CWC Video 6 Script

There are many varieties of wheat. A variety refers to plants that have specific, individual characteristics that sets them apart from other plants in the larger plant family or species. 

Let's examine the 4 varieties, as well as the barley plants, and discuss some of their characteristics 

We will be examining the following wheat varieties: Blue, Amarillo, Durum, and Sonora

These wheat plants, and a mixed barley blend, growing in your plot come from the UC Davis Student Collaborative Organic Plant Breeding Education (SCOPE) program. They bred the wheats with a goal of combining improved yield, weed competitiveness, lodging, and disease resistance. These varieties also have unique flavor profiles and quality characteristics. 

UC Amarillo 

UC Amarillo is a hard, white wheat variety with yellow pigment that was tested in recent SCOPE trials and released in 2019 from the wheat breeding program. 

This wheat has a high yellow pigmentation and this is due to carotenoid pigments and accumulation of lutein. This White Wheat variety has a restored yellow pigment gene from an older variety that increases lutein content. Lutein was bred out of modern wheat varieties in favor of whiter flour. 

What are carotenoids? 

Carotenoids are pigments in many plants and animals that absorb certain wavelengths of light to exhibit yellow and orange hues. Carotenoids include nearly 700 classes, classified by structure. These differences in structure allow them to absorb different wavelengths of light.

Lutein is in the Xanthophylls class; these carotenoids are oxygenated and exhibit a pale yellow color. Another type of Xanthophylls is Zeaxanthin which is also a pale yellow. Lutein and zeaxanthin have several health benefits including being an antioxidant. This means that they protect cells from reactive free radicals and singlet oxygen that can contribute to chronic diseases. 

You will see this hard wheat used in  pizza, tortillas, and breads.

Blue Wheat 

This wheat contains genes from tall wheat grass and wheat varieties originating in inner Mongolia and Ethiopia. This wheat has a few unique colors as well: Blue and Purple 

Blue pigments are found in the aleurone layer 

This color is controlled by 2  genes Ba1 from tall wheat grass (Thinopyrum ponticum) and Ba2 from einkorn (Triticum monoccocum ) that originated in Inner Mongolia. 

Purple pigments are found in the pericarp layer 

It is controlled by 2 independent genes Pp1 and Pp2 , originated in tetraploid durum (Triticum turgidum) from Ethiopia.

This wheat is also a hard wheat and used in tortillas, waffles, bread, pizza. 

Sonora Wheat 

Sonoran wheat is a soft, white heritage wheat. It is a heritage grain meaning that it is a traditional variety of wheat that has been grown for a long time. It has drought and disease resistant properties which allows it to be successfully grown in hot, dry, and desert-like environments.

It first became adapted to the Southwestern coast of the United States after being introduced by Spanish colonizers in the 1650s. Sonora wheat was first brought to the Sonora Desert by a Spaniard named Padre Lorenzo de Cardenas, where it spread throughout Indigenous communities and became a commonly grown crop.  

Soft white Sonora wheat has round grains that are opaque and pale colored with a hint of pink. They have a papery chaff that is reddish-brown and barbless.

It typically has lower protein and gluten contents than hard red or hard white wheat. This Soft wheat is good for waffles/pancakes, tortillas, cookies, cakes, crackers. 

UC Desert Gold AKA Durum Wheat

This Durum wheat variety is produced by UC Davis and grown in California for the pasta industry.

It contains the yellow carotenoids we discussed earlier. Carotenoids seen in this wheat are lutein, zeaxanthin, beta carotene. Yellow pigmentation is found in the endosperm and is controlled by Psy1 gene from tall wheat grass. Durum wheat typically has high carotenoids content. Carotenes, such as  Beta-Carotene, are hydrocarbons that have an orange yellow color. 

This wheat is perfect for pasta including spaghetti, macaroni, bowties and many more!

Mixed Barley 

On your plot you may also have mixed barley. Barley is similar to wheat as it is in the cereal family and has awns, spikes, and kernels.  The UCD SCOPE Program put together a mixture for CA schools that captures barley diversity.  It was originally developed by Oregon State University as the Oregon Naked Barley Blend (ONBB) with additions of diverse varieties adapted to California. The kernels or grains are arranged in either 2 rows or 6 rows. Barley is fed to animals, eaten by humans whole or ground into flour. You will see various colors present in this bend, due to all the pigments we discussed earlier in this video. 

Now that you have some background knowledge on the different wheat varieties, let’s examine the wheats in your plots so you can compare and analyze their different physical properties!