SPELT AND SPELT FLOUR

Spelt wheat is very resistant to pests and adverse climate conditions, and spelt flour is very easily digestible for most people. Spelt flour is therefore a very good alternative to “ordinary” wheat flour. It can be used for making sweet and savoury dishes and pastries; such as spelt buns, croissants, kolaches, waffles, doughnuts, pancakes, crumpets, cakes and confectionary. It gives dishes a typical mild nutty taste and aroma. Spelt flour can be used in the same way as ordinary fine plain white flour, with which it can be combined in any proportion or it completely replace it.

WHERE DOES SPELT ORIGINATE FROM?

Spelt wheat (Triticum spelta) was grown by our ancestors several thousand years ago. The oldest spelt finds were discovered in ancient Greece and Central Europe (from the Neolithic period). It is therefore an archaic crop, which was widely grown until the beginning of the 20th century, when it was essentially completely replaced by common wheat. It was not until the beginning of the 21st century with the advancement of organic farming that spelt began to gain popularity again, as it was more resistant than common wheat.

HOW IS SPELT DIFFERENT FROM REGULAR WHEAT?

Unlike common wheat, spelt is one of the husked cereals. This means that its grain is protected by the skin, and it is therefore necessary to peel it out of the grain ear before grinding. It then depends on whether you want to grind fine spelt white flour without the shell layers, or its healthier wholegrain variant. If you would like to learn more about how our flour is milled, just click on this link.

SPELT AND NUTRITION

Another significant difference is in the nutritional composition of both grains. Pernerka wholemeal spelt flour has a higher content of protein and fibre compared to Pernerka plain wholemeal flour. Fibre is an important food component; you can read more about its effects in this article. Spelt proteins have a comparable amino acid composition, but they can differ e.g., in their higher leucine content. From a nutritional point of view, it is certainly necessary to pay attention to micronutrients as well. Spelt flour is an important source of vitamins B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin) and has a higher content of potassium, sulphur and magnesium than common wheat.

SPELT AND TECHNOLOGY

Spelt is a subspecies of wheat and therefore also contains very high-quality gluten. Thanks to this asset, it is suitable for all types of dough; from biscuits, pizza to French baguettes or Italian ciabatta. All these bakes must be made from flour with very high-quality gluten. This ensures that the dough will be flexible and that it will not tear.

WHEAT IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY

Thanks to its technological properties, wheat flour has a dominant position in the food industry all over the world. These properties such as an ease of working with wheat dough, bigger volume and soft and fluffy structure of final baked products; opened the way for wheat to become the main grain of so-called secondary processing of grains; e.g., the production of pasta, bread or pastry. 

Wheat is the only grain that contains gluten in the technological sense of the word. In the bakery and pastry industry, this gluten is understood to be a protein that is capable of creating a specific and solid three-dimensional web. And it is this ability that gives the wheat dough, and the resulting wheat flour products; unique properties. This distinguishes it from other grain and pseudo-grain products, which often don’t have that perfect shape and/or sponginess. A dough made out of these grains and pseudo-grains is usually not as easy to work with as it is not as flexible and stretchy.  The reason for this is that other grains differ in their content of polysaccharides and proteins, and thus different interactions occur between these biopolymers in the formation of a dough. Therefore, the resulting dough differs in its properties from the wheat dough.

At present, a significant proportion of consumers are trying to reduce the consumption of conventional wheat, because it is not nutritionally attractive for them. But how to ensure that consumers can enjoy pastries that retain their taste and texture and at the same time have a higher nutritional value?

FLOUR WITH HIGH FIBRE CONTENT

One of the possibilities is the addition of Pernerka fine wholemeal flour with a high content of fibre, minerals and vitamins. The second option is the use of our Pernerka fine spelt flour, which has a better nutritional value compared to conventional wheat, and the pastry baked from it has comparable technological properties.