goatgrass produced a wheat species with four
sets of chromosomes, and this “tetraploid”
species gave us the two most important
wheats of the ancient Mediterranean world,
emmer and durum. Then, just 8,000 years ago,
another unusual mating between a tetraploid
wheat species and a goatgrass gave an
offspring with six sets of chromosomes: and
this offspring gave us our modern bread
wheats. The extra chromosomes are thought to
contribute to the agricultural and culinary
diversity found in modern wheats, most
importantly the elasticity of the gluten
proteins. Today 90% of the wheat grown in
the world is hexaploid bread wheat. Most of
the remaining 10% is durum wheat, whose
main purpose is making pasta (p. 571). The
other wheats are still cultivated on a small
scale.
Durum Wheat Durum wheat, T. turgidum
durum, is the most important of the tetraploid