the origins of cultivated plants part 1

7/28/2019 The Origins of Cultivated Plants Part 1

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Reported by: Crisencio M. Paner

Ph.D. in Biological Science (Candidate)


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We seldom think about the fact that the varietyof foods that we commonly eat have been drawnfrom numerous and widely separated parts of the

world.


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But even typical Italian food such as tomatosauce, chicken cacciatore, and pizza would nothave existed before the discovery of America

because there were no tomatoes, no red andgreen peppers, and no zucchini in Italy.


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Italians obviously had a diet quite different 500years ago from that they enjoy today.

Similarly, what seems more American than apple

pie or green peas, both of which were unknownin the New World until Europeans introducedthem.


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It is fascinating to trace the origins of ourcultivated plants, some of which have become so

modified over the years of domestication thatfinding their ancestral homes becomes similar tosolving a mystery.


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Alphonse de Candolle- a Swiss, who in 1882, was

the first person who seriously undertook a study of

plants and their origins, published a book entitled,Origins of Cultivated Plants.


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In tracing the original homes of the cultivated

species, de Candolle synthesized information

gathered from studies ofgeography, linguistics,

archaeology, and written history.


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Archeological evidence helps in reconstructing the history of

particular crop plants. Barley, an important item of trade in ancienttimes, as depicted on a Greek coin (above ,left). Poppy capsulesbedecking the head of a stone sculpture from Crete, ca. 1400 B.C.(above, right). A vase portraying three corn gods left by theMochica people, who grew corn under irrigation from the 1stthrough the 3rd centuries in Peru(left ,below) and a Chimu potato

pot redrawn from an artifact in the British Museum (right, below)


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Nikolay Vavilov- A Russian, who in 1952, tried to find

centers of origin(gene centers) of cultivated species.


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Vavilovs two assumptions as basis for determininglocation of these centers:

1. That the areas where wild relatives of cultivated

species can now be found are the most likely

sites of the original domestication.

2. Centers should be areas in which one could find

great amounts of natural variation in crops that

are grown.


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According to Vavilov, there are 8 centers of origin,

namely: the Chinese center, the Indochina-Indonesiancenter, the Mid Eastern center, the Indian center, the

Mediterranean center, the Abyssinian center, theMexico-Central American center, and the central

Andean center.

In the original formulation of 6 centers, the 1st two

were considered as one, the southeast Asian center,and the 2nd two as the southwest Asian center.


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Vavilovs Eight Centers of Origin and Some Crops He

Proposed to Have Been Domesticated in Each


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Note: While many of Vavilovs determinations about centers of domestication havewithstood the test of time, recent evidence has suggested that several of the cropslisted in this table arose and/ or were domesticated in regions different from he

proposed.


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SINGKAMAS (Turnips)- are the roots ofBrassicacampestris , thought to have grown originallywild in Europe and Asia.

There are references to a plant that appears tohave been a turnip in Indian writings of 2000 B.C.


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European cultivation appears to have begun onlyin the 13th century.

The English name turnip comes from the same

etymological base as the verb to turn becauseturnips are so smooth and perfectly formed theyappear to have been turned on a lathe.


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The flesh of the turnips sold as vegetables is usually

white. The roots themselves are flat on top and generally

tinged with purple.


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Yellow-fleshed varieties are grown but are notcommonly found in stores.

Turnips have for some reason always been held in

low esteem.

In Roman times, they were spoken of in derogatory

terms, and they were a favorite item to throw atmiscreants.


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The Aryans disdained turnips because they were

eaten by Indian races.

Young German women in some areas would present

suitors that they wanted to reject with a plate of

boiled turnips.

The majority of Europeans, however, consumed

great quantities of turnips throughout the MiddleAges and still include them as a part of many winter

meals.


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These freshly dug turnips clearly show the flat topof the hypocotyl that differs from the pointed topof a rutabaga (Brassica napus)


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The Irish which started the Halloween tradition usedturnips and rutabagas as the first JackOLantern.

Turnips Rutabagas


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Talong or eggplant (Solanum melongena)

Known only as a cultivated species.

India, or perhaps southern China, is purported to be

its native home.


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Sometime in the 15th century, eggplant cultivationspread to Europe and later to the New World.

Eggplants have remained a very important dietary

item in India but usually serve as an accessory foodin other countries.

