Spelt wheat as a genetic, agronomic and food resource for climate-resilient cereal systems

Spelt wheat ( Triticum spelta L.) has re-emerged as a valuable genetic, agronomic, and nutritional resource for developing climate-resilient cereal production systems. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the evolutionary origin, adaptive traits, grain quality, and breeding potential of spelt, highlighting its role in sustainable agriculture and future wheat improvement. Archaeobotanical and genomic evidence indicates a complex polyphyletic origin, with distinct Asian and European lineages contributing to its broad genetic diversity. This diversity underpins ecological adaptability and tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses, including drought, low soil fertility, chilling, and salinity, as well as resistance to major fungal diseases caused by Fusarium spp., powdery mildew, and rusts. Stress adaptation is associated with physiological and molecular mechanisms, including osmotic adjustment, maintenance of photosynthetic homeostasis, hormonal regulation, and stress-responsive regulatory networks. Traditional spelt landraces represent important reservoirs of alleles controlling stress tolerance, disease resistance, phenological adaptation, and grain quality traits. Spelt grain is characterized by relatively high protein, dietary fiber, and mineral contents, together with diverse gluten composition, supporting its growing use in functional foods, organic farming, and low-input agricultural systems. However, genotype-dependent variation in processing quality, lodging susceptibility, and the hulled grain phenotype remain important constraints to wider commercial adoption. Recent advances in marker-assisted selection, genomic selection, pangenomics, and multi-omics approaches provide new opportunities for the efficient introgression of beneficial alleles into bread wheat while minimizing linkage drag. Overall, spelt represents a strategic genetic resource for broadening the genetic base of modern wheat, improving grain quality, and accelerating the development of climate-resilient cereal cultivars.