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FAIR-CT96-1569
Spelt, a recover crop for the future European sustainable agriculture |
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Proposal No: | FAIR-CT96-1569 |
| Date Prepared: | September 1999 | |
| Source: |
Progress report December 1998 |
Summary
Introduction At present time, spelt is mainly used for animal feeding and bread making. It is traditionally cultivated in German, Belgium, Switzerland and at a smaller scale in Austria. New products can be developed, for instance spelt pasta or... pillows. In the frame of the diversification in agriculture and the maintenance of agricultural populations, spelt is a crop which can meet needs of both farmers the consumers.
Objectives The main objective of the project is to develop spelt as an alternative crop in Europe for sustainable agriculture and to promote its niche market for special products. The project aims to develop this cereal in all parts of Europe, from the north to the south. Most of the European areas with lower soil fertility or subject to a more severe climate may be suitable for spelt cultivation. Spelt is an environmental friendly crop, especially for areas where cattle rearing is the main agricultural activity.
Activities The project is divided in four main tasks aimed at providing a better characterisation of spelt and enabling its development in Europe. Emphasis is made on the environmental friendly character of the crop. The tasks are as follows.
A set of 14 trials, established in 7 different countries has used 11 varieties (the same in all cases) and 5 local controls (chosen separately in each country) to assess the competitiveness of spelt in comparison with the traditionally cultivated cereals in the region. These will be repeated over three years. The aim of this part of the work is the assessment of the behaviour of spelt in traditional and non traditional spelt areas and to define the possibility and the economical value of spelt cultivation in areas of contrasting climate.
Quality traits have been developed to define the "true" spelt quality characteristics for various uses. For animal (ruminant) feeding, spelt is appreciated by the breeders who are concerned about the chemical composition and the quality of fibres is of the main importance. As far as human nutrition is concerned the properties of spelt related to processes such as milling, bread or pasta making (from the kernels to the products) are more important to develop the uses of this cereal.
The identification of specific markers is essential in order to select true spelt lines, as required by the consumer, especially in Germany and Switzerland. The three existing European spelt breeders have used wheat varieties in order to increase the variability. This has led to a risk of drift and the loss true spelt properties. It is also necessary to measure the purity of the products declared as " spelt products ". Indeed, there are often mixtures of wheat flour with spelt flours. Hence, there is a need for identification and the certification of spelt products. It is hoped to deliver a genetic map and specific spelt markers, as well as biochemical markers (gliadins and other prolamines) or molecular markers (AFLP, RFLP, microsatellites). Such markers will also be useful for the breeders.
New spelt varieties are required to enable cultivation over a wide range of countries and regions. These lines must have environmental friendly characters, such as a low input requirement (nitrogen, growth regulators and fungicide protection). The analysis of nitrogen balance in Belgium and Germany on 27 and 5 spelt lines respectively, will provide information on the variations in nitrogen requirement. This activity can build on three European breeding programmes started some years ago under the former European spelt network. To characterise the limiting factors present in the different locations, the breeders have exchanged nine populations at the stage of F2, F3 or F4. The same populations will be selected during two years and the retained lines will be evaluated in a crossed network during the third year of the project. The limiting factors of each selection will be defined on the base of the behaviour of the lines in the other locations than that where the line has been selected.
Results The results obtained during the second year confirm the expectations at the end of the first year. The trials carried out in the different countries strengthen impression that this crop has high adaptability under diverse latitudes and climatic conditions. The competitiveness of this crop is better when the growing conditions are bad.
During the reporting period, a process for the preparation of toast bread was developed that can be applied at an industrial scale. At the opposite, another bread making process was improved for the preparation of handicraft preparation of "seelen". This kind of breads is largely appreciated by consumers in Germany and could take some expansion in other countries in the future.
The characterisation of the fibres and amino acids composition shows differences between spelt and other cereals. These result help the identification of spelt as specific product and can be used as argument for the differentiation and the promotion of spelt products. The identification of specific gliadin sequences is also an argument that may be used to promote spelt as something different from wheat. In the same way, the measurement of genetic distances in spelt participates supports the distinction of spelt from other cereals. The identification and localisation of spelt genes responsible for the spelt baking quality will be important for breeding as well as the manufacturing industry. For other traits, such as early sprouting or high protein content, the identification of spelt markers will allow the breeders to follow the segregation of the character during the selection. However, easy tests should be developed that can be delivered to the breeders for marker assisted selection and to the industry for testing their spelt products.
Ten different glutenin bands were identified. The information of the presence of individual glutenin protein bands was combined with the molecular marker data obtained from each of the 225 RILs. The linkage analysis, trying to integrate the glutenin bands on the genetic map, will be made in the future. For the molecular characterisation of the glutenin gene family in spelt, different alleles have to be isolated, sequenced and compared to those of wheat. A non-radioactive RFLP technique for spelt, as well as fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH), has been established. This technique was more difficult in spelt than in wheat, because spelt tissue was more difficult to spread and spelt chromosomes were longer and not completely condensed even after treatment with colchicin.
