Lecture 16 Fruits and Vegetables Flashcards
TAKEAWAYS FROM LAST LECTURE
Secondary Products – renewal resources gathered from animals during their lifetimes (no need to cull animals to use their resources)
Three main categories:
* Draught – labour/traction, trade
* Milk – dairy products
* Wool – fibre/wool shearing
Neolithic and Bronze Age periods see intensified use of secondary products
Economic consequences of secondary products, i.e. wool tax and poultry industry production
Other secondary products: eggs, honey, etc.
THE CONTROVERSIAL TOMATO
US Supreme Court, 1893: unanimously
rule that a tomato is correctly identified as, and thus taxed as, a vegetable, for the purposes of the Tariff of 1883 on imported produce. (in Nix v. Hedden), acknowledging, however, that, botanically speaking, a tomato is a fruit
Cultural/Culinary definition
Fruits are usually any sweet-
tasting plant product,
especially those associated
with seeds
Vegetable are savoury or less
sweet plant product, including
non-plants (fungi)
Botanical definition
Fruits are seed-bearing structure that develops from the ovary of a flowering plant
Vegetables are ‘matters of plant origin’
- also all other plant parts (roots,
leaves, stems)
defenition depends on culture and economy
TERMINOLOGY - NUTS
Culinary definition:
any large oily kernel found
within a shell
Peanut (legume); almond, walnut,
pecan, pistachio, coconut
(drupes); pine nut (pine); cashew
(accessory fruit);
Botanical definition:
a nut is dry fruit where the
ovary wall develops into a hard,
indehiscent shell (exluding penut - they are a vegetable)
hazelnut, chestnut, acorn
TERMINOLOGY
Drupe: a fleshy fruit with thin skin and a central stone containing the seed, e.g., a plum, cherry, almond, or olive
Fungi: spore-producing organisms feeding on organic matter
e.g., molds, yeast, mushrooms, truffles
Cereal: grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain composed of
the endosperm, germ, and bran (botanically, a fruit called a caryopsis)
CEREALS VS. FRUITS/VEGETABLES
Cereals
Annual crops
Short investment
Self-pollinating
Seed propagation
Unconscious selection for ‘human’
environment
Divergent from wild
Large climatic range
Fruits/Vegetable
Perennial/biennial
Long-term investment
Cross-pollinating (self-incompatible)
Vegetal propagation
Conscious selection to fix traits
Similar to wild types
Restricted climatic range
MOTIVATIONS FOR CULTIVATION
Seasonal food – e.g. radishes (Raphanus)
Condiments – coriander, dill, parsley
Medicinal uses – balancing humours
Dyes – madder, woad, safflower
Sugars – sugarcane, figs, carob
Textiles – hemp, sisal
Wood – willow, bamboo, olive
Oils – brassica, poppy, sesame,
MAJOR DOMESTICATED PLANT FAMILIES
- Amaranthaceae (Amaranth family):
2,500 species - Apiaceae (Parsley family):
3,700 species - Asteraceae (Daisy family):
23,600 species - Allium sp. (Amaryllidaceae)
(Onion family): 1,600 species - Brassicaceae (Cabbage family):
4,060 species - Cucurbitaceae (Gourd family):
975 species - Fabaceae (Legume family):
18,860 species - Solanaceae (Nightshade family):
2,700 species - Rosaceae (Rose family):
2,830 species - Rutaceae (Citrus family):
6,450 species - Poaceae (Grass family) – 10,000 species
AMARANTHACEAE - New World: fast-growing, drought resistant
Amaranths (huautli)
* New World: fast-growing, drought resistant
Chenopods
* Goosefoot, Quinoa, Kañiwa, Epazote, Pig Weed, Orache (saltbush)
Betoideae (beets)
* Beetroot (Beta vulgaris) – food, dyes, sugar
* Sea beet (wild spinach)
* Chards (B. vulgaris cicia)
* Mangelwurzel (Fodder beets)
* Spinach (Spinacia oleracea)
APIACEAE
(PARSLEY FAMILY)
Angelica, Anise, Arracacha, Asafoetida,
Caraway, Carrot, Celery, Celeriac,
Chervil, Cicely, Coriander (Cilantro),
Cumin, Dill, Fennel, Hemlock, Lovage,
Queen Anne’s Lace, Parsley, Parsnip, Sea Holly Arracacha, Andean root crop
Celeriac (celery root) Fennel
APIACEAE (PARSLEY FAMILY)
Aromatic plants with hollow stems and Alowering umbels
* Concentrated essential oils: Parsley, coriander, dill, fennel, cumin, carraway, anise
Useful companion plants
* Harbour ladybugs, parasitic wasps
* Mask odour of nearby plants
* Tend to grow in cooler climates
Tap root can be used for food
* Carrots, parsnips, celeriac, arracacha
APIACEAE (PARSLEY FAMILY)
Medicinal uses:
Poison hemlock contains coniine,
disrupts central nervous system.
