Search Results (22)

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are Gram-positive cocci or rods from different genera and species that synergistically coexist with yeasts in cereal sourdoughs. Although the production and consumption of sourdough breads have increased in the last decade, there are still few studies that identify the LABs present in sourdoughs of different origins. In this study, we identified LAB strains isolated from wheat sourdoughs sourced from bakeries in north-western Spain and from experimental sourdoughs developed by a baker with four different cereal flours: wheat, rye, spelt, and tritordeum. Through a combination of MALDI-TOF and pheS gene sequence analyses, we identified Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Levilactobacillus brevis in all analysed sourdoughs. Moreover, Lactiplantibacillus paraplantarum, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei, Lactococcus lactis, Pediococcus pentosaceus, and Weissella paramesenteroides were identified in different sourdoughs. These species were also isolated from sourdoughs obtained in other European countries, although we did not identify the other LAB genera identified in some of them. Our results demonstrate the need to identify the LAB species from sourdoughs of different origins prior to designing suitable starters for inoculated sourdoughs, particularly those produced with innovative flours. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the identity of LABs present in tritordeum sourdoughs in Spain. Full article

In the face of the global climate and ecological crisis, as well as growing consumer needs and demands, a transformation of the global food production and distribution system is necessary. The productivity and quality characteristics of Tritordeum make this cereal an effective tool in the sustainable modernization of the agricultural sector. However, this potential can be significantly limited in the supply chain by storage pests. This study aimed to assess the impact of Tritordeum resistance on the rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae L.). The experiment used 11 Tritordeum breeding lines in comparison to three cereal species derived from conventional cultivation systems (common wheat Triticum aestivum L., durum wheat Triticum durum Desf., spring barley Hordeum vulgare L.). The research showed that Tritordeum may be a substrate on which S. oryzae feeds, although the intensity of the pest’s development varied depending on the line. The study also demonstrated that the hardness of the Tritordeum seed coat did not directly influence the development intensity of the analyzed beetles. It was noted, however, that the degree of infestation by these insects depended on the chemical profile of the infested kernels. The increased total protein content and lower fiber content (compared to common wheat) likely influence the development of Tritordeum resistance. This study demonstrates that Tritordeum possesses inherent resistance traits linked to its grain chemistry, providing a basis for breeding more storage-resistant cereal cultivars. Full article

This three-year field study evaluated the agronomic and physiological responses of Tritordeum to nitrogen fertilisation strategies under Mediterranean conditions using an integrated approach combining GDD-aligned phenological monitoring, UAV-based multispectral imaging, and soil analysis. Treatments included conventional urea, urea with a nitrification inhibitor (U+NI; DMPP-based), and urea with a urease inhibitor (U+UI; NBPT-based), compared to an unfertilised control. All nitrogen treatments significantly increased grain yield, reaching up to 2319 kg ha⁻¹ under the nitrification inhibitor treatment (26% higher than the control), and protein content, which peaked at 16.04% under urea. Temporal analysis revealed that urea with nitrification inhibitors consistently enhanced plant height, canopy greenness, and pigment retention during flowering to ripening stages, with NDVI and MCARI peaking under U+NI in 2025. In contrast, urea with urease inhibitor promoted greater early-season biomass and height. Soil nitrogen retention was slightly improved under both EEF treatments, with no adverse effects on pH or salinity. The strong alignment between UAV-derived indices and agronomic traits supports their use for monitoring nitrogen response. These findings demonstrate the benefits of a stage-specific fertilisation strategy, deploying urea with nitrification inhibitor early and urea with urease inhibitor during peak vegetative growth, to improve nitrogen synchrony with crop demand and support sustainable crop management in Tritordeum. Full article

Improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is critical to advancing sustainable cereal production, particularly under Mediterranean conditions where environmental pressures challenge input-intensive practises. This study evaluates NUE in Tritordeum, a climate-resilient wheat–barley hybrid, using a holistic experimental approach that integrates pre- and post-harvest soil analyses, including an electrical conductivity (EC) assessment, plant and seed nutrient profiling, and an evaluation of yield performance and nitrogen ratio dynamics. Four treatments were tested: conventional urea (T1), urea with an urease inhibitor (NBPT) (T2), urea with a nitrification inhibitor (DCD) (T3), and an unfertilised control (C). While conventional urea achieved the highest yield (1366 kg ha⁻¹), enhanced-efficiency fertilisers (EEFs) improved nutrient synchronisation and seed nutritional quality. Specifically, EEFs increased seed zinc (T2: 34.93 mg/kg), iron (T1: 33.77 mg/kg), and plant potassium (T2: 1.66%; T3: 1.61%) content, and also improved nitrogen remobilisation (elevated Nplant/Nseed ratios). EEFs also influenced soil properties, increasing organic matter (T3: 2.75%) and EC (T3: 290.78 μS/cm). These findings suggest that while EEFs may not always boost yield in the short term, they contribute to long-term soil fertility and nutrient density in grain. This study underscores the importance of synchronising nitrogen availability with Tritordeum’s phenological stages and highlights the crop’s suitability for sustainable, low-input agriculture under climate variability. Full article

Tritordeum is a new promising cereal derived from wild barley and cultivated durum wheat; such a combination allowed for the transfer of some useful barley traits to the resulting hybrid. In the future, the importance of this cereal can increase, becoming a raw material for the production of various products, including starch. So far, tritordeum starch has attracted little interest from researchers, and therefore, an attempt was undertaken to investigate its properties. Its morphological features, chemical composition, thermal and pasting properties, particle size, and retrogradation kinetics were investigated. These properties were compared to other cereal starches. Tritordeum starch granules resembled wheat starch in shape, and they were characterized by a relatively small size and the highest lipid and non-starch material content among the investigated starches. Tritordeum starch’s pasting profile showed a unique character, resulting in high pasting temperature and low, but stable, hot paste viscosity. Also, its rate of retrogradation was the lowest, probably due to the high lipid content, and the retrogradation extent was restricted. Full article

Tritordeum is an amphiploides species resulting from the hybridization between durum wheat (T. durum) and wild barley (H. chilense). This new cereal is considered a natural crop as it is obtained by traditional breeding techniques. Given its appreciable organoleptic characteristics, agronomic features, presence of interesting components, and good technological properties, Tritordeum is of promising interest for the development of health-oriented foods. In this study, we evaluated two registered Tritordeum cultivars, Bulel and Aucan. T. durum (Provenzal) was employed as the positive control. The extracted proteins were digested by gastric/pancreatic proteases, and their biological effects on Caco-2 differentiated on transwell inserts were determined. Changes in cell viability, monolayer permeability, organization of F-actin microfilaments, and ER stress triggered by protein-digested samples (DPs) were inspected. Our results showed that exposure to Provenzal-DPs promptly disrupted the tight junction barrier. Conversely, Aucan-DPs did not enhance monolayer permeability, whereas Bulel-DPs exerted only slight effects. Provental-DPs-induced toxicity was also confirmed by changes in cell viability and by the deep reorganization of the enterocyte cytoskeleton. In contrast, Aucan-DPs and Bulel-DPs did not affect monolayer viability and cytoskeleton structure. Overall, our findings suggest that both Tritordeum cultivars could be potential candidates for mitigating the toxicity of wheat flour. Full article

Recently, “minor” cereals have been gaining interest due to their distinctive characteristics, not only in terms of nutritional and health potential, but also because of their hardiness. To date, the use of several of these cereals for the production, both at artisan and industrial level, of foods such as pasta and bakery products has already been well established, whereas their investigation for the production of malt and beer has been more limited. In this work, a preliminary analysis of the malting aptitude of einkorn, tritordeum, food-grade sorghum and teff was evaluated. Grain quality parameters that influence the processes of malting and transformation into alcoholic beverages were evaluated, i.e., thousand-kernel weight, test weight, total protein and starch content, falling number, germination capacity, germination energy and amylase activity. Grain analyses showed, on average, satisfactory values for alcoholic fermented beverage production in all the cereal species examined (mainly in tritordeum), whereas the amylase activity of the malts produced was lower than that revealed in barley malt. Fermented drinks derived from these minor cereals, therefore, could be interesting for the light and gluten-free beer markets. Full article

