Durum wheat,
pasta wheat or
macaroni wheat (
Triticum durum or
Triticum turgidum subsp.
durum) is the only
tetraploid species of
wheat of commercial importance that is widely cultivated today. It was developed by
artificial selection of the domesticated
emmer wheat strains formerly grown in Central Europe and the
Near East around 7000 BC, which developed a naked, free-threshing form. Like emmer, durum wheat is
awned.