View source for QK-77

[[image:kamut.jpg|thumbnail|250px|right|Kamut marketing material]]
'''QK-77''' is a type of [[wheat]] [[marketing|marketed]] by Kamut International, USA, and Kamut Enterprises of Europe, under the [[trademark]] '''Kamut'''. Its official cultivar name is QK-77, and it  is a protected variety registered with the Plant Variety Protection Office of the [[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]] under Plant Variety Protection Certificate 8900108.

==Botany==
Kamut's botanical identification is uncertain. According to Kamut International, Kamut is a form of ''[[Triticum turanicum]]'' (also known as ''T. turgidum'' subsp. ''turanicum''), Khorasan wheat [http://www.kamut.com/english/history/origin.htm]. It has also been identified as durum wheat, ''[[Durum|T. durum]]''[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/tax_search.pl?kamut]. Identifications sometimes seen  as ''T. polonicum'' are incorrect as Kamut, although long-grained, lacks the long glumes of this species. If truly of Egyptian origin, Kamut is more likely to be ''T. durum'', as ''T. turanicum'' is only known from Iran. Recent genetic evidence from DNA fingerprinting suggests that Kamut is perhaps derived from a natural hybrid between ''[[Durum|T. durum]]'' and ''[[T. polonicum]]'', which would explain past difficulties in arriving at a certain classification.<ref>Khlestkina E., Röder M.S., Grausgruber H., Börner A., 2006: A DNA fingerprinting-based taxonomic allocation of Kamut wheat. ''Plant Genetic Resources'' 4, 172-180.</ref>

==History==
Early marketing literature (still referred to on some websites) and the USDA documentation for this variety claimed that Kamut was descended from a handful of grain found in a stone box in a tomb near Dashare, Egypt in the 1940s
[http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1999/v4-182.html]. However, this cannot be the case, as ancient Egyptians grew only [[emmer|emmer wheat]], and the maximum viability of wheat (unless frozen) is 200 years. Current literature still features Egyptian motifs, but refers to the more plausible view that Kamut is a current-day [[landrace]] from Egypt.

Kamut was registered as a plant variety in 1990 by T. Mack Quinn, and his son Bob Quinn, of [[Big Sandy, Montana]]. Production and marketing of Kamut takes place under strict licensing conditions from Kamut International. It is grown as an organic crop, with typical yields of 0.8-1.2 tonnes/ha.

==Use==
QK-77 has a large grain similar to that of durum wheat, and requires up to one hour of simmering to soften. It is an ideal ingredient for use with [[slow cooker]]s. Kamut-based products include Kamut [[grain milk|drink]], bread, breakfast cereals and cracked wheat. They are usually marketed through health-food shops.

There is anecdotal evidence that some people who have [[wheat]] allergy, and thus avoid wheat, are able to eat Kamut[http://www.kamut.com/english/allergy/allergy-main.htm]. However, as a [[wheat]] species, it is definitely unsuitable for those with [[coeliac disease]].

==See also==
{{Wheat}}

==External links==
*[http://www.kamut.com/english/index.htm Kamut International]
*[http://waltonfeed.com/self/kamut.html Walton Feed Kamut Page.]
*{{cite journal | author=Sacks, Gordon | title=Kamut: A New Old Grain | journal=Gastronomica | year=2005 | volume=5 | issue=4 | pages=95-98 | url=http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/gfc.2005.5.4.95 }}
*{{cite conference | author=Quinn, R.M. | title=Kamut®: Ancient grain, new cereal | booktitle=Perspectives on new crops and new uses | year=1999 | pages=182-183 | publisher=ASHS Press, Alexandria | editor=Janick, J. | url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1999/v4-182.html}}
*[http://polyglotveg.blogspot.com/2007/02/kamut.html Kamut] - history, marketing and etymology
{{Cereals}}

[[Category:Wheat]]