Reported by: Crisencio M. Paner Ph.D.

in Biological Science (Candidate)

We seldom think about the fact that the variety of foods that we commonly eat have been drawn from numerous and widely separated parts of the world.

But even typical Italian food such as tomato sauce, chicken cacciatore, and pizza would not have existed before the discovery of America because there were no tomatoes, no red and green peppers, and no zucchini in Italy.

Italians obviously had a diet quite different 500 years ago from that they enjoy today. Similarly, what seems more American than apple pie or green peas, both of which were unknown in the New World until Europeans introduced them.

It is fascinating to trace the origins of our cultivated plants, some of which have become so modified over the years of domestication that finding their ancestral homes becomes similar to solving a mystery.

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.

In tracing the original homes of the cultivated species, de Candolle synthesized information gathered from studies of geography, linguistics, archaeology, and written history.

Archeological evidence helps in reconstructing the history of particular crop plants. Barley, an important item of trade in ancient times, as depicted on a Greek coin (above ,left). Poppy capsules bedecking the head of a stone sculpture from Crete, ca. 1400 B.C. (above, right). A vase portraying three corn gods left by the Mochica people, who grew corn under irrigation from the 1st through the 3rd centuries in Peru(left ,below) and a Chimu potato pot redrawn from an artifact in the British Museum (right, below)

Nikolay Vavilov- A Russian, who in 1952, tried to find centers of origin(gene centers) of cultivated species.

Vavilovs two assumptions as basis for determining location 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.

According to Vavilov, there are 8 centers of origin, namely: the Chinese center, the Indochina-Indonesian center, the Mid Eastern center, the Indian center, the Mediterranean center, the Abyssinian center, the Mexico-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.

Vavilovs Eight Centers of Origin and Some Crops He Proposed to Have Been Domesticated in Each

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

SINGKAMAS (Turnips)- are the roots of Brassica campestris , thought to have grown originally wild in Europe and Asia. There are references to a plant that appears to have been a turnip in Indian writings of 2000 B.C.

European cultivation appears to have begun only in the 13th century. The English name turnip comes from the same etymological base as the verb to turn because turnips are so smooth and perfectly formed they appear to have been turned on a lathe.

The flesh of the turnips sold as vegetables is usually white. The roots themselves are flat on top and generally tinged with purple.

Yellow-fleshed varieties are grown but are not commonly 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 at miscreants.

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 Middle Ages and still include them as a part of many winter meals.

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

Turnips

Rutabagas
The Irish which started the Halloween tradition used turnips and rutabagas as the first Jack OLantern.

Talong or eggplant (Solanum melongena) Known only as a cultivated species. India, or perhaps southern China, is purported to be its native home.

Sometime in the 15th century, eggplant cultivation spread to Europe and later to the New World. Eggplants have remained a very important dietary item in India but usually serve as an accessory food in other countries.

Indian eggplant

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 inappropriate for the large, ovoid, black-purple fruits that are now marketed, varieties common a few hundred years ago had small fruits that more closely resembled true eggs

Flowers of the Solanaceae typically have five fused petals with five or fewer stamens attached to the corrola. The ovary is superior and generally has two carpels.

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 the world, the seeds are cooked and eaten much as any other grain legume.

The species from which we obtain peanuts is native to central South America, perhaps eastern Peru. Domestication probably occurred first in southern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina.

By the time Columbus reached the New World, peanuts were cultivated throughout the warm regions 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.

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.

After fertilization, the flower pedicels of the peanut curve downward, and the developing fruit is forced into the ground by the proliferation and elongation of cells under the ovary. The legume subsequently develops underground.

SAYOTE OR CHAYOTE( Sechium edule) In Mexico Chayote also known as Mirliton or chowchow was domesticated in pre-Columbian times. 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 family which have numerous seeds embedded in the endocarp tissues, chayotes have only a single large seed.

As the fruit matures, the seed becomes bitter and imparts this flavor to the fruit. Consequently, chayotes are almost always eaten when they are young.

Because each chayote contains a single large seed, entire fruits are planted to establish new vines.

PINEAPPLES (Ananas comusus,Bromeliaceae) Pineapples are indigenous to the New World and were widely cultivated by native people by the middle of the 15th century. Columbus described pineapple fruits and noted during his second voyage that they resembled pine cones, a similarity that led to the common English. American Indians considered the pineapple a symbol of hospitality, and they used the sweet juice for making an alcoholic beverage and a poultice, and as a component of arrow poison concoction.

Pineapples were spread around the world in the 1500s by Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish traders. They were introduced into Hawaii in the early 19th century, 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.