Indian eggplant


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Characteristics of eggplants that have tended to

hold down their popularity in America are the

browning of the flesh once the fruits are peeled or

skinned, and a tendency toward bitterness.

While the name eggplant may seem inappropriatefor the large, ovoid, black-purple fruits that are now

marketed, varieties common a few hundred yearsago had small fruits that more closely resembled

true eggs


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Flowers of the Solanaceaetypically have five fusedpetals with five or fewerstamens attached to thecorrola. The ovary issuperior and generally hastwo carpels.


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Mani or Peanut(Arachis hypogaea)

Peanuts are legumes which are more often thought

of as nuts or as an oil seed crop, but in parts of theworld, the seeds are cooked and eaten much as any

other grain legume.


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The species from which we obtain peanuts is nativeto central South America, perhaps eastern Peru.

Domestication probably occurred first in southern

Bolivia and northwestern Argentina.


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By the time Columbus reached the New World,

peanuts were cultivated throughout the warmregions of the Americas.

The Portuguese took peanuts to Africa where their

cultivation was quickly adopted. Peanuts are now an important dietary in west

African countries.

Peanuts were also taken to southeast Asia via the

Philippines by the Spanish.


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Peanuts are called by different names in various

parts of the world.

The British name groundnut, or ground pea, refers

to the way in which peanuts bear their fruits.

Like other legumes of the subfamily Faboideae,peanuts bear pea-type flowers above the ground.

Peanuts are also called goobers, a name that was

brought with the peanut back to the New World by

African slaves.


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After fertilization, the flowerpedicels of the peanut curvedownward, and thedeveloping fruit is forced intothe ground by the proliferation

and elongation of cells underthe ovary. The legumesubsequently developsunderground.


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SAYOTE OR CHAYOTE( Sechium edule) In Mexico Chayote also known as Mirliton or

chowchow was domesticated in pre-Columbiantimes.

The pear shaped, green fruits that are occasionally

seen in U.S. supermarkets can be boiled, fried,stuffed, or eaten in salads.

Unlike most other members of the squash familywhich have numerous seeds embedded in the

endocarp tissues, chayotes have only a single large

seed.


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As the fruit matures, the seed becomes bitter andimparts this flavor to the fruit.

Consequently, chayotes are almost always eatenwhen they are young.

Because each chayote contains asingle large seed, entire fruits areplanted to establish new vines.


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PINEAPPLES (Ananas comusus,Bromeliaceae) Pineapples are indigenous to the New World and

were widely cultivated by native people by themiddle of the 15th century.

Columbus described pineapple fruits and noted

during his second voyage that they resembled pinecones, a similarity that led to the common English.

American Indians considered the pineapple a symbolof hospitality, and they used the sweet juice for

making an alcoholic beverage and a poultice, and as

a component of arrow poison concoction.


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Pineapples were spread around the world in the1500s by Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish traders.

They were introduced into Hawaii in the early 19thcentury, but it was only after a young yankee

entrepreneur , J.D. Dole, encouraged the natives to

grow the plants that Hawaii began to rise to its

present position as the worlds largest producer of

the fruits.

The proteolytic enzyme bromelain present in

pineapples makes it useful as a meat tenderizer. In the Philippines, Malaya and Brazil, pineapple

fibers are extracted from the leaves to be used for

clothing material.


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A pineapple fruit iscomposed of 100 to 200ovaries of separate flowersfused together and to the

flowering stem. Theremnants of the floral partsproduce the prickles on theknobbly surface.


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This is me atDel Montepineappleplantation inBukidnon,

Mindanao-1996


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GRAPES/UBAS(Vitis vinifera)

One of the fruits that has most inspired man, yet

equally of ten led to his downfall.

Both of these effects are, however, from wine and its

derivatives. A perennial vine native to the eastern Mediterranean

region.

The most important native New World grape is V.

lambrusca, the fox grape.

Concord grapes are now the most important grapein america for juice, jams, and specialty wines.


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Raisins are grapes that have been carefully dried.

Varieties of grapes that are used for raisinproduction have been selected for a soft texture,

reduced stickiness, and pleasing flavor.

Common grape varieties that produce good raisinsare the Sultana, Black Corinth, and Muscat of

Alexandria.

In the US , almost all raisins are produced in

California.


