Let’s go to the rediscovery of ancient grain flours, so exceptional for the diet that you won’t do without them anymore.
Over the last few centuries there have clearly been many innovations in various fields that have radically changed our approach to many fields of application – especially when it comes to botany and agriculture.
In fact note the hybridization of different types of grains per get new qualities which can also be more resistant in terms of cultivation (thus managing to grow even on particular soils or in more delicate atmospheric conditions).
They are however variety often very poor in terms of nutrition and for this very reason in recent years many have returned to handling flour made with ancient grains. Let’s find out together what they are and why they are so exceptional.
Ancient grain flours, the nutritional properties are exceptional
In short, when we go to buy flour at the supermarket, even if it is of excellent quality, we are faced with a product made with grains of modern conception and therefore fruit of hybridizations of different plant varieties. As pleasant as they may be to the palate, it is good to bear in mind that they are rather deficient from a nutritional point of view.
With this in mind, but also to rediscover flavors that we could almost define as lost, in recent years many have returned to using ancient grain flours, i.e. in their original forms and not hybridized with each other. While not going into detail about each single variety, we must bear in mind that they are less processed they are practically semi-integral and therefore contain both a excellent quantity of proteins but also of essential vitamins (in particular those of group B) as well as of potassium and magnesium, fiber and antioxidants.
Excellent news also for celiacs and intolerant people, this type of grain are gluten-free or present it in reduced doses and also limit the onset of food intolerances to this substance. They also look like more digestible thanks to the reduced presence or total absence of gluten.
Ancient grains, which are the best and how to distinguish them
However, it must be admitted that some grains defined as ancient are not really ancient, especially if they appeared a century ago. If we take for example the monococcus spelled we are truly in the presence of an ancient variety because it has been present since the beginning of human civilization and therefore has totally different characteristics (both in terms of nutrition and handling). It would be much better to speak of original cereals, therefore meaning that they have not been manipulated and that they have a well-defined origin and provenance.
In any case, regardless of the definition, the best flours that we can buy today are the aforementioned einkorn spelled, spelled, Senatore Cappelli, Tumminia, einkorn wheat, Gentil Rosso, Verna, Rieti, Saragolla, Russello, Biancolilla, Bidì, Perchiasacchi, buckwheat, blue corn, barley black, triticum, millet, sorghum and Majorca. Among the varieties of pseudo-cereals that do not contain gluten at all we have instead teff, amaranth and quinoa.