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Questions and Answers
Which family does the plant Eragrostis tef belong to?
Which family does the plant Eragrostis tef belong to?
What type of plant is Eragrostis tef?
What type of plant is Eragrostis tef?
Where was Eragrostis tef first domesticated?
Where was Eragrostis tef first domesticated?
What part of the Eragrostis tef plant is primarily utilized?
What part of the Eragrostis tef plant is primarily utilized?
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What is the common processing method for Eragrostis tef grains?
What is the common processing method for Eragrostis tef grains?
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Which plant family does arugula belong to?
Which plant family does arugula belong to?
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What type of plant is arugula categorized as?
What type of plant is arugula categorized as?
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What is the native distribution of arugula?
What is the native distribution of arugula?
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Which part of the arugula plant is primarily used as food?
Which part of the arugula plant is primarily used as food?
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How is arugula typically prepared for consumption?
How is arugula typically prepared for consumption?
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What was the primary focus of early artificial plant classification systems?
What was the primary focus of early artificial plant classification systems?
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Which innovation significantly aided the dissemination of plant classification during the Age of Herbals?
Which innovation significantly aided the dissemination of plant classification during the Age of Herbals?
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Which of the following statements regarding Carl Linnaeus's binomial system is true?
Which of the following statements regarding Carl Linnaeus's binomial system is true?
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What problem was addressed by developing a standard Latin-based system of nomenclature?
What problem was addressed by developing a standard Latin-based system of nomenclature?
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Which characteristic was NOT part of the rules established by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature?
Which characteristic was NOT part of the rules established by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature?
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What does Anderson's hypothesis emphasize as crucial to the domestication of plants?
What does Anderson's hypothesis emphasize as crucial to the domestication of plants?
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What is the significance of the archeological site at Jarmo?
What is the significance of the archeological site at Jarmo?
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How did the theory proposed by Binford and Flannery differ from Anderson's hypothesis?
How did the theory proposed by Binford and Flannery differ from Anderson's hypothesis?
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What does the timeline at Jarmo indicate about agricultural development in Asia Minor?
What does the timeline at Jarmo indicate about agricultural development in Asia Minor?
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Which consequence of population pressure is outlined in the agricultural hypotheses discussed?
Which consequence of population pressure is outlined in the agricultural hypotheses discussed?
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What significant agricultural development occurred in central China around 6,000 years ago?
What significant agricultural development occurred in central China around 6,000 years ago?
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Which crop was primarily cultivated in the early agricultural development of Central America around 7,000 years ago?
Which crop was primarily cultivated in the early agricultural development of Central America around 7,000 years ago?
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Which agricultural practice was introduced in Central America approximately 2,500 years ago?
Which agricultural practice was introduced in Central America approximately 2,500 years ago?
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What defines the caryopsis structure of true cereals?
What defines the caryopsis structure of true cereals?
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What is the final chromosome configuration of bread wheat after the hybridization process?
What is the final chromosome configuration of bread wheat after the hybridization process?
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Which of the following statements best describes the domestication of wheat?
Which of the following statements best describes the domestication of wheat?
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Which statement accurately characterizes the hybridization events leading to bread wheat?
Which statement accurately characterizes the hybridization events leading to bread wheat?
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What is the significance of heating grains during early processing methods?
What is the significance of heating grains during early processing methods?
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Which statement is true regarding durum wheat and its uses?
Which statement is true regarding durum wheat and its uses?
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Which part of the wheat grain is primarily responsible for providing energy during germination?
Which part of the wheat grain is primarily responsible for providing energy during germination?
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Which of the following is NOT a step in the processing or milling of wheat grains?
Which of the following is NOT a step in the processing or milling of wheat grains?
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Why is black stem rust fungus significant in wheat production?
Why is black stem rust fungus significant in wheat production?
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What is the primary distinction between a superior and inferior ovary in flowering plants?
What is the primary distinction between a superior and inferior ovary in flowering plants?
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Which layer of the pericarp is responsible for protection of the seeds?
Which layer of the pericarp is responsible for protection of the seeds?
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What classification encompasses fruits derived from multiple ovaries of a single flower?
What classification encompasses fruits derived from multiple ovaries of a single flower?
