Frike is an ancient and traditional food product prepared from early harvested whole wheat grain, particularly durum wheat (DW). Due to its many health beneficial effects, frike is considered a functional food. It is also a lucrative commodity, produced in various West Asian and North African countries and typically in Southeastern Turkey. However, no systematic assessment of the most-suitable genotypes for frike production in the region is available. This study aimed to carry out such an evaluation, based on frike yield, quality traits, marketing price, and profitability, on a set of 20 DW cultivars and DW-Thinopyrum ponticum introgression lines (ILs). The results based on a field trial performed in Gölbaşı (Adıyaman, Turkey) in the 2021-2022 season revealed the Turkish varieties Tüten-2002, Edessa, Artuklu, and Perre, together with the R5 IL to have the highest frike yields measured on 3 kg of roasted fresh spikes. The highest marketing prices were obtained by Turkish varieties Sariçanak-98, Burgos, Sümerli, and Artuklu, along with the R112 IL, excelling in quality traits. Considering all parameters, the Turkish cultivars Artuklu, Firat-93, and Sariçanak-98, besides the R112 IL, resulted in being the most-convenient genotypes for frike making, thus representing good candidates for maintaining cultural and genetic diversity in food production from a staple crop such as DW.
Keywords: Thinopyrum; early harvested grain; firik; frike yield and quality; functional food; traditional dish; wheat-alien introgression.