Consumers are more than ever in search of novel and exciting beer choices, and brewers are, therefore, continuously experimenting to adapt their product portfolio. One interesting way to naturally incorporate novel flavors and tastes is by using alternative adjuncts, but this is not always an easy and straightforward process. In this study, a 40% unmalted alternative adjunct (einkorn, emmer, spelt, khorasan, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, sorghum, teff, and tritordeum) or reference (barley malt, unmalted barley, and unmalted wheat) was added to 60% barley malt, after which three different laboratory mashing processes (Congress mash, Congress mash with pre-gelatinization of the adjunct, and Evans mash) were performed, and their behavior during mashing and the resulting wort characteristics were investigated in detail. Overall, the extraction process of all 10 unmalted alternative adjuncts was not complete for all three laboratory mashing processes, whereby Congress mashing resulted in the highest extract and fastest filtration, whereas Evans mashing resulted in the lowest extract and slowest filtration. Pre-gelatinization of the unmalted was generally only beneficial for adjuncts with high onset starch gelatinization temperatures. This process also inactivated endogenous enzymes in the unmalted adjuncts, which had an adverse effect on the mashing process. Full article

Tritordeum is a new cereal resistant to drought and high temperatures, and it is a very healthy crop. The aim of this study was to compare two different diets (tritordeum meadow vs. oat meadow) for grazing pregnant ewes to determine if there was any effect on the objective physiological indicators of animal welfare. A total of 150 pregnant Merino ewes (3–5 years) were randomly divided into two groups (n = 75 each) to be fed with two different meadows, being evaluated during the spring season. Red blood cells count, haemoglobin, packed cell volume, white blood cell count, neutrophiles/lymphocytes ratio, lactate dehydrogenase, creatinine phosphokinase, aspartate aminotransferase, glucose, cortisol, total plasma proteins, albumin, globulins, albumin/globulins ratio, alkaline phosphatase, glutamate dehydrogenase, IgA, and IgG were determined. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the welfare of pregnant ewes fed with tritordeum meadow was better than that of pregnant ewes fed with oat meadow. Tritordeum meadow had a positive influence on the physiological parameters of animal welfare studied in pregnant Merino ewes. Therefore, tritordeum meadow can be considered a functional feed, as it has a beneficial effect on health beyond its basic nutritional value. Farmers are recommended to feed a cereal such as tritordeum grassland to their sheep, as it not only ensures that the animals benefit from all the nutrients, but also prevents diseases and improves their quality of life. In addition, the cereal’s resistance to fungal diseases makes it suitable for use in sustainable production systems with a reduced environmental footprint. Full article

Most female patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) complain of abdominal bloating rather than abdominal pain and diarrhea. The higher incidence in women could be due to the so-called dysfunctional gas handling. Since diet seems the most effective and durable strategy for managing IBS symptoms, we aimed to evaluate the effects of a 12 week diet based on a relatively new cereal, Tritordeum (TBD), on gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, anthropometric and bioelectrical impedance parameters, and psychological profiles in 18 diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) female patients with abdominal bloating as the dominant symptom. The IBS Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS), the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised, the Italian version of the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, and the IBS-Quality of Life questionnaire were administered. The TBD reduces the IBS-SSS “Intensity of abdominal bloating” with a concomitant improvement in the anthropometric profile. No correlation was found between “Intensity of abdominal bloating” and “Abdominal circumference”. Anxiety, depression, somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, and phobic and avoidance manifestations were significantly reduced after TBD. Lastly, anxiety was correlated with “Intensity of abdominal bloating”. Overall, these results suggest the possibility of lowering abdominal bloating and improving the psychological profile of female IBS-D patients using a diet based on an alternative grain such as Tritordeum. Full article

Since irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)—a common gastrointestinal (GI) disorder—still lacks effective therapy, a nutritional approach may represent a practical alternative. Different reports demonstrated that a low-fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs) diet (LFD) reduces symptoms in IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D) patients, also inducing beneficial pathophysiological and biochemical modifications. More recently, diets with alternative cereals having a different gluten composition, such as tritordeum, have also been considered (TBD). We investigated the impact of TBD and LFD on the fecal metabolome composition in 38 IBS-D patients randomly allocated to the two diets for 12 weeks. Summarily, at baseline, the profile of fecal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of IBS-D patients was not significantly different in the two groups. After treatment, significant changes were observed in the two groups regarding the VOCs content since some of them increased in the TBD group (namely, decanoic acid), whereas others (i.e., nonanal and ethanol) increased in the LFD one. Further, at baseline, short-chain fatty acids were positively related to inflammation and showed a significant decreasing trend after both diets compared to baseline values (namely, acetic and propanoic acid). Preliminary results from this pilot study suggest a potential positive intervention of TBD and LFD affecting the fecal metabolome composition in IBS-D patients. Full article