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Which of the following fruit characteristics is NOT a classification criterion for flowering plant fruits?
Which of the following fruit characteristics is NOT a classification criterion for flowering plant fruits?
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What role do insects, birds, or other organisms play in the life cycle of flowering plants?
What role do insects, birds, or other organisms play in the life cycle of flowering plants?
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What characteristic differentiates the aggregate fruits of the genus Rubus from those of the genus Fragaria?
What characteristic differentiates the aggregate fruits of the genus Rubus from those of the genus Fragaria?
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Which part of the drupe fruit is generally discarded after consumption?
Which part of the drupe fruit is generally discarded after consumption?
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What is unique about how the pome fruit develops in members of the subfamily Maloidae?
What is unique about how the pome fruit develops in members of the subfamily Maloidae?
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In which region are most economically important species of the Prunus genus believed to be native?
In which region are most economically important species of the Prunus genus believed to be native?
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What distinguishes the fruits classified as aggregate from true berries in botanical terms?
What distinguishes the fruits classified as aggregate from true berries in botanical terms?
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Which statement accurately describes the protein content of soybeans compared to other legumes?
Which statement accurately describes the protein content of soybeans compared to other legumes?
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What is the primary agricultural requirement for cultivating soybeans effectively?
What is the primary agricultural requirement for cultivating soybeans effectively?
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What distinguishes peanuts from other legumes in terms of fruit development?
What distinguishes peanuts from other legumes in terms of fruit development?
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Which of the following uses of soybeans is NOT commonly recognized?
Which of the following uses of soybeans is NOT commonly recognized?
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What characteristic makes tropical pulses significant in certain regions of the world?
What characteristic makes tropical pulses significant in certain regions of the world?
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What is the primary role of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria found in the root nodules of legumes?
What is the primary role of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria found in the root nodules of legumes?
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Why are legumes considered a significant protein source in various diets?
Why are legumes considered a significant protein source in various diets?
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What type of fruit is classified as a legume in the context of leguminous plants?
What type of fruit is classified as a legume in the context of leguminous plants?
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Which of the following legumes is known to have been cultivated for at least 7,000 years?
Which of the following legumes is known to have been cultivated for at least 7,000 years?
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How do legumes contribute to improving nitrogen-limited soils?
How do legumes contribute to improving nitrogen-limited soils?
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Study Notes
Botanical Information
- Eragrostis tef is a species in the grass family (Poaceae).
- Tef is an herbaceous annual plant.
- It is native to Ethiopia and Eritrea.
History as a Food Plant
- Tef was first domesticated in Ethiopia.
- It is most widely grown in Ethiopia.
Utilization
- The seeds of Tef are used as a food source.
- Tef is typically ground into flour for making injera, a spongy flatbread that is a staple food in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Botanical Information
- Eruca vesicaria belongs to the Brassicaceae family
- This species is an herbaceous annual
- It is native to the Mediterranean region
Utilization
- The leaves are used in food
- It is commonly used raw in salads, or cooked in stir-fries and other dishes.
History of Plant Classification
- Plant classification started in Ancient Greece.
- Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle, established the first system based on natural groupings.
- "Artificial" systems focused on appearance and medicinal properties, but were later replaced by a Latin-based nomenclature system.
- The binomial system, introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, is still used today.
- It uses generic names with capitalized first letters and species epithets, both italicized.
- Scientific names include authority designations summarizing their nomenclatural history.
Plant Species
- The biological species concept defines a group of interbreeding individuals with non-fertile offspring when crossed with other species.
- This definition is difficult to apply in practice, as spatially isolated populations may not interbreed.
- Plants can form fertile hybrids and some species are naturally asexual.
- Plant taxonomists rely on morphological form for classification.
- Morphology is influenced by environmental conditions and evolution.
- Examples demonstrate diverse morphological adaptations including:
- Potentilla plants sensitive to light
- Fruits and vegetables varying between wild and domesticated forms
- Rafflesia attracting insects with its corpse-like smell
- South African parasitic plants absorbing nutrients from others
- Titan Arum's tall flower
- Duckweed's small size facilitating invasive spread and tiny fruits
- Victoria Water Lily's large surface area for light absorption
- Baobab trees' thick trunks
- Socotra Dragon Trees reaching 12 meters tall
- Giant Senecio's adaptation to foggy weather
- Azarella compacta's cushion-like form in the Andes
- Colocynth's survival in North African deserts
Evolutionary Relationships of Flowering Plants
- Phenetic classification systems rely on many characters, emphasizing those less influenced by environment.
- Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species" sparked interest in phylogenetic classification emphasizing evolutionary relationships.
- Reconstructing flowering plant evolution requires understanding ancestral relationships and distinguishing primitive and advanced features.
- Two competing theories emerged in the 19th century:
- Engler's theory: Earliest flowers were small, wind-pollinated, structurally simple.
- Hooker's theory: Earliest flowers were large with numerous sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils.
- Hooker's theory is widely accepted today, with evolution resulting in:
- Reduction in floral parts
- Fusion of petals and irregular corollas
- Separation of sexes
- Molecular biology studies support Hooker's system, though refinements continue.
Flowering Plants: Monocots and Eudicots
- Flowering plants (Angiosperms) are traditionally divided into monocots and eudicots based on cotyledon number.
- Monocots have one cotyledon, eudicots have two.
- Additional morphological features distinguish the groups, though exceptions exist.
Monocots
- Plant form: Herbaceous, never woody
- Floral parts: Three, six, nine, etc.
- Leaves: Linear, sheathing the base, parallel-veined
- Root system: Primary root is short-lived, fibrous root system developed
Eudicots
- Plant form: Herbaceous or woody
- Floral parts: Four, five, eight, ten, etc.
- Leaves: Broad, not sheathing, net veined
- Root system: Primary root often persists, forming a taproot
Magnoliid Angiosperms
- A third group, Magnoliid Angiosperms, evolved before the divergence of monocots and eudicots.
- This showcases the simplification of the monocot and eudicot distinction from an evolutionary perspective.
Theories about the origins of farming
- A theory by Anderson suggests that as populations grew, people moved to less optimal areas, forcing them to domesticate crops for a reliable food source.
- Anderson also hypothesized that plant hybridization in disturbed areas, like dumps, led to rapid genetic variations, creating new and useful food crops.
- Binford and Flannery proposed early plant gatherers were skilled botanists who cultivated plants based on need.
- These theories aren't mutually exclusive and can be supported by evidence from different regions.
Centers of Agricultural Origin
-
Asia Minor (Near East):
- Agriculture developed in the semiarid regions of Iran, Iraq and eastern Turkey, excluding the Mesopotamian valleys.
- Early settlements at Jarmo in Iraq show evidence of wild grain collection from 10,000 years ago.
- By 8,750 years ago, wheat was a major cereal crop, with barley, sheep, goats, and later pigs domesticated.
- Over the next century, various other plants were domesticated, including peas, lentils, vetch, grapes, olives, dates, pears, and cherries.
- Around 7,000 years ago, people moved to the Tigris-Euphrates valleys, leading to more reliable food and water access and the development of sophisticated urban civilizations by 6,000 years ago.
- Agricultural practices from Asia Minor spread to the Balkan region of southeast Europe around 6,000 years ago, leading to a shift in cereal crops from wheat and barley to rye and oats.
- Evidence suggests significant landscape transformation as forests were converted to cropland in Europe.
-
Central China (Far East):
- The earliest evidence of agriculture in central China comes from the Yang-Chao site near the Hwang Ho (Yellow) River, dating back about 6,000 years.
- This region had a developed agrarian society with irrigated rice fields, large villages, and sophisticated social structures.
- While there is evidence of agriculture in other parts of eastern Asia, preservation issues in tropical environments limit our knowledge.
- Spirit Cave in Thailand shows evidence of bean and pea cultivation 9,000 years ago and rice cultivation 7,000 years ago.
-
Central America:
- The drier climate of central Mexico and Peru allowed for good preservation of archaeological material.
- By 7,500 years ago, evidence of agricultural development exists in both Central America (present-day Mexico) and South America (Peruvian Andes).
- In Tehuancan, Mexico, agriculture developed gradually, known as "incipient cultivation," starting as mostly hunter-gatherer 9,000-7,000 years ago.
- Central America transitioned to full agriculture around 3,500 years ago, with notable domestications including corn (maize), squash, peppers, amaranth, avocado, tomato, beans, and cotton.
- Irrigation practices were introduced from Asia to both Central and South America.
- The Aztec in Mexico, Mayan in Central America, and Inca in the Andes each employed sophisticated agricultural practices around 2,500 years ago.
Selection Pressures on Plants
- Plant characteristics are influenced by the genome and natural selection.
- The domestication of plants has drastically altered their traits, making them more suitable for human use.
- Early agriculture, although not driven by conscious selection, led to rapid passive selection of agriculturally beneficial traits through the "planting-harvesting link."
- Wild plants often produce seeds over extended periods, which ensures some seeds mature under favourable conditions.
- However, early farmers likely harvested seeds from plants with simultaneous seed development, favouring those traits in subsequent generations.
- Similar selection pressures have promoted beneficial mutations in cereal crops, such as:
- Uniform seed maturation, allowing for more efficient harvests.
- Compression of tillering, reducing the production of axillary shoots that cause uneven maturation.
- Loss of seed appendages, minimizing wastage during harvest.
- Loss of germination inhibitors, ensuring more synchronized sprouting.
- Increased florets, leading to a higher yield of seeds.
- Reduced day-length sensitivity, maximizing the harvest window.
Crop Diversity
- Crop breeding focuses on high yields, often at the expense of disease and pest resistance.
- The Green Revolution, while increasing crop yields, promoted technology-driven farming, benefiting developed countries but often harming developing nations due to cost limitations for machinery and pesticides.
- Plant monocultures, which involve extensive plantings of the same genotype, are highly susceptible to pathogen-pest outbreaks due to the lack of genetic resistance.
- Genetic engineering in crops involves introducing genetic information from other organisms, creating pest and herbicide resistance, but raising concerns about environmental and health impacts.
- The loss of older and less productive plant varieties represents a significant loss of genetic diversity, which could prove useful in future breeding programs.
- The destruction of natural ecosystems, like rainforests, threatens a massive genetic resource base that could be used for new crops and medicines.
Cereal Crops
- Cereal crops, particularly wheat, rice, and corn, were crucial to the development of agriculture worldwide.
- Cereal grains are concentrated food sources, primarily composed of carbohydrates (starch), with protein, oil, vitamins, and minerals.
- Cereal grains can be stored for long periods due to their low water content.
- "True" cereals belong to the Grass (Poaceae) Family, a large and economically important group of monocots.
- Grasses produce a dry, indehiscent fruit called a caryopsis, essentially a seed with a fused pericarp.
Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum)
- Bread wheat originated in Asia Minor (present-day Iraq) as a complex hybrid involving Triticum, Agropyron, and Aegilops genera.
- Modern bread wheat is a hexaploid with 42 chromosomes, resulting from multiple hybridizations and chromosome doubling events.
- Archaeological evidence from Jarmo (Iraq) indicates wheat cultivation 9,000 years ago.
- Initial wheat processing involved heating to remove inedible parts and grinding into porridge or gruel.
- Accidental fungal yeast infection of wheat gruel likely led to the development of leavened bread and alcoholic beverages.
- The two main types of wheat are hexaploid bread wheat (T. aestivum) and tetraploid durum wheat (T. durum).
- Durum wheat, with its harder grain and lower gluten content, is used for pasta, semolina, couscous, and bulgar.
- "Ancient grains" include diploid einkorn wheat (T. monococcum) and tetraploid emmer wheat (T. dicoccum), first cultivated in Asia Minor around 8,000 years ago.
- Spelt wheat (T. spelta), another hexaploid species, is closely related to bread wheat and grown as a specialty crop.
- Modern bread wheat has numerous hexaploid varieties, categorized into spring and winter types.
- Spring wheat, sown in spring and harvested in autumn, has a 90-day growing season and is common in cool temperate regions.
- Winter wheat, sown in fall, germinates in late fall, overwinters as seedlings, and is harvested in mid-summer requiring moist fall weather, mild winters, and adequate snow cover.
- Black stem rust fungus is a significant wheat pathogen, and breeding programs focus on enhancing resistance to this and other fungal pathogens.
- Black stem rust infects aboveground parts, absorbing nutrients, damaging leaves and stems, leading to crop failure and reduced yield.
- A wheat grain consists of three parts: germ, bran, and white flour (semolina).
- The germ, about 6% of the grain, is the plant embryo and rich in oils and protein.
- The bran, about 4% of the grain, includes the seed coat, aleurone layer, and husk, containing protein, enzymes, and fiber.
- The white flour (semolina) is the endosperm tissue, primarily starch, making up 85-90% of the grain.
- Black stem fungus attacks the endosperm as an energy source.
Processing Wheat
- Wheat grain processing involves cleaning, tempering, crushing, and separating.
- Cleaning removes glumes and other inedible parts.
- Tempering involves moistening the grain to toughen the bran and prevent fragmentation.
- Crushing removes bran and germ using rollers.
- Separating endosperm (white flour or semolina) from bran and germ results in high-energy starch.
- White flour keeps longer than whole grain flour but lacks protein and essential vitamins.
- Enriched flour often contains added vitamins.
- Wheat contains both gliadin and glutenin proteins, essential for traditional bread-making.
- During baking, yeasts ferment sugars in flour dough, releasing CO
2, which gets trapped by gluten forming bubbles, causing the dough to rise and produce a leavened loaf.
Corn or Maize (Zea mays)
- Corn (North America) or maize (Europe) is native to Central America, cultivated for at least 7,000 years.
- Early cultivars and genetic crosses were selected in Mexico and Peru.
- Corn was critical to Mayan, Aztec, and Inca civilizations.
- Modern corn is a mutated derivative of the ancestral plant teosinte.
- Corn is unique with "gendered" flowers – separate male (tassels) and female (ears) parts.
- The tassels are male flowers, producing pollen, while the ears are female, producing the kernels.
- Corn is low in protein, specifically lysine, and some vitamins like niacin compared to other cereals.
- It lacks gluten proteins, resulting in only flatbreads like tortillas being made from corn flour.
- Although originally subtropical, modern corn cultivars grow well in temperate climates, including the Canadian prairies.
- Corn has a short growing season.
- Corn is widely grown for livestock feed, human consumption, and bioethanol production.
- Humans consume sweet corn fresh, canned, or frozen, and it is processed into flour and meal, especially in Central America.
- Livestock feed varieties are starchy, while other cultivars include popping corn, beer, cornstarch, and specialty products.
- Corn is genetically mutable and hybridizes easily, crucial for crop production.
- Hybrid vigor is maintained by crossing inbred lines, as hybrids don't "breed true."
- Hybrids are stronger and healthier than true breeds due to separate male and female flowering shoots.
- Traditional hybrid vigor maintenance involved complex breeding programs using double-crossing.
- A male-sterile line was developed in the 1960s to simplify hybrid vigor maintenance, but it inadvertently carried a gene for susceptibility to southern corn blight, leading to a devastating crop failure in the United States in 1970.
- Molecular genetics suggests corn is a mutated derivative of the wild grass teosinte.
Rice
- Archaeological evidence indicates early rice cultivation in China and Southeast Asia.
- Rice requires hot, humid climates with high rainfall.
- Most commercial "paddy rice" varieties require continuous submergence in water for 2-3 months.
- "Upland rice" is grown in high rainfall areas with saturated soils but does not need submergence.
- Rice demands nutrient-rich soil, especially nitrogen, and is labor-intensive.
- Hand-planting and harvesting are common in Asia, Africa, and South America, while in California, seeds are broadcast from planes and harvested mechanically.
- Rice cultivars are categorized into long-grained (indica) and short-grained (sativa) types.
- Common examples include Indian basmati (long-grained, aromatic), Asian glutinous (short-grained, sticky), Italian (short-grained, for risotto), and Thai jasmine (long-grained, fragrant).
- Hybridization programs have significantly boosted rice yields in recent years.
- Rice is consumed with little processing.
- Harvested rice grain processing involves threshing and pearling/polishing.
- Threshing separates grains from chaff.