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SWEET ORANGE (Citrus sinensis )

The sweet orange is now the most widely grown

citrus fruit in the world, but with the wild ancestorsgone, we can only speculate about its origin.

Some authors believe the orange is derived from anunidentified or extinct Chinese species, but others

assert that it resulted from selection of a hybrid

between a tangerine and a pummelo.

Oranges were considered by some to be the goldenapples of Greek mythology that the goddess ofFertility gave to Hera when she married Zeus.


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Oranges were transported along caravan routes

from the orient to the Persian empire.

The Moors brought them to Spain and used them

medicinally and in religious services.

The Spanish and Portuguese later introduced them

into their new world territories. Orange juice, like lime juice, is effective in

preventing scurvy, and the spread of oranges

followed the paths of seafaring explorers who

wanted to ensure having supplies of the fruit along

their routes.


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Nevertheless, up through the 18th and 19th centuries,

sweet oranges were a delicacy reserved for the

affluent.

When it was discovered that oranges could be grown

in temperate climates if protected from freezes,wealthy individuals began to grow them in

glasshouses.

The possession of such orangeries became a status

symbol.


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Oranges were first grown in Florida in 1565, but it

was not until the US took possession of the

peninsula in 1820 that sweet oranges became animportant U.S. commodity.

There are three main types of hybrid sweet oranges:

Bloods, normals, and navels. Bloods have bands of red in the pulp which makes

them unattractive to many Americans, although

they are popular in Europe.

The most commonly grown normal type is the

Valencia orange.


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Valencia oranges are now the most important

variety grown in Florida.

They produce a richly flavored juice that sets the

standard by which other orange juices are judged.

Large-scale navel orange production is a recent

phenomenon, but a type of navel orange was knownin Europe at least 300 years ago.

Navels are now the leading orange variety grown in

California.


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TOMATO/KAMATIS(Lycopersicon esculentum) It is hard to think of Italian food without evoking

visions of fragrant pots of tomato sauce, yettomatoes are American and their inclusion in Old

World cuisines came only after the discovery of theNew World.

In fact, until 1800s tomatoes were thought to be

poisonous in U.S. Current opinion favors eastern Mexico as the area of

tomatoes first domestication.


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The Mayans called the fruit xtomatl or tomatl,

corrupted by the Spanish into tomate.

The English substituted the o for the e.

Once the colorful fruits were brought back toEurope, the Spanish and the Italians were the first to

accept them. Elsewhere in Europe and in the British colonies,

acceptance was much slower because of persistent

misconceptions.

Some believed that tomatoes had aphrodisiac

properties.


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The French called tomatoes pommes d amour(love

apples), but this was apparently a misinterpretationof the Italian name pomo doro (meaning golden

apples) or a variant ofpomi dei Moro, a name thatreffered to the introduction of the fruit into Europe

by the Moors. Tomatoes were initially thought to be poisonous

because many European members of their family

(the Solanaceae) have bitter fruits containing toxic

and/or hallucinogenic compounds.


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The German common name wolf-peach reflectedthe belief that the fruits could be used in cabals to

evoke werewolves. Linnaeus formalized this early appellation by giving

the name Lycopersicon esculentum, Latin for juicy

wolfpeach, to the species.

Tomatoes were brought to temperate North

America by the British, but they were initially grownonly as ornamental plants.

To ensure high fruit set, tomato flowers have to bevibrated in order to shake the pollen from thetubular anthers.


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In open fields, wind currents are sufficient todislodge the pollen, but in greenhouses, the plants

must be artificially shaken. Unfortunately, tomatoes are a crop in which taste

has been sacrificed for durability.

Tomatoes grown on a large scale for mechanical

harvesting and shipping long distances tend to be

tough, dry, and flavorless compared to home-grownfruits.


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SWEET PEPPERS(Capsicum anuum)

Like tomatoes Sweet peppers are native to the New

World and were probably also first domesticated inMexico.

Archaeological sites at Tehuacan, Mexico, haveyielded pepper seeds dated to be almost 8,000

years old.

Early peppers all seem to have been pungent types.

Selection for sweet varieties must have occurred

later.


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COCONUTS (Cocos nucifera)

There is a South Seas proverb, He who plants a

coconut tree, plants food and drink, vessels andclothing, a habitation for himself, and a heritage for

his children. Because of the versatility reflected in the adage,

coconuts earned the designation as the greatest

provider in the tropics.