A pineapple fruit is composed of 100 to 200 ovaries of separate flowers fused together and to the flowering stem. The remnants of the floral parts produce the prickles on the knobbly surface.

This is me at Del Monte pineapple plantation in Bukidnon, Mindanao1996

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 grape in america for juice, jams, and specialty wines.

Raisins are grapes that have been carefully dried. Varieties of grapes that are used for raisin production have been selected for a soft texture, reduced stickiness, and pleasing flavor. Common grape varieties that produce good raisins are the Sultana, Black Corinth, and Muscat of Alexandria. In the US , almost all raisins are produced in California.

SWEET ORANGE (Citrus sinensis ) The sweet orange is now the most widely grown citrus fruit in the world, but with the wild ancestors gone, we can only speculate about its origin. Some authors believe the orange is derived from an unidentified 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 golden apples of Greek mythology that the goddess of Fertility gave to Hera when she married Zeus.

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.

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.

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 an important 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.

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 known in Europe at least 300 years ago. Navels are now the leading orange variety grown in California.

TOMATO/KAMATIS(Lycopersicon esculentum) It is hard to think of Italian food without evoking visions of fragrant pots of tomato sauce, yet tomatoes are American and their inclusion in Old World cuisines came only after the discovery of the New 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.

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 to Europe, 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.

The French called tomatoes pommes d amour(love apples), but this was apparently a misinterpretation of the Italian name pomo doro (meaning golden apples) or a variant of pomi dei Moro, a name that reffered 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.

The German common name wolf-peach reflected the 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 wolf peach, to the species. Tomatoes were brought to temperate North America by the British, but they were initially grown only as ornamental plants. To ensure high fruit set, tomato flowers have to be vibrated in order to shake the pollen from the tubular anthers.

In open fields, wind currents are sufficient to dislodge 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-grown fruits.

SWEET PEPPERS(Capsicum anuum) Like tomatoes Sweet peppers are native to the New World and were probably also first domesticated in Mexico. Archaeological sites at Tehuacan, Mexico, have yielded 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.

COCONUTS (Cocos nucifera) There is a South Seas proverb, He who plants a coconut tree, plants food and drink, vessels and clothing, 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.

Controversy has raged for years about the coconuts native home, because the fruits were present on the Pacific coasts of South America, southeast Asia, and Polynesia before Europeans reached the New World. Various geographers have suggested that ancient voyagers crossed the Pacific before 1492, but evidence currently supports the hypothesis that coconuts are native to Indo-Pacific region and that they dispersed across oceans passively by currents.

BANANAS ( Musa spp.) Bananas and their relatives in the genus Musa (Musaceae) are all native to eastern Asia and Australia. Various species of the genus have been used for fiber, food, and in these areas since prehistoric times. It was even proposed by Sauer that agriculture first arose in southeast Asia with the banana among the first plants cultivated.

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 early agrarian 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 ancestry of the common banana so thoroughly that Simmonds has suggested that it should not be given a specific but should merely be reffered to as Musa followed by cultivar name.

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 into Africa and eastward across the Pacific. In 1522, bananas were taken from the western coast of Africa to the Canary Islands as food for slaves.

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 in the New World. Even with a good shipping system, cargos of bananas were often ruined because carbon dioxide and ethylene produced by bruised and ripe bananas accelerated ripening and caused rotting of entire shipments. Experiments eventually showed that if bananas are kept at 10C and 90% humidity, ripening is delayed.

For several decades since 1899, United Fruit Company essentially owned the land and controlled the workers on huge acreages of several Central and South American countries, causing them to be referred to as the banana republics. But the influence of the company waned at the end of World War 2.

JACKFRUIT(Artocarpus heterophyllus, Moraceae) Jackfruits are commonly eaten as a dessert fruit. Large-scale cultivation has tended to remain restricted to its native range of India and Shri Lanka.

AVOCADOS or Alligator pears (Persea americana, Lauraceae) Avocados have a controversial history and seem to defy 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.

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 calories per kilogram) known. Moreover, the seed is not protected in any way from the sharp teeth or digestive juices of an animal that might feed on the fruit.

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 a seed 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 archaeological deposits in southern Mexico (7000 B.C.)

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 the cavity, and a 30% oil content. Guatemalan fruits weigh between 500 and 1000 g. and have thick, and warty skins.

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, in fact, been claimed by native American Indians. The word avocado comes from the Aztec word ahuacacuahatl meaning testicle tree, which refers either to its stimulating properties or the appearance of the fruits that commonly hang in pairs.