Transcript Food Plants
Origin of Domesticated Plants Wheat Plant Germ Plasm • The first category of germ plasm includes the native or indigenous varieties of cultivated crop plants used elsewhere in commercial agricultural production. • At present many of the major crop plants have a limited genetic base, as these have been developed through a series of selections that emphasize yield often at the expense of insect or disease resistance, environmental tolerance, multiple use, etc. Seed Savers, Decorah, Iowa Plant Germ Plasm • The second category of germ plasm material includes the identification and collection of wild relatives of the more commonly cultivated plants. Wild Tomato Species From Peru Domestic High Altitude Another S. sisymbrifolium Plant Germ Plasm • The third category includes plants not yet in the economic system and not related to domesticated plants. These may have properties of great value to us, but these can be very difficult to identify. Seed and germplasm storage facility – Kew Seed Bank Breadfruit Diane Ragone Checking Breadfruit Collection in Hawaii Food Plants Grasses Bamboo Forest Bamboo Toys and Bike – Exploit hollow, light stems Grass Body Structure Grass Body Structure Barley Grain or Caryposis Bran Germ Wheat Germ and Bran Top agricultural products, by crop types (million metric tons) 2004 data Cereals 2,263 Vegetables and Melons 866 Roots and Tubers 715 Milk 619 Fruit 503 Meat 259 Oilcrops 133 Fish (2001 estimate) 130 Eggs 63 Pulses 60 Vegetable Fiber 30 Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Top agricultural products, by individual crops (million metric tons) 2004 data Sugar Cane 1,324 Maize 721 Wheat 627 Rice 605 Potatoes 328 Sugar Beet 249 Soybeans 204 Oil Palm Fruit 162 Barley 154 Tomato 120 Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Wheat Wheat – Triticum aestivum Evolution of Modern Wheat Einkorn wheat – Triticum monococcum Emmer Wheat – Triticum turgidum Durum Wheat – Triticum turgidum Semolina Flour Goatgrass – Triticum tauschii Bread Wheat – Triticum aestivum Whole Grain Wheat and Bread Corn or Maize – Zea mays Typical Corn Growth Typical ear of corn Variation in ear size and kernel color from Mexican landraces of corn Zea mays subsp. mexicana Zea mays subsp. mays Teosinte – Zea diploperennis Ear of teosinte – Zea diploperennis Teosinte vs. Corn Growth Teosinte Corn Zea mays Corn Types Popcorn The One Food Problem Cliff House at Mesa Verde – constructed circa 1200 AD Beginnings of the Anasazi • During their so-called Archaic Period (5500 - 100 BCE) the Anasazi were hunter-gatherers - they lived mostly on roasted seeds of Indian grass (Oryzopsis sp.), cattails (Typha lattifolia), salt bush (Atriplex canescens - Chenopodiaceae), and sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella - Polygonaceae); Rabbits and a few deer provided the bulk of the animal protein in the diet - they lived mostly in caves or in depressions with simple coverings made of juniper branches (Juniperus scopulorum Cupressaceae) Oryzopsis sp. – Indian ricegrass Atriplex canescens - saltbush Typha latifolia - cattail Rumex acetosella – sheep sorrel Changes to Anasazi life • About 100 BCE, maize plants arrived and Anasazi life began to change - at first the Anasazi did not adopt maize except as a novelty • About 100 BCE, Anasazi made a change to the so called Basket Maker II lifestyle in which they made baskets, sandals, and nets woven from yucca fibers (Yucca baccata - Agavaceae) Yucca baccata Anasazi yucca products Basket Maker III • Basket maker III was from about 400 - 700 AD here they became much more agricultural probably due to the arrival of beans Phaseolus vulgaris (pinto and kidney beans) and P. acutifolius (tepary or pavi beans) • The Anasazi began to select maize varieties with larger ears and more productivity • They also begin to experiment with irrigation and developed or acquired bows and arrows Phaseolus vulgaris – pinto, kidney beans Phaseolus acutifolius – tepary or pavi bean Pueblo I • Pueblo I lasted from 700-900 AD - here the Anasazi adopted an increasingly sedentary lifestyle with advances in basketry and pottery, cotton was used for cloth, dwellings were made of stone above ground with pit houses transformed into ceremonial kivas • Large stores of grain made higher populations possible and also led to warfare and raiding for grain Anasazi Ruin Pueblo II and III • Pueblo II (900 - 1100 AD) and Pueblo III ( 1100 - 1300 AD) saw the development of even larger towns and cities, dwellings were built in cliffs for protection - made very sophisticated baskets and pottery, had highly developed irrigation systems - may have used captive turkeys for meat, feeding them on grain • Then from 1276 to 1299 there were 23 years of continuous drought - the Anasazi ultimately abandoned their cities and moved south to better drainage areas - today their descendents survive as the Zuni, Hopi, and Rio Grande Pueblo tribes Timeline of Anasazi culture What the Anasazi Left Rice Wild Rice – Zizania aquatica Wild Rice Harvest Rice – Oryza sativa Rice Paddies Planting Rice Thailand Rice and Azolla Brown and White Rice Barley Barley – Hordeum vulgare Barley Malt Barley Malt Product Pearl Barley Triticale On left – wheat, triticale, rye The Trouble with Tribbles Forage Grasses Alfalfa and Red Clover – Legumes, not grasses Kentucky Blue Grass Timothy – Phleum pratense Fescues – Festuca sp. Big Bluestem – Andropogon gerardii Little Bluestem – Andropogon scoparius Blue Grama – Bouteloua gracilis Switchgrass – Panicum virgatum Legumes Legumes • Legumes are members of pea, bean family (Fabaceae) and are very important sources of food due to their highly nutritious seeds • Legume seeds are very high in protein due to the nitrogen fixing root nodules with which legumes can extract N2 gas to make ammonium which they use when synthesizing protein Protein content various foods Soybeans Soybean – Glycine max Tofu – Bean Curd Soy milk Soy sauce Edamame Miso – soybean paste