- Pearling and polishing produce white rice by abrading away the protein-rich bran and germ, resulting in loss of fiber and nutrients, used for animal fodder.
- Polished white rice is about 92% starch with low protein content, hard starch, and lacks gluten proteins.
- Polishing removes thiamine (Vitamin B
1), leading to thiamine deficiency and beriberi disease. - Beriberi symptoms include weight loss, sensory perception reduction, limb pain and weakness, and emotional disturbances.
Other Cereal Crops
-
Oats (Avena sativa) are important for forage and fodder, used mainly for cattle feed.
-
Only about 4% of oats are consumed by humans, primarily as oatmeal and rolled oats.
-
Oats are grown in moist-temperate areas, with both spring and winter varieties.
-
Oats have the highest protein content among all cereals but lack gluten proteins.
-
Rye (Secale cereale) likely originated as a cultivar of S. montanum, a wheat and barley weed mimic.
-
Rye thrives in cool climates and tolerates nutrient-poor soils.
-
Rye is primarily grown for fodder and pasture but is also used for bread flour.
-
Rye flour produces dense, dark, and bitter bread due to its low gluten content.
-
Most North American "rye" breads contain a mixture of rye and wheat flour.
Fungal Ergot
- Rye can be infected with fungal ergot in wet seasons, causing severe symptoms like convulsions, paralysis, gangrene, and hallucinations in humans.
- Ergot contains ergotamine, LSD, and alkaloid compounds with physiological effects.
- Ergot is long and dark in appearance.
- The FDA allows acceptable levels of ergot contamination in crops.
- These symptoms, known as St. Anthony's Fire in Medieval Europe, have been linked to historical events like witch trials, demonic possessions, and religious visions.
- Large-scale ergot poisoning epidemics persisted into the 20th century.
Fruit Characteristics
- A fruit is the mature ovary of a flowering plant, containing seeds.
- Fruits can be classified based on ovary position (superior or inferior), texture (fleshy or dry), and origin (simple, aggregate, or multiple).
Rose (Rosaceae) Family
- A large family of mostly temperate species.
- Known for showy, insect-pollinated flowers produced in spring.
- Fruits are often fleshy, large, and dispersed by animals.
- Economically important for food production.
- Divided into four subfamilies: Rosoideae, Prunoideae, Maloideae, and others.
Subfamily Rosoideae
- Contains raspberry, blackberry, and strawberry.
- Produces aggregate fruits, not true berries.
- Raspberry and blackberry have a hollow receptacle with a cluster of drupelets.
- Strawberry has a fleshy receptacle with numerous achenes.
Subfamily Prunoideae
- Includes plum, peach, nectarine, apricot, cherry, and almond.
- Produces stone fruits called drupes with one seed.
- The fleshy exocarp and mesocarp are edible, while the endocarp is discarded.
- Almond is a roasted seed; its pericarp is inedible.
Subfamily Maloideae
- Includes apple, pear, and quince.
- Produces pome fruits, a unique fruit type.
- The fleshy portion is derived from hypanthium tissue, which envelops the ovary.
- The pericarp is the inedible core containing the seeds.
- Most apple varieties are derived from Malus domestica.
- Modern apple cultivars are often triploid and sterile, propagated vegetatively.
Tomato (Solanaceae) Family
- A large family with worldwide distribution.
- Important for agriculture in South and Central America.
- Contains edible fruits and other plants like tobacco, potato, and medicinal species.
- Fruits are true berries.
- Includes tomato, sweet and capsicum peppers.
Mulberry (Moraceae) Family
- Produces multiple fruits.
- Includes white and black mulberries, figs, breadfruit, and jackfruit.
- Figs are commercially significant, while breadfruit and jackfruit are important carbohydrate sources in the tropics.
Other Temperate Fruits
- Grape is a perennial woody vine native to the Eastern Mediterranean.
- Pomegranate is a small tree native to the Middle East.
- Kiwi (Chinese gooseberry) is indigenous to China but commercialized in New Zealand.
- Olive is a large, long-lived tree native to the Mediterranean.
Other Tropical Fruits
- Pecan is a large tree native to the southern United States.
- Almond is a small tree native to Western Asia.
