Fiber quality of emmer (Triticum dicoccumSchubler) and einkorn wheat (T monococcumL) landraces as determined by analytical pyrolysis

Hulled wheat grain is used mainly in the alternative or health food market. Most of the suggested beneficial effects of these cereals are due to specific characteristics of their fibre. Pyrolysis/gas‐chromatography/mass‐spectrometry (PY/GC/MS) has proved to be a reproducible analytical tool for fibre analysis applicable to the analysis of cereal fibre. Pericarp fibre of 10 emmer and einkorn wheat landraces were analysed by PY/GC/MS and compared to a test durum wheat variety. The pyrolysis fragments derived from the polysaccharide fraction were significantly more abundant in emmers than in the other genotypes, whereas the highest percentage of lignin‐derived pyrolysis fragments was detected in durum wheat. The genotype groups (winter and spring emmers, einkorn and durum wheat) were satisfactorily discriminated on the basis of the molecular composition of the fibre, whereas a discrimination within groups was not possible due to the limited number of samples available. The results suggest that the native emmer genetic material may represent a source of high‐value dietary fibre. Breeding should aim at preserving such characters. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry