Search

Einkorn (Triticum monococcumL.), emmer (T. dicoccumL.), and spelt (T. speltaL.) are old‐world hulled wheat crops currently receiving renewed interest of consumers, bakers, millers, and farmers. Our objectives were to (i) compare einkorn, emmer, and spelt with bread (T. aestivumL.) and durum wheat (T. durumL.) regarding their main agronomic and quality traits, (ii) elaborate the heritability and correlation among these traits across the wheat species, and (iii) draw conclusions about optimized farming and processing practices for einkorn, emmer, and spelt. For this purpose, field trials were conducted at four diverse German locations, where 15 recent varieties were grown for each wheat species. Mean grain yields of spelt, emmer, and einkorn were 37, 55, and 62% lower than that of bread wheat. Furthermore, einkorn, emmer, and spelt plants were 30 cm taller than bread and durum wheat. Consequently, to avoid lodging, farmers should aim at reducing the plant height of hulled wheats. Despite their high protein content, the protein quality of hulled wheat determined as sedimentation volume was low from a classical bread wheat point of view. However, adapting classical baking procedures enables the production of high quality breads from einkorn, emmer, and spelt in addition to the development of alternative products like breakfast cereals or excellent specialty breads.

Hybrid breeding facilitates a maximum exploitation of heterosis. The objectives of our research were to (i) examine the magnitude of heterosis over the mid‐ and better parent for yield, yield components, and quality traits in Central European spring durum wheat and (ii) investigate the efficiency of parental selection based on mid‐parent value or general combining ability effects. Sixteen inbred lines and 40 incomplete factorial crosses were field‐evaluated for eight agronomic traits at 10 environments in Germany. For grain yield, the hybrids yielded on average 10% higher than the mid‐parent performance, and the maximum superiority was 22%. The significantly positive contrast between inbreeding depression and mid‐parent heterosis for grain yield indicated the presence of positive additive x additive epistatic interactions. Furthermore, the best hybrid outperformed the best line variety by 1.01 Mg ha−1We conclude that there is a potential for hybrid breeding in durum wheat.

Heterotic groups are an essential prerequisite for efficient hybrid breeding. The present study in winter triticale (×TriticosecaleWittmack) was performed to (i) evaluate the magnitude of heterosis, (ii) investigate the efficiency of the prediction of hybrid performance based on midparent value or general combining ability (GCA) effects, and (iii) identify two heterotic groups by employing principle coordinate analysis and an enumeration algorithm for maximizing F1performance, midparent heterosis, and σGCA2/σSCA2ratio for grain yield. Twenty‐one inbred lines and their 210 diallel crosses were field‐evaluated for grain yield at five agroecologically diverse locations in Germany. On average, the hybrids yielded 8.6% higher than the midparent performance, and the maximum superiority was 12.4%. Hybrid performance was predicted more reliably with GCA effects rather than with midparent performance. An enumeration algorithm based on optimum allocation of parents to heterotic groups, improved all three criteria. F1performance, midparent heterosis, and σGCA2/σSCA2ratio increased by about 3, 24, and 70%, respectively, as compared with the base situation of having no heterotic groups. These improvements substantiate the potential advantages, when heterotic groups are developed in hybrid breeding.