- Hazelnut is a tall shrub native to Eurasia.
Tropical Nuts
- Cashew is a large evergreen tree native to northeastern Brazil.
- Pistachio is a small tree indigenous to central Asia.
- Brazil nut is an enormous tree native to the Amazonian rainforest.
- Macadamia nut is native to southeast Australia.
Legumes or Pulses
- Legumes are part of the Fabaceae or Pea family, comprised of both herbaceous plants and woody trees (e.g., peas, beans, acacia, tamarind).
- The legume fruit is a single-chambered pod with seeds attached along one edge (e.g., pea pod).
- Legume seeds are high in protein (up to 25-30%), comparable to red meat.
- Legumes are an essential protein source, particularly in regions where meat is scarce or expensive. Legumes are important for vegetarians because they are a complete protein, containing all essential amino acids.
- Legumes produce root nodules that host nitrogen-fixing bacteria (genus Rhizobium), facilitating conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into usable nitrate for plants. These nodules allow legumes to grow in nutrient-poor (nitrogen-limited) soils.
Common or Kidney Bean
- The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is native to Central and South America.
- Cultivars include green or string beans (fresh pods) and kidney beans (dried seeds).
- Dried kidney beans contain about 20% protein.
Pea
- The pea (Pisum sativum) is an ancient legume crop, cultivated for at least 7,000 years.
- Native to the Mediterranean, Middle East, and northeastern Africa.
- Seeds can be dried (about 25% protein) or eaten fresh.
- Sugar peas are a variety with edible immature pods.
Soybean
- The soybean (Glycine max) is native to China, Japan, and Korea.
- First cultivated over 3,000 years ago in northeast China.
- Seeds are rich in protein (35-40% dry weight) and contain all essential amino acids.
- Soybeans are the world's most important legume crop, with over 100 million tons produced annually.
- Used for various purposes: fresh and dried beans, bean sprouts, edible oil products, industrial oils, Asian cooking products, processed protein products, food additives, livestock and pet food.
Peanut or Groundnut
- The peanut (Arachis hypogaea) is native to Central and South America.
- First domesticated over 3,500 years ago.
- Two main types: Virginia (prostrate) and Spanish (upright)
- Over 30 million tons are harvested annually.
- Peanuts are processed into edible and industrial oils or used for animal feed.
- Peanuts are roasted for consumption, processed into pastes and sauces like peanut butter and satay, and added to stews and stir-fries.
- The maturing fruit is pushed into the soil after pollination, requiring loose, sandy soils.
Tropical Pulses
- Tropical pulses are an important seed protein source in India, Africa, Asia, and South America.
- Tropical pulses include:
- Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus)
- Broad bean (Vicia faba)
- Chickpea (Cicer arietinum)
- Black gram or urd (Vigna mungo)
- Mung bean or green gram (V. radiata)
- Black-eyed bean (V. unguiculata)
- Asparagus or yard-long bean (V. unguiculata var. sesquipedalis)
- Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan)
- Lentil (Lens culinaris)
Carob
- Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) is a subtropical tree native to the Arabian Peninsula.
- Pods are known as St. John's Bread and contain protein- and sugar-rich seeds.
- The sweetmeat around the seeds is edible.
- Pods are processed into paste used as a chocolate substitute.
- Seeds provide gum that acts as a stabilizer and thickener in food products (e.g., ice cream, salad dressing, processed meat).
Tamarind
- Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) is a large tree native to India.
- Large pods produce edible sweetmeat around the seeds.
- Used in tropical cuisines (India, Philippines, Middle East).
Fenugreek
- Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is native to the Mediterranean and Southwest Asia.
- Seeds have been used medicinally and as food since ancient times.
- Important crop in India, the Middle East, and Africa.
- Fenugreek seed is a spice in curry dishes.
- Fresh leaves are used as a vegetable in India, dried leaves are used as an aromatic spice.
Liquorice
- Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is native to the Mediterranean region and central Asia.
- Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
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Test your knowledge on Eragrostis tef, an important cereal grass native to Ethiopia and Eritrea. Learn about its history, cultivation, and culinary uses, especially in making injera, a key staple in Ethiopian diet. Dive into the fascinating world of this ancient grain!
