Two types of ancient grains, known as devediti and harmani, which grow near mountain villages in southeastern Turkey and are not cultivated for financial gain, are consumed as winter foods and used as animal feed. Many mountain villagers harvest these ancient grains unaware that they are ancient and are consumed as a luxury by the wealthy in other areas.Upon learning about these grains, which grow wild without intervention by humans, a Turkish company started working on a project to introduce them to the world, as an American company did to the kamut grain from Egypt.
An official from the company working on ancient grains devedişi and harmani said the grains have a low fertility rate and are therefore not cultivated by farmers wanting to profit. But grains are resistant to drought and disease and do not require the assistance of irrigation techniques to grow.
Stating that the glutens in some ancient grains do not cause any allergic reactions, the official said: “People cultivate grain that needs to be processed in order to produce a bigger yield and in turn, these grains have lost many of their original characteristics. Ancient grains naturally condition themselves in their evolutionary processes without being treated in laboratories.”
Stressing that the ancient grain market has recently prospered, the official also noted: “Producing these grains requires serious investment. We aim to introduce our ancient grain all over the world. We have just started research and development. There is no other company working on ancient grains other than ours in Turkey. I hope we will be successful and that our grains attain worldwide popularity.”
Worldwide interest in ancient grains
Increasing interest in organic nutrition is leading to the desire for untreated ancient grains, an international research group has found. The number of food products containing untreated has risen 4 percent from 2004 to 2007, the research results say.
Some firms have already begun to purchase ancient grains from the field and reproduce them without interfering in their natural growing process, because the nutritional value of these products is considerably higher than that of modern grains.
For example, an American company took an ancient grain from Egypt, calling it kamut -- the ancient Egyptian word for wheat -- and made it a popular food worldwide. According to the company, a kamut grain is twice as large and more nutritional than modern, treated grains. The company’s kamut sales increased 32 percent in 2007 over the previous year. Twenty-eight percent of the company’s kamut was sold in the US and Canada and 72 percent sold in Europe.
Nutritional value of ancient grains
Ancient grains are more nutritious than other, treated, grains. While modern grains are composed of 12.3-14 percent protein, unprocessed ancient grains include 17.3-19.6 percent protein.
One hundred grams of ancient grain includes 31 milligrams calcium, 4.2 milligrams iron and 153 milligrams of magnesium, while modern grains consist of elements with less nutritional value. Ancient grains are also rich in amino acids.
Benzer Haberler 
National