Celery to treat impotence since
Egyptian times (contains andosterone)
Laxatives in Roman and Medieval
times, and hangover cure (Romans)
Phototoxic: celery, parsnips, parsley contain psoralens that make skin more sensitive to UV light.
Apiol: gives celery and parsley
distinctive flavour; toxic abortifacient,
used to treat menstrual disorders
ASTERACEAE (DAISY FAMILY)
Burdock, Cardoon, Chicory, Endive, Globe Artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke, Lettuce Rampion, Salsify, Scorzonera, Safflower, Sunflower, Wormwood.
Safflower: ancient Egyptian textiles (oils and dyes)
Medicinal uses: lettuce used as soporific, wormwood
ALLIUM SPECIES (ONION FAMILY)
Garlic, shallot, leek, onion, chives, scallions
Temperate climates of N. Hemisphere
Alliin: chemical compounds (cysteine sulfoxides) that give characteristic alliaceous taste and odor
Herbaceous perennials, or biennials
* solitary (unio) or clustered bulbs
‘Nutraceutical’: good source of flavonoids (anti-oxidants), inulin (insoluble fibre)
ALLIUM SPECIES (ONION FAMILY)
Harvested wild, cultivated in Asia (4,000 BC)
Sumerian cuneiform tablets (ca. 2400 BC)
Onions consumption depicted on Egyptian Tombs (ca. 3,000BC)
Romans spread onion, garlic through Europe
* Associated with strength, warfare, Mars
Staple of middle ages w/ cabbages, beans
Medicinal uses: dog bites, blisters, hemorrhoids, baldness, fending off demons
BRASSICACEAE
(MUSTARD
FAMILY)
Brassica oleracea: broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, calabrese, collard greens, Romanesco, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi
Brassica rapa: turnip, rapini, oilseed rape (canola), mizuna, napa cabbage, rutabaga (swede)
Garden cress, water cress, mustard (brown, black, Asian), radish, rocket, daikon, woad, horseradish, wasabi, sea kale,
BRASSICACEAE (MUSTARD FAMILY)
Wide distribution, phenotypically plastic
Biennial plant, produces winter crops
High in vitamin C, soluble fiber
* contain multiple nutrients, phytochemicals,
* goitrogens (hypothyroidism, goiter)
Isothiocyanates responsibly for ‘heat’ of mustard and horseradish
Bitter: contain phenylthiocarbamide (PTC
BRASSICACEAE
mustard family?
Discussed in Greek and Roman
texts, and food chronicles of
medieval and Renaissance Europe
Multiple varieties of cabbage,
mustards, etc. described
Medicinal use
* Cabbage: laxative; digestive aid;
poultice for wounds, sores, or
swellings; prevent drunkenness;
* Mustard: sore muscles; epilepsy;
hysterical females; gout, sciatica
CUCURBITACEAE (GOURD FAMILY)
Cucurbita: squash, pumpkin, courgette, summer squash (Americas)
Lagenaria: bottle and other gourds (Africa)
Citrullus: watermelon and others (Africa)
Cucumis: cucumber, gherkin, muskmelon, horned melon (Africa, India, SE Asia, Australia)
CUCURBITS
Several squash varieties domesticated throughout the Americas:
* Cucurbita maxima: S. America, 4k BP
* Cucurbita pepo pepo: pumpkin
lineage, Mexico, 10kBP
* Cucurbita pepo ovifera: acorn-
summer lineage, eastern US, 5k BP
Evidence of domestication includes
increase in seed size, peduncle
morphology, rind thickness, phytolith evidence, and gourd artefacts
MELONS
curcubite example
Citrullus lanatus (watermelon) indigenous to Africa
* Domesticated in N. Africa (Sudan? Nile Valley?)
* important source of water and food,
Illustrations of watermelons in Temple of Meir, Egypt (3100–2180 BCE),
Mosaics in Imperial Rome and Greece (300-400AD) with watermelons, muskmelons, (Cucumis melo) and bottle gourds
Tractatus de herbis. ca. 1300AD, S. Italy
Six varieties, red (dessert) and white-fleshed (citron) watermelon in Mediterranean
HOW DO YOU REPRODUCE?
Carrots - seed
Broccoli - seed
Bananas - suckers
Apples - grafting
Eggplant - seed
Pineapple – crowns, suckers
Rhubarb – roots, seeds
Onions – roots, bulbs, seeds,
Strawberries - layering or seeds
VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION
- Stem cutting: Fig, grapes, manioc, olive, pineapple, potato (tuber), sugarcane.
- Division: rhubarb,chives
-
layering:Grapevines, rootstock propagation,
raspberries, blackberries - Suckers: Bananas,Pomegranate Dates, figs
-
Grafting: Apples, pears, cherry,
carob, avocado, citrus, walnuts
