Food uses for ancient wheats

The physical dough properties of einkorn, Khorasan, and hard and soft spelt wheats were evaluated and compared with durum and common wheats for applications in basic food products. Despite a high protein content, einkorn flour had very weak gluten strength and potential applications in soft-wheat products in which yellow color is not a problem. Soft spelt flours had a short mixing time and potential applications in two-layer flat breads. Khorasan flour had high yellow semolina yields and produced pasta comparable in quality to superior durums, but high lipoxygenase content could be a problem. Hard spelt flours had low gluten strength but produced a flaked cereal with appealing flavor and texture. Except for einkorn protein content, ancient wheats were comparable to modern wheats in chemical composition.