Plants and Civilization test 2
Barley
- 1st crops domesticated in the near East - same time as the wheat was being domesticated - primary used for brewing, animal feed - 4th most cultivated grass - doesn't have enough gluten to rise with CO2 to make bread - was a major food in West Asia - 4000 years ago it was replaced by wheat - more salt and cold tolerant than wheat -
Sorghum
- 5th most cultivated grass - Grown for animal feed, for their sweetness - grown in warmer areas - Originated in tropical areas, Africans introduced it to US in early 17th century - cook this down to make molasses - making Kieri Board - some contains high levels of hydrogen cyanide
Food abundance hypothesis
- Ag did not arise from need so much as abundance - People living in costal areas have a lot of resources and lived in abundance. - built up permanent settlements which led to free time which led to experimentation with Ag.
How did agriculture begin?
- Agriculture is considered a gift from the gods - In Judeo-Christian belief Ag was a burden on man for original sin Dump Heap Hypothesis - Ag was an accident - they threw out old fruits and seeds and they germinated or grew and the connection was made Convenience Hypothesis - plants near the dwellings so there is no need to go searching. Religious Hypothesis - myths abound regarding religion and Ag. - Rites of the First Fruit - gave back part of the first harvest to the earth - usually the best fruits, seeds were chosen to be replanted Storage Hypothesis - like squirrels, burial rites,
Millets
- Any small seeded grain - Pearl millet, foxtail, proso millet - Millet use to be much more used than rice
Oats
- Breakfast cereal, horse feed, facial scrubs - Originated in Europe 3000 YBP, spread to West Asia and North Africa
Changing Climate Hypothesis
- Correlation between origins of Ag and climate changes at the end of Pleistocene (early Holocene) - dry trend forced people to where water was available - forced people together and required new techniques and crops to feed all the people. - questioned now as a major driver of origins of Ag.
Centers of Origins of domestic crops
- Nickolai Vavilov (1940s) - looked for centers of Ag. -Hypothesized - higher diversity, look for areas with wild relatives -He recognized 8 centers - Chinese - hemp, mulberry, tea, soybean. India - sugar, banana, bread fruit, coconut. -Asian - apples, carrots, grapes, pears. -Near East - wheat, lintels, flax, figs. Mediterranean - beets, cabbage, olives. - Abyssinian - coffee, castor bean. - Mexico Central America - avocado, beans, coco, maze, cotton, peppers - Andean - manic, peanut, tobacco, potato, tomato
Jerusalem Artichoke
- corms that can be harvested and eaten like a potato - snot like material on inside -after washed off it tastes like a sweet nutty flavor - snot like material is good for composite material
White potato
- each eye is an apical bud - the shoots of this plant is poisonous Potato facts - modified stem - average American eats about 140lbs of potatoes/year - 50lbs fresh, 60lbs frozen French fries or hash browns, 17 lbs potato chips, 13 mash potato flakes, 2 lbs of canned potatoes - average German eats two times that - Thomas Jefferson introduced them into the US - one serving is about 5.5 ounces of potatoes (80% water, 20% solids) 120 calories, high in potassium, 27g of carbs, 2 g of fiber, 3g of sugar, 3g of protein, amino acids are complete - Idaho recommended for potatoes- PR - Grows in all 50 states - 4th most important food crop in world - 4 top crops in US are Wheat, rice, maize, potatoes - since the 1960s, increase in land area for growing potatoes has increased more than any other crop - annual world production is about 300 million tons - Russia and Poland grow 28%, China and India 22% world production - the worlds largest potato chip measured 23 inches by 14.5 inches - Pringles company - 1 plant grew 370 lbs of potatoes - the largest single potato is 7lbs and 1 oz - arrival in Europe - ship wreck off of England or Sir Walter Raleigh brought back potatoes, could have been introduced more than one time - 1576 - shopping list with potatoes to buy - even until the middle of the 1600s it was still a luxury food - 1644 - John forester wrote in a book that potatoes were a really good famine food, sure and easy remedy against all succeeding dear years. - During WW1 England wanted people to eat potatoes because they had a lot but not to eat bread because they were in less supply - fungus disease makes plants dry out and can also get into the tubers and make them rotten and slimy - sporangium release zoospores that penetrate the leaves and tubers - fungus clogs up vascular tissue and dries out plant
Evidence used to study the origins of agriculture
