La coltivazione del frumento duro in Sardegna: varietà impiegate e qualità della produzione

The territories of the Mediterranean Basin, thank to particular climatic features, have allowed the Growth and Development of different wheat varieties. In Sardinia there is a favorable ecosystem in which the native cultivars of durum wheat developed, among these It's Important Citing Variety Trigu Murru, Trigu Biancu, Sicilianu and Trigu Arrubiu, obtained By Selecting From Farmers Island. The Power of Sardinia has always been based on products from bakery and pasta making processes, obtained by means of durum wheat transformation. This testifies to the efficiency and quality of flour obtained from varieties listed above. At around 20 years in 1900 it is started a genetic improvement process that has interested, of different varieties, also wheat. The most important geneticist in this activity was Strampelli Nazarene, Who, crossing Ancient Mediterranean variety with ancient North African variety cultivar, obtained the Senatore Cappelli, still cultivated after almost ninety. This first phase of improvements was aimed at changing aspects of the phenotypic plant concerned high and number of kernels per spike. Hereafter, Around The Sixties, the focus is shifted to and Mutation of genotypic characters, with the introduction of the gene Rht retardant in the germplasm of wheat, up to obtaining the modern varieties, still cultivated today. The first difference that can be found between old and new varieties, therefore, concern the morphological appearance: old varieties were typically characterized by height, Leafiness, length of the growing season; while in the modern variety it is found low size, reduced leaf surface, limited tillering, reduced crop cycle. Another important distinction concerns the protein content for which, for the same biomass, the modern varietal constitutions record yields in kernels are greater than those of the old populations. Furthermore there is a general reduction in the concentration of nitrogen in the kernel and a consequent lower protein concentration of new constitutions, associated with a general improvement of the gluten strength. Gluten of modern cultivars is more tenacious than that obtainable with the old cultivars; durum wheat is measured in terms of attitude to making pasta. However, the high gluten content, from a nutritional point of view, does not necessarily mean a higher quality of the flours, because the quality related to the type of protein present in the caryopsis. Finally, modern varieties are grown in modified environments with strong agronomic operations, for which the environment is prepared artificially to an efficient development of the plant. This involves the massive use of technological inputs at the expense of the micro and macro environment and consumer health. The old genotypes compared with new produce improved output with low input of nitrogen fertilization, have greater capacity to compete for nitrogen with weeds and to absorb nitrogen from the soil. This is thanks to vigorous growth, rapid land cover, canopy structure, and total area of the leaf. The new varieties, descended in part from common parent, are also pure lines: all the plants of a variety are genetically identical, this has resulted in a drastic reduction of biodiversity of cultivated wheat.