Origins of Cultivated Plants Part 3

7/28/2019 Origins of Cultivated Plants Part 3

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Report by: Crisencio M. Paner

Ph.D. in Biological Science

(Student)


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Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)- is a grain native to Africa.

Traditionally, sorghum has been a grain of hot regionswith too little rainfall for other grains.

The waxy leaves ofSorghum bicolor roll up to retardevaporation and thus aid in coping with water stress.

Sorghum is today the major grain consumed by manyAfricans and Indians.


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Dried grains are often ground and used to make flatbreads.

There are even pop sorghums similar to our popcorn.

The grain is also used to make a beer.

There has recently been an increased interest in

sorghum because of its drought tolerance and potentialuse on land that is marginal for other grains.

It is also a potentially useful crop for the making ofalcohol.


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Corn (Zea mays)- In contrast to the Old World, the New

World provided only one major domesticated cereal, maize.Maize formed the basis of all of the major new worldcivilizations, the Mayan, Aztec, and Inca.

Corn is the most efficient in converting water and carbon

dioxide into foodstuffs.


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Because of its importance, there has been a greatinterest in the origin and subsequent evolutionaryhistory of corn.

It has been agreed for some time that corn was initiallydomesticated in the highlands of Mexico and that itscultivation spread north and southward.

Charred cobs over 7,000 years old have been found inMexico.


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Athough there are now many thousands of corn

cultivars, many of them hybrids, there are six mainhistorical types of corn: pod, dent, flint, pop, f lour, andsweet corn.

Pod Corn Dent Corn Flint Corn Pop Corn


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Flour Corn

Sweet Corn


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Lentils (Lens culinaris)- are among the most ancient

plants known to have been cultivated by man.Carbonized lentils found in Neolithic villages in theMiddle East have been dated as being between 9 and 10thousand years old.

Analysis of the fossilized seeds indicates a period ofdomestication had occurred years before the time whenthe seeds were deposited.


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By 2200 B.C. lentils began to appear in Egyptiantombs.

Lentils are the first pulse to be mentioned in the Bible.

According to the story in Genesis (Genesis 25), Esau,the first-born twin of Rebecca and Isaac, sold hisbirthright to his brother Jacob for a meal of red lentils.

Lentils rank 5th among the major legumes in proteincontent, and they are among the most digestible of allcommonly eaten pulses.

Pulses


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Peas (Pisum sativum)- Fossil seeds unmistakably

identified as peas have been recorded from excavationsin the Near East and Europe and dated as being 9,000years old.

The original domestication of peas was, therefore,

probably Mediterranean, although Ethiopia and CentralAsia have been proposed as centers of domestication.


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During the Middle Ages in Europe, dried peas were the

mainstay of the peasant population.Peas were not eaten as a fresh green vegetable until the17th century.

Chinese snow peas and the new sugar snap peas are pea

varieties eaten when the pods are still immature andtender.

Chinese snow peas Snap peas


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Broad Beans (Vicia faba)- are associated with theMediterranean region believed to be the original homeof the species.

Cultivation was widespread in this region inprehistoric times, and writings attest to the cultivation ofbroad beans by Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.

From southern Europe, broad beans spread to Asia (China is now the worlds largest producer) and the NewWorld.
http://go2.wordpress.com/?id=725X1342&site=cookalicious.wordpress.com&url=http://cookalicious.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/broadbeans.jpg


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The seeds of broad beans are said to produce favism, adisease involving hemolytic anemia.

The illness, resulting from the breakdown of red bloodcells, is most commonly found in people ofMediterranean origin.

Although exposure to the beans was long thought tocause the disease, it is now known that the disease is theresult of a genetic disorder that results in a lack ofenzyme (gluscose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase).


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When oxidative agents such as the fava bean alkaloids

are ingested by individuals with this disorder, the anemiais aggravated.

Oddly enough, before the advent of modern medicine,the disease was often advantageous to individuals who

had it because it provided a resistance to malaria inmuch the same way as sickle-cell anemia conferredmalaria resistance to blacks in Africa.

Red blood cells infected

with Malaria organisms.


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Chick-peas (Cicer arietinum)- have a record of

cultivation that is only slightly younger than that of peasand lentils.

The first certain records, from Turkey, are dated to be7,400 years old.

The area of origin of the species is assumed to be innortheast Africa.


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By 2000 B.C., chick-peas were introduced to India, whichnow produces 79 percent of the worlds crop.