Some gaps present in the genetic map of spelt previously published have been filled in using RFLP, AFLP or microsatellite markers. The use of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) to separate the albumin, globulin and gliadin components of spelt with high resolution was established. The advantages of CZE are the possibility of automation and the excellent resolution concerning the quality and quantity of expressed proteins in spelt cultivars. It is a very promising tool for use to distinguish spelt from other cereals. This 25 spelt cultivars grown in different environments were analysed and it was shown that the gliadin pattern, as determined by CZE, is independent of environmental. It was possible to define typical gliadin patterns that occur only in wheat but not in spelt. Hence, this is, a powerful tool for the detection of wheat contamination in spelt products. A method to differentiate between spelt and wheat based on glutenin proteins using native and SDS gel electrophoresis has also been developed.
The research on breeding breeders led to a first assessment of some of the limiting factors present in the three European selection programmes. The results obtained showed that the origin and the design of the crosses is of particular importance for some typical characteristics of spelt, such as the length of the grains and the strength of the rachis. The breeder is mainly responsible of the expression of these characters in the offspring, since the selection procedure can only relate to those traits within the retained populations. Some characteristics, such as those relating to resistance to lodging or diseases are dependent on the country of origin of the cross. The activities of the former ESN, a network of nine spelt trials established in Germany, Switzerland and Belgium involving 25 advanced breeders' lines or varieties led to the characteristics that limited the adaptability of the lines.
Results from this project indicate that the new spelt lines are more adaptable to very contrasting growing conditions than are the older ones. The main traits analysed were yield, lodging and the resistance to powdery mildew. It was clear that the requirements of the new lines are less than those of the older lines. A similar was reached in terms of nitrogen uptake. The new lines require lower inputs than the older ones. In addition, most of the new lines have a higher yield potential and are more resistant to lodging and are less influenced by the environment. In this case, environment includes not only soil and climate conditions but also the inputs to the culture. The same conclusion can be drawn for powdery mildew resistance. The new lines are not only less susceptible, but also the environment has less influence on them.
The characterisation of more than eighty old spelt land races for yield, resistance to diseases and lodging confirms the improvement of the agronomic characters for the new lines. Most of the old land races are highly susceptible to lodging and to the attacks of the different pathogens. However, some old spelt lines could be very useful in maintaining the true spelt characters. The best lines could be used in the future as parent in crosses involving recently released lines containing wheat germplasm. The appraisal of quality will be made on all the land races during the next reporting period.
Discussion The field visits organised by the partners of the project as well as various radio and TV broadcasts contributed to the better knowledge of spelt by the public and among the technicians and the farmers. This is particularly true in France, from where an increase in demand for spelt seeds came in late 1998. Other trials, not included in the frame of the SESA project were carried out in Luxembourg in 1998 and trials are sown this year next year in different regions of France. An increased demand for spelt products is currently noticed on the French market. The success of spelt in less fertile areas depends also on the available market outlets. The better definition of spelt uses or the development of improved traditional spelt products or the development of processing of new products is of importance. To reach this goal, it is necessary to demonstrate the potential of this cereal for various uses. Spelt is traditionally recognised as a high quality feed for cattle and calves. The demonstration and the characterisation of spelt properties for this use as well as the measurement of the digestibility by the NIR spectrometry will help the adoption of spelt as ruminant feed. To increase the use of spelt products in the field of human nutrition, the development and improvement of technological processes, for instance for bread making or pasta making is of main importance.
Future activities During next year trials of spelt adaptability will continue and the results from the three years will be analysed in order to define the adaptability of spelt in the different locations as well as the competitiveness of the crop in comparison with local control. This point is of particular interest for the future of spelt cultivation and will influence the future market for spelt products. This requires a rediscovery of the products and the uses of this "neglected cereal".
The development of new products has to link to expansion of cultivation to provide a market outlet. The development of methods for the preparation of extruded products for the production of breakfast cereals will lead to the expansion of the use of spelt. A similar conclusion can be drawn concerning the use of spelt products for pasta making and bread specialities production.
The filling of some gaps present in the spelt genetic map will give the breeders a better control in maintaining of the spelt character. The improvement of the detection of "contaminants' in spelt products should also lead to an increase in consumption of spelt products. The methods used for the detection of blends of products has to improved during the next reporting period. Finally, the breeders group will increase the knowledge of the limiting factors present in the different locations.
The analysis of the multi- annual and multi- local trials will lead to the improve of the selection procedures in order to release new varieties having the requested properties for the manufacturing industry as well as the required properties for the farmers and the consumers. The comparison of the selected material within the three European spelt breeding programmes will allow an improvement of the selection procedures for the release of well adapted lines to a broad range of growing conditions.
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by CPL Press:
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