WHEAT, A FRIENDLY FRIEND??!

During the years, in Italy in particular, many researchers have been studying how to make wheat a friendly friend for people who suffer from celiac disease or are intolerant to gluten.

In this article, at Baci di Dama, we decided to speak about one of the latest studies in Italy.

The good news is that a group of researchers from Foggia, in the Puglie region (South of Italy) are studying a procedure that consists in treating wheat grains at very high temperatures by using micro waves and they saw that these temperatures can actually change both the “gliandin” and the “glutenin” that constitute the protein of gluten.

This change would make the wheat non-toxic for celiac people and it wouldn’t change the elasticity of wheat that makes it so suitable in many preparations and foods.

The technique is not new: farmers from Puglie have been using it for years and years. After the harvest they burn the straw that is left in the fields and with it, wheat grains that dropped out during the harvest. They get naturally toasted. In this way nothing is wasted.

This kind of wheat is very common in Italy, it is called “grano arso” (burnt wheat). People make flour with it, and then pasta and lately even pizza. My brother had one and said it was very good, different in taste but good.

Researchers at the University of Foggia are studying how to master this procedure and make this change in the protein of gluten become stable.

Would the wheat be toxic after such high temperatures? In the fields it can happen but in the laboratory, it should not.

However we can’t by wait for final results with much patience and a pinch of optimism and in the meanwhile, don’t try to microwave wheat at home 😉

Photo credits: Ines’ blog and Abbabbafood