In the Arsky district of Tatarstan they will begin to breed a new variety of wheat with purple grains
Violet-wheat bread will be useful for strengthening health, increasing immunity and preventing certain diseases.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan, the state variety test contains a Nadira wheat variety with purple grains from the Tatar Agricultural Research Institute. Propagate this variety will begin in the Arsky district. This was reported by a leading researcher of the Tatar Research Institute of Agriculture Nuraniya Vasilova.
“This year for the first time we will see such wheat in the cultivar plots of Tatarstan. According to the contract for propagation, a small amount of seeds was given for the 2020 harvest to one of the farms of the Arsky district”, said the specialist.
According to Vasilova, a new cultivar of violet-wheat is obtained by crossing. “At one time they received fodder wheat lines from the Omsk SibNIIISKhoz, they were painted in purple. We introduced them into hybridization and got a good combination with purple grains. We decided to find out what quality this variety has, what the grain yield will be, how it will tolerate arid conditions and will show itself in wet years. This line has reached the competitive variety testing”, she shared.
The leading researcher noted that when comparing the new variety with the highly productive standard variety Yoldyz, it is not inferior in yield and superior in gluten content. "And moreover, there is an increased content of anthocyanins, which are antioxidants," she said. – The grain is purple because there is anthocyanin in its shell. The amount of antioxidants in the shell is not so large when compared, for example, with blueberries. But since we eat bread all the time, this is also the prevention of diseases. ”
That is, bread from a new variety of wheat will be useful to strengthen health, increase immunity, and prevent certain diseases. “We have already tried to bake such bread. We have a laboratory that conducts a bakery assessment of our new varieties”, she said.
Vasilova noticed that Ethiopia is considered the birthplace of violet wheat. “In our country, in the 1980-1990s, Omsk Siberian Research Institute of Agriculture engaged in fodder wheat with purple grains. This color was a marker, so as not to be confused with food wheat. Such varieties, but fodder wheat, were already in the register under the names Omsk fodder 1 and Omsk fodder 2. There is a great demand for such grain,”she concluded.
Earlier, the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan reported that a wheat variety of the same name was bred by the 100th anniversary of the formation of the TASSR.