Lecture-Foods from Roots PDF

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Lecture—Food from Roots Brassica oleracea: Plant species including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprouts, collard greens, savoy, kohlrabi, and gaiian. “wild cabbage” in uncultivated form 

Native to coastal southern and western Europe

Leafy/headed products: Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, collards, endive, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, and spinach Leaves and Heads 

Earliest leafy forms of B. oleracea is as early as 650 B.C. in Greece. “forage kales” resemble the ancestral type

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1st domestication in 1000 B.C. Europe o Were adapted to coastal areas where waxy leaves helped withstand salt spray, drought, and cold

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More popularized by 200 B.C. when packing shredded leaves into earthenware crocks filled with salt resulted in preservation Sauerkraut in Europe and Kimchee in Asia, they provided vitamin C

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Although not in Brassicacae, lettuce, Lactuca Sativa, Family (Apicacae), is more utilized than its peers

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Family contains 13,000 species and contributes lettuce

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4500 B.C. in Egyptian tombs. Well known in Roman times

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Egyptians believed lettuce to be an aphrodisiac due to milky substance at the base

Roots: beets, carrots, parsnips, radish, rutabaga, and turnips 

Major crops are turnips and rutabagas

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Not always been esteemed

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Rutabaga is used as an oil crop whose seeds can be used to produce canola oil

Radish (Raphanus sativa): earliest come from Egypt and have been cultivated at least 4000 years ago 

Daikon variant is especially popular in Asia

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Globally popular form not derived until 1900s

Stem/Root Crops Worldwide “Starchy staples”: potatoes and yams 

Commonly referred to as tubers that result from underground stems that bud at nodes allowing a new plant to derive nutrients from the parent plant until it is established

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Main food of preagricultural peoples

White potato: Solanum tuberosum New World food that has been cultivated over 10,000 years and used to 13.000 BP Peru needed a more tolerant crop than corn Conquistadors used the potential of the potato and spread it into Britan European nightshade worry Ireland incorporated in mid 1700s and were completely dependent by 1840. 1843-potato famine due to mono culture 5th largest food crop Yam/Sweet Potato: Tpomea batatas Member of convovulaceae and New World native. A part of the morning glory family Yams are Disoscorea genus Columbus took a sweet potato to Spain. About 50 years before white potato

In Africa, Asia, New Guiney, Melanesia it became important in culture o Central to ceremonial life o The size of the yam reflects a grower’s status o Used in ritual gift exchange o Sub. Starch crop where wet conditions would cause lodging of traditional grain crops Manoic: Manihot esculenta Euphorbacea family. Important basis of meals in the tropics and known by many common names. Staple food for over 500 million people Africa: 37% of calories are derived from manioc; Latin America 11% of daily intake Domestication zones: southern amazon river in Brazil back to 1992 BC Why is it popular in the tropics? o Grows well in wet and arid conditions o Produces storage root in poor soil o Insects and fungi resistant o Minimal agricultural labor

o High yield per unit area o Can be harvested or left in ground until needed o Yet, little protein and essentially no vitamins. Toxic due to cyanogenic glycosides

Bulbs: Lilliaceae contributes many bulb products: leeks and onions. Onions, leeks, garlic, shallots are genus Allium and have been utilized before recorded history 

Cultivated as early as 3200 BC in Egypt, but probably indigenous to Asia

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Fleshy leaf bases are full of carbohydrates

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Sulphur compounds make you cry

In both stems and leaves, new growth can only take place in precise points (differs from animal cells; all divide)  Mature plant cells become encased in a cell wall so it cannot divide  The certain regions where cells remain immature are meristems  Most recent forms are broccoli and cauliflower—broccoli is the flowering buds and cauliflower derived from sterile flower buds Apical Meristems Chuno Lodging

The perfect site for production of all headed and leafy crops because they occur at the end of stems Potato cellulose dry mass Collapse and deterioration of a hollow stalk...