Cultivation also spread around Mediterranean, and todaychick-peas form a part of the cuisines of Italy, Spain,Morocco, and Algeria.

Brought to Mexico by the Spanish, who call themgarbanzos, they now constitute, along with beans, aMexican nonmeat source of protein.


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Soybeans (Glycine max)- are considered as the king of

all the legumes.In China, soybeans are referred to as poor mans meat,indicating their importance in this populous country.

Soybeans are thought to be native to northeastern

China where the domestication is hypothesized to haveoccurred about over 7,000 years ago.


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Brought from the orient to France by missionaries,soybeans never became popular outside of China andJapan until 1890.Now, soybeans are considered by many to be one of theprincipal plants that will help feed the worlds futurepopulation.

Included in the repertoire of possible foodstuffs fromsoybeans are curd, cheese, drinks, sauces(soy), greens(sprouts for salad and oil.


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Pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan)-While the name pigeonpea might not seem like a familiar one, you haveprobably eaten them without realizing it.There is a dispute about the place of origin of the crop,with most botanists favoring India because of theprominence of the pea there.

Other botanists suggest that the pea was first cultivatedin northern Africa because there are 4,000-year-oldfossils thought to be pegion peas from this region.


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Whatever the origin, the legume is now of majorimportance in India which produces 95% of the worldscrop.Pigeon peas will grow on poor soil, which makes them agood crop for farmers utilizing marginal agriculturalland.


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Black-Eyed Peas a.k.a. Cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata)-

Africa (Ethiopia) is usually considered to be the originalarea of domestication of black-eyed peas.

Spread of their cultivation seems to have occurred bothwestward within Africa and eastward to India.

The majority of the crop, however, is still grown in Africawhere seeds, sprouts, and leaves are eaten.


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Black-eyed peas were introduced to the U.S. by slavesbrought from western Africa.

Today, they are part of the regional cooking of the Americansouth.In parts of the southern U.S. , hoppin John, a mixture ofrice, black-eyed peas, and salt pork is the traditional dish ofNew Years Day.

Superstition says the stew must be eaten before noon onJanuary first in order to ensure good luck during the new year.


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Lima Beans (Phaseolus lunatus)- are generally

considered to be native to Central America and to havenaturally spread northward in North Americasouthward into South America.

However, the oldest fossil material, dated between 7

and 10 thousand years before present, is from Peru.Domestication of the bean may therefore have occurred

Independently in Central and South America.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/NCI_lima_beans.jpghttp://home.howstuffworks.com/enlarge-image.htm?terms=lima+beans&gallery=1&page=1


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The common name of the bean, lima, comes from the

place from which Europeans first described the species,Lima, Peru.

Dried limas are used in soups, but most lima bean areconsumed as shelled, immature fresh seeds.

Some cultivars of lima beans contain cyanogeniccompounds which release cyanide when the beans arechewed or ground.


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Fortunately thorough cooking destroys the enzymes

that liberate the cyanide.


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Tamarinds (Tamarindus indica)- have been used inAfrica, where wild plants grow in the tropical drysavannas, and in southern Asia for thousands of years.The ripe, long brown pods borne on tall, spreading treesare used primarily for their tart, rather sticky pulp, butthe seeds can also be roasted or boiled and eaten after

the removal of the seed coat.


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In U.S. and Mexico, tamarinds are used primarily as a

flavoring in sauces.


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Common Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata)-

Includes red and green cabbages with tight heads andsmooth leaves.

The modern variety (B. oleracea var. capitata) is believed tohave been developed in Germany where both red and white(= green) cabbages were grown by 1160 A.D.

Cabbages have always been an important item in the diets ofEuropean peasants.

BACKGROUND OF PROF. CRISENCIO M. PANER


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Ph.D. in Biological Science (Candidate), UST

M.S. in Microbiology, UST

B.S. Biochemistry, UST

Italian Government Scholar

College Scholar

Certificate in Education

10th Placer Licensure Exams for Teachers (1998)

20 years of experience as a teacher (College, High School, Elementary)

Expert in Internet, Computer (Software, Hardware, and Repair)

Researcher and BloggerArt Restorer/Conservator

Publication:Prime Journal of Microbiology Research

http://primejournal.org/PJMR/abstract/2012/may/Paner.htm

http://primejournal.org/PJMR/cont/2012/may.htm

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Origins of Cultivated Plants Part 3