Gluten proteins are responsible for the wheat breadmaking quality. However, gluten is also related to human pathologies for which the only treatment is a gluten-free diet (GFD). GFD has gained popularity among individuals who want to reduce their gluten intake. Tritordeum is a cereal species that originated after crossing durum wheat with wild barley and differs from bread wheat in its gluten composition. In this work, we have characterized the immunogenic epitopes of tritordeum bread and results from a four-phase study with healthy adults for preferences of bread and alterations in the gut microbiota after consuming wheat bread, gluten-free bread, and tritordeum bread are reported. Tritordeum presented fewer peptides related to gluten proteins, CD-epitopes, and IgE binding sites than bread wheat. Participants rated tritordeum bread higher than gluten-free bread. Gut microbiota analysis revealed that the adherence to a strict GFD involves some minor changes, especially altering the species producing short-chain fatty acids. However, the short-term consumption of tritordeum bread does not induce significant changes in the diversity or community composition of the intestinal microbiota in healthy individuals. Therefore, tritordeum bread could be an alternative for healthy individuals without wheat-related pathologies who want to reduce their gluten consumption without harming their gut health. Full article

The dietary approach low in oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and fermentable polyols (FODMAPs-LFD) is a good strategy for treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Beyond the LFD, other dietary approaches with beneficial effects may be hypothesized. Among them, consumption of Tritordeum-based foods (TBD, bread, bakery products, and pasta) in substitution of other cereals seem to achieve promising results. In a randomized controlled trial, we compared the effects of 12 weeks of LFD to TBD in improving the symptom profile of IBS-diarrhea (IBS-D) patients. The two diets equally improved gastrointestinal symptoms and QoL, measured by the IBS Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS) questionnaire, reducing the total score after four weeks and maintaining this range until the end of treatment (IBS-SSS total score change: −132.1; 95% CI: −74.9 to −189.4 and −130.5; 95% CI: −73.2 to −187.7; p < 0.0001 after LFD and TBD, respectively). The two diets did not modify the micronutrients content when extended for 12 weeks. LFD could be regarded as a first-line dietary approach for IBS-D patients. However, TBD may represent a valid alternative, with high palatability, especially among Italian patients, for whom pasta is considered one of the main assets of dietetic culture, and would be easier to manage in their daily habits. Full article

Tritordeum results from the crossbreeding of a wild barley (Hordeum chilense) species with durum wheat (Triticum turgidum spp. turgidum). This hexaploid crop exhibits agronomic and rheological characteristics like soft wheat, resulting in an innovative raw material to produce baked goods. We applied a gel-based proteomic approach on refined flours to evaluate protein expression differences among two widespread tritordeum cultivars (Aucan and Bulel) taking as the reference semolina and flour derived from a durum and a soft wheat cvs, respectively. The products of in vitro digestion of model breads were analyzed to compare bio-accessibility of nutrients and mapping tritordeum bread resistant peptides. Significant differences among the protein profiles of the four flours were highlighted by electrophoresis. The amino acid bio-accessibility and the reducing sugars of tritordeum and wheat breads were comparable. Tritordeum cvs had about 15% higher alpha-amino nitrogen released at the end of the duodenal simulated digestion than soft wheat (p < 0.05). Bulel tritordeum flour, bread and digested bread had about 55% less R5-epitopes compared to the soft wheat. Differences in protein expression found between the two tritordeum cvs reflected in diverse digestion products and allergenic and celiacogenic potential of the duodenal peptides. Proteomic studies of a larger number of tritordeum cvs may be successful in selecting those with good agronomical performances and nutritional advantages. Full article

Hexaploid tritordeum is the amphiploid derived from the cross between the wild barley Hordeum chilense and durum wheat. This paper reviews the main advances and achievements in the last two decades that led to the successful development of tritordeum as a new crop. In particular, we summarize the progress in breeding for agronomic performance, including the potential of tritordeum as a genetic bridge for wheat breeding; the impact of molecular markers in genetic studies and breeding; and the progress in quality and development of innovative food products. The success of tritordeum as a crop shows the importance of the effective utilization of plant genetic resources for the development of new innovative products for agriculture and industry. Considering that wild plant genetic resources have made possible the development of this new crop, the huge potential of more accessible resources, such as landraces conserved in gene banks, goes beyond being sources of resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. In addition, the positive result of tritordeum also shows the importance of adequate commercialization strategies and demonstrative experiences aimed to integrate the whole food chain, from producers to end-point sellers, in order to develop new products for consumers. Full article