Nutraceutical Value of Durum Wheat: Influence of Environment and Genotype in a Large Scale Experimental Trial

Grain quality is well known as one of the most interesting breeding objectives in Mediterranean countries. It still has great importance in wheat markets because of the increased interest of the consumers for high-quality staple food such as pasta, couscous and various types of bread. The performance of many quality characteristics depends greatly on environmental conditions and, in this context, organic agriculture could guarantee a durum wheat material with high nutraceutical value for healthy food production and special dietary uses. Among organic wheat production, KAMUT® khorasan wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. turanicum (Jakubz.)) has attracted great attention due to its specific nutritional and functional properties (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and prebiotic activities). The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the environmental and climatic effects on the nutritional and nutraceutical quality of organic durum and durum-type wheat varieties. The work was subdivided into three main sections aimed at understanding the dynamic affecting the accumulation of nutritional and functional compounds in wheat caryopsis of durum and durum type wheat varieties. The first two section provide a complete characterization of KAMUT® khorasan grain. This is a distinctive study: first a collection of the same organically grown genotype collected during two decades of cultivation was characterized for nutritional and functional properties; then the investigation has shifted to the same crop harvested in a vast region (180000 km2), including several different environments. In the third section 24 old and modern durum and durum-type wheat varieties, cropped in the same location and growing season, were analyzed in order to determine and compare the phenolic composition. Results obtained gives a fundamental understanding of durum wheat grains composition in terms of nutrient and bioactive compounds.