Triticale

Triticale is a tall annual grass with bearded spikes that look like a blend of wheat and rye heads. The grains are larger than those of wheat, plump and elongated, with a colour ranging from tan to brown. The plant grows well on poorer, acidic or sandy soils where wheat struggles and tolerates cold better than wheat. Flour made from triticale has a mild, slightly nutty flavour, with some of the sweetness of wheat and a hint of rye's earthiness. It contains gluten, but of a weaker type, so loaves made from it are often denser.

Triticale does not exist in the wild. It was created by plant breeders in the late nineteenth century by crossing wheat, genus Triticum, with rye, genus Secale. Early hybrids were largely sterile, and the first fertile forms were reported in Europe in the 1870s and 1880s, with Scottish and German researchers both credited. Breeding became more serious in the twentieth century, after the discovery that the chemical colchicine could double chromosome numbers and restore fertility. Poland, Germany, France and Belarus are among the largest growers today, with additional production in Australia, China, Canada and Mexico.

The idea of combining wheat's grain quality with rye's toughness occupied plant scientists for decades, and the name triticale, a blend of Triticum and Secale, appeared in the early twentieth century. Progress was slow, as the early crosses produced shrivelled grain and poor yields. Breeding programmes in Canada, Poland and Mexico, including work connected with the international wheat and maize research centre CIMMYT, gradually improved seed set and grain plumpness during the 1950s to 1970s.

Hopes in the 1960s and 1970s that triticale could help feed poor regions of the world were only partly realised. Instead, it became established as a valuable feed and forage grain, particularly for pigs, poultry and dairy cattle, and as a cover and silage crop. Small quantities are milled for human food, especially in health-food breads, cereals and pasta. Modern varieties have much better grain quality than the early hybrids, and breeders continue to work on yield and disease resistance.

Triticale is used as whole berries, flakes, flour and malt. Flour is used in breads, crackers, pancakes and biscuits, often blended with wheat flour to improve rising. Cooked whole berries add a chewy texture to salads and grain bowls, while flaked triticale can be cooked as breakfast porridge similar to oatmeal. Some brewers and distillers use it in place of barley or rye. Most of the crop, however, goes into livestock feed.

Whole triticale is a whole grain food and contains dietary fibre, protein and minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus, manganese and zinc, and B vitamins. Its amino acid profile is comparable to or slightly better than wheat, especially in lysine. Like other whole grains, it fits into a balanced eating pattern that emphasises fibre. Nutrient levels depend on the variety and where it is grown, and refined triticale flour contains less fibre and fewer minerals than the whole grain.