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Controversy has raged for years about the coconuts

native home, because the fruits were present on thePacific coasts of South America, southeast Asia, andPolynesia before Europeans reached the New World.

Various geographers have suggested that ancientvoyagers crossed the Pacific before 1492, but

evidence currently supports the hypothesis thatcoconuts are native to Indo-Pacific region and that

they dispersed across oceans passively by currents.


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BANANAS ( Musa spp.)

Bananas and their relatives in the genus Musa

(Musaceae) are all native to eastern Asia andAustralia.

Various species of the genus have been used forfiber, food, and in these areas since prehistorictimes.

It was even proposed by Sauer that agriculture firstarose in southeast Asia with the banana among the

first plants cultivated.


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While few people would now support Sauers idea,

there is no doubt about the importance of wild

bananas in the lives of pre-agricultural and earlyagrarian peoples in southeast Asia.

Domestication and eventual commercial production

of the modern edible banana involved hybridization,polyploidy, and the development of seedlessness.

This complicated history has obscured the ancestryof the common banana so thoroughly that

Simmonds has suggested that it should not be givena specific but should merely be reffered to as Musafollowed by cultivar name.


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Other authors, however, still prefer to use Linnaeuss

species name, Musa paradisiaca for sweet and

starchy bananas.

From their native southwestern Pacific home,bananas spread to India by 600 B.C.

They were probably introduced independently intoAfrica and eastward across the Pacific.

In 1522, bananas were taken from the western coast

of Africa to the Canary Islands as food for slaves.


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While bananas are used for beer and are steamed,

boiled, dried, or roasted in their native region of

Asia, they are usually simply eaten fresh or fried inthe New World.

Even with a good shipping system, cargos of

bananas were often ruined because carbon dioxideand ethylene produced by bruised and ripe bananas

accelerated ripening and caused rotting of entireshipments.

Experiments eventually showed that if bananas arekept at 10C and 90% humidity, ripening is delayed.


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For several decades since 1899, United Fruit

Company essentially owned the land and controlled

the workers on huge acreages of several Central andSouth American countries, causing them to bereferred to as the bananarepublics.

But the influence of the company waned at the endof World War 2.


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JACKFRUIT(Artocarpus heterophyllus, Moraceae)

Jackfruits are commonly eaten as a dessert fruit.

Large-scale cultivation has tended to remainrestricted to its native range of India and Shri Lanka.


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AVOCADOS or Alligator pears (Persea americana,

Lauraceae)

Avocados have a controversial history and seem todefy our often repeated theories about animal

dispersed fleshy fruits. Fleshy fruits are generally low in calories and consist

primarily of water and sugars.

Avocados, in contrast, have a mesocarp that is

extremely rich in oil.


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Up to 30% of the pulp of cultivated varieties (on a dry

weight basis) can be oil.

As a result, avocados have the highest energy

containing fruit pulp (from 2,000 to 2,800 caloriesper kilogram) known.

Moreover, the seed is not protected in any way fromthe sharp teeth or digestive juices of an animal that

might feed on the fruit.


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It has been suggested that extinct large animals

were the original dispersers of avocados, but the

postulation of a large animal does not explain how aseed without a hard endocarp is protected in its

journey from mouth through the digestive system of

such animal.

The natural dispersal of avocados thus remains a

mystery.

Avocados are known only as a cultivated species and

yet they appear in some of the oldest archaeologicaldeposits in southern Mexico (7000 B.C.)


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It is possible that avocados were independently

domesticated three times in the Americas, giving

rise to what are now known as the West Indian,Guatemalan, and the Mexican varieties.

The Mexican variety has a small fruit (about 250 gm.)

with a thin, smooth skin, a seed loose within thecavity, and a 30% oil content.

Guatemalan fruits weigh between 500 and 1000 g.and have thick, and warty skins.


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The West Indian types are about the same size with

thick but smooth skins and a mesocarp with only 8

to 10% oil.

The relationship between avocados and sex had, infact, been claimed by native American Indians.

The word avocado comes from the Aztec wordahuacacuahatl meaning testicle tree, which refers

either to its stimulating properties or the appearance

of the fruits that commonly hang in pairs.


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the origins of cultivated plants part 1

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