Researchers at Clemson University “have begun the process of restoring a nearly extinct variety of wheat that traces its American roots to the 1700s,” says Southeast Farm Press. “Purple Straw is the only heirloom wheat to have been cultivated continually from the colonial period into the last quarter of the 20th Century.” It was abandoned in the 1970s in favor of higher-yielding varieties. Clemson research specialist Brian Ward planted half a pound of Purple Straw, a short-growing winter wheat, in 2015 and expects to reap several hundred pounds in May. By 2018, he should have several tons of the grain, enough to store some in a seed bank and to share with growers and seed companies to expand production of the wheat.
Purple Straw “will stand out admirably in terms of flavor and nutrition,” says Farm Press, although it has a lower yield per acre. South Carolina food historian David Shields says the wheat gets its name from its purplish stem and husk. “It’s a high-protein, low-gluten wheat that mills white and is soft and easily handled, making it great for whiskey, cake flour and biscuits. And of course, what’s more Southern than whiskey, cake and biscuits?” Shields told the publication.