages, amaranth are highly esteemed pled and the main producing and exporting oil. Smart fractionation enabled Dr. Minor -rich vegetables. countries, Peru and Bolivia, were temporarily and his team to develop tailor-made quinoa flour products. Dr. Minor comments: “Both processing techniques have their advan- Table 1: Ancient Grains and Gluten Status tages and disadvantages. While wet frac- tionation provides a higher purity, dry frac- Crop Genus Gluten Status tionation is a less complicated process. Both Cereals fractionation products are applicable as high value product ingredients, e.g. in multigrain Barley Hordeum High baby food, or as oil, protein or fiber supple- mental ingredients in various food formula- Spelt, emmer, einkorn, , khorasan wheat Triticum High tions. And with a protein level of 15% in raw Oats Avena Low seeds, the protein fraction in dry matter after smart dry fractionation could easily reach 30 Indian rice grass Oryzopsis Gluten free to 35%, which is quite high.” International players Nestlé and Heinz show interest in Sorghum Sorghum Gluten free quinoa as an ingredient in food formulas.

Millet species including teff Various Gluten free European Varieties Robert van Loo, senior scientist at Plant Pseudocereals Breeding, Wageningen UR, discusses the potential of quinoa crops in saline soils, new Buckwheat Fagopyrum Gluten free non-bitter varieties and novel food applica- tions. Since the early nineties Plant Research Amaranth Amaranth Gluten free International (PRI), now part of Wageningen UR as , has been actively in- Quinoa Chenopodium Gluten free volved in developing new non-bitter quinoa varieties that are also suitable for cultivation Chia Gluten free in more temperate zones, such as Northern Europe and Central/Southern Chile. This has resulted in three varieties that are now culti- Table 2: Feed Conversion for Meat and Equivalent Quinoa Amount vated in France by the company Abbott Agra, led by European quinoa pioneer Jason Ab- Wheat (used Feed Quinoa needed Resulting meat bott. A South American pilot has been simul- Livestock for feeding conversion for same production taneously set up in Santiago by Wageningen livestock) (feed > meat) protein amount UR Chile, with the purpose of investigating Chickens 8.0 tons 3 > 1 2.7 tons 3.6 tons Chile’s potential for cultivating commercially interesting temperate zone quinoa . Pigs 8.0 tons 5 > 1 1.6 tons 2.1 tons Traditionally, Northern Chile has known qui- Cattle 8.0 tons 8 > 1 1.0 tons 1.3 tons noa cultivation, particularly in Andean saline soils where other grains would not thrive

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AncientGrains.indd 56 23-1-2015 17:13:39 anymore. Wageningen UR based high-quality dietary protein pro- 25 and 30% extractable oil) of (ALA), outnumbering omega 6 its breeding project on file: infants and toddlers, sports- which more than 50% is alpha-li- with a ratio Omega 3:Omega-6 quinoa’s particular quality of people/ athletes and the elderly. nolenic acid (ALA), an important = 3:1. Ingredia Nutritional exclu- high salt tolerance and has won Another advantage of quinoa is omega 3 oil. Actually, cultivation sively distributes Benexia Chia a prize in 2014, awarded for its its textural properties. Accord- of chia crops dates back to pre- Oil (produced by Functional project “Salt Tolerant Quinoa ing to Minor and Van Loo, quinoa columbian times and the name Product Trading S.A. in Chile) in for food in China, Vietnam and would also be a very suitable raw chia was derived from an indige- Europe and Asia. The application Chile” for non-genetically modi- material or basic ingredient for nous word chian, meaning “oily” “for the placing on the market of fied, salt-tolerant quinoa that fermented products, noodles in , the language of the chia oil as a novel food ingredi- grows well and even thrives in and as a meat substitute. Van Aztecs. The omega 3 fatty acid ent pursuant to Article 4 of Regu- saline soils. Van Loo comments: Loo illustrates this by calculating present in chia, alpha-linolenic lation 258/97,” has just been ap- “Quinoa is naturally tolerant to the protein equivalent of quinoa acid, can be converted to DHA proved by the EU Member States high salt levels in soils, and it compared to various types of and EPA in the human body, and the European Commission would therefore be very suitable meat, in terms of feed conver- which makes chia an important after the Advisory Committee for saline regions. In Northern sion and sustainability. “When we vegetable source of omega 3 on Novel Foods and Processes Chile, some areas are saline to take well-known rough figures fatty acids. The actual conver- delivered a positive opinion. The a point that weeds do not grow to estimate the amount of wheat sion rate seems to depend on uses in Europe are the following any more in these salt plains, needed to produce 1kg of meat, the amount of linoleic acid (LA) applications: food supplements while quinoa still produces sub- chicken, pork or beef, respective- in the diet, due to ALA’s an LA’s (2g/day), plant and oils stantial yields. Just for the sake ly, it appears that chickens need competitive use of the same en- (maximum 10%). Besides alpha of comparison, a common cereal 3kg of wheat per kilo of meat, zymes during conversion (sub- linolenic acid, other health-pro- like barley can tolerate salt levels cattle as much as 8kg/kg meat, strate competition). moting bioactive substances in of up to 25% of sea water mixed while pigs show an intermedi- Since the intake ratio of chia seeds include antioxidants in with the water supply, while ate position. With the protein ALA:LA in Western consumers is (tocopherols/) and phy- quinoa’s salt toleration goes up percentage of meat hovering known to be heavily unbalanced, tosterols. Potential uses as an in- to the astounding level of 80% around 20%, and quinoa contain- a very favorable quality of Benex- gredient include supplementing sea water. And according to ing 15% of protein, it becomes ia chia oil in terms of its fatty acid products like gourmet Italian research, quinoa still pro- clear that 3 tons of chicken meat profile is that 63% of its com- oils, , cereals, and duces 2.8 tons per hectare at a (9 tons of wheat needed for feed, position is Alpha Linolenic Acid margarines.t mixture of 50% sea water/50% thus having a conversion factor fresh water.” of 3) are equivalent to 4 tons of quinoa in terms of equivalent Powerful Protein Profile amounts of protein.” “However, Van Loo and Minor agree that as a bonus, quinoa also throws quinoa’s advantageous amino in considerable amounts of oil, acid profile and high protein frac- and fiber. Compared to tion would make it a very suitable the amount of wheat needed ingredient for those consumer for meat production, particularly segments that, more than the pork and beef, quinoa is clearly a average consumer, depend on a much more efficient protein sup- plier. Taking into consideration that quinoa crop yields lie be- tween 2.0 and 3.5 tons/ha. versus wheat yields in Western Europe producing between 6.0 and 8.0 tons/ha., quinoa protein pro- duction is still more sustainable than wheat cultivation used for feeding pigs and cattle. Global

SOURCE: INNOVA MARKET INSIGHTS MARKET SOURCE: INNOVA wheat production hovers around 3 tons/hectare, which makes qui- noa’s sustainable qualities even more pronounced on a world- wide scale.”

Chia: A Rising Oil Seed Chia, botanically known as , is an ancient pseudocereal originating from . In Central America, chia is used as an ingredient in tradi- tional food dishes and drinks. It is ❯ Plum Organics Quinoa & Leeks characterized by a relatively high With Chicken + Tarragon (US) oil content (containing between

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