- genetic evolution - physical comparison with wild plants - cave drawings and other art work - disposal sites - typically in layers that can be dated - animal vs. plant use - seeds, pollen grains, plant fragments in archaeological sites - study of extant cultures and their practices - tools - ancient text - radio carbon dating
Forages
- good animal feed - good for the soil - Alfalfa - pasture crop or a Hay crop - Sweet Clover - cover crop
High increase in corn products
- high fructose corn syrup - ethanol - livestock feed (80-90% for feed) - corn starch (chips, liquor, bourbon) - plastics -
Sweet Potato: in morning glory leaf
- introduced to Europe from the Caribbean loaded with antioxidents (B- Carotene) - needs warm climate - China produces half of all sweet potatoes
Pea
- its a legume - one of the oldest foods, 8-9500 years ago - near east and Europe - domesticated in Turkey or Syria - brought to new world by Columbus 1493 - planted in west indies - did not grow well because of the high temperatures at night. It was then introduced to New England in 17th century and was very successful - dry seed commodity or can be fresh (snap peas)
Soybean
- its a legume - most important legume in the world. - highest protein production yield per acre - very complete protein - less carbohydrate than most beans - poor mans meat - native to North Eastern China - brought to Europe in 1737 - used in many foods (Tofu, soy sauce) - soy beans lack vitamin C, but if u sprout soy beans then there is vitamin C - introduced in US in 1765 as a hay crop - soy beans contain Tripsin - enzyme inhibitor that interferes with protein digestion. They then discovered that heating the beans destroys the Trypsin TYP- texturized vegetable protein can mimic the taste of meats miso- paste of soybean - ferments by Asparagus fungus Tempe- Indonesian fermented soybeans Industrial - Henry Ford - 1930s - build three factories for processing soybeans into commercial nonfood products - Oil for pants - adhesives - plastics More than half of the soybean production is exported
Lentiles
- its a legume Lentiles - derived from the lens shape of the pulse - the more color then more antioxidants - lentiles - are the first pulse mentioned in the Bible - one of the earliest cultivated plants 8-9000 years in middle east - 1-3 seeds per fruit - very high in protein - sold as dried seeds - used in nutritious soups and usually complemented with rice. Dal- spicy lentil stew
Carob
- its a tree that is native to the Mediterranean region - seeds highly uniform in seed weight - measure for cold and drought - makes a chocolate substitute, caffeine free - sweetener
Rye
- most important in eastern Europe - West Asia in origin - tolerant to cold and dry climates - Black bread of Germany - has some gluten - mixture of one half rye and one half wheat - used as animal feeds, rye whiskey - when people pick it up off the ground when they are starving, the rye that's on the ground has a fungal disease that is like LSD.
Peanuts
- native to South America - taken by Portuguese to Africa - Spanish to Philippians - high in protein and fat - grows in poor soils - pedicels push peanuts under soil, so that's why peanuts are dug under ground - most peanuts go into peanut butter - peanut oil - used for cooking, liberating, leather furniture polish, nitrogluscerin, soaps, textile fibers - George Washington Carver - identified over three hundred uses for peanuts - Allergy to peanuts is caused by the roasting process - roasting turns the entire peanut to protein which people are allergic too. such a high does gives them symptoms - stored peanuts
Co-Evolution theory
- people became dependent on artificially selected plants - these plants became dependent on people
Cassava
- plant is actually called Manihot - Msnioc - - Origin is probably in Brazil of Mexico - 3rd largest source of carbohydrate in the world. - in the spurge family - grows in very dry places - one plant between living and starvation for so many people - has hydrogen cyanide which can cause Konzo Paractsis - about 30% of the biomass is starch -faily poor in protein - Casaba - bread - tapioca - purified starch into pearls
population pressure hypothesis
- so many people, resources became scarce. - eventually farming was necessary Questions of timing - Why did it take thousands of years for people to start farming? - population growth was cause and effect
Starchy Staples
- starch is most widespread storage form in plants Many plants have specialized organs for storing starch - most common starchy plants have a tropical origin Modified stems: - rhizomes - thick underground stems - tubers - thickened rounded - bulbs - short, vertical stem - corms - like bulb but has paper like scales modified roots: - tap root - fibrous root
Wheat
- the most widely cultivated grain. US, Ukrane, and China are the biggest producers - adapted to cool dry climates (12-36 inches of rain) Origin of Wheat - near east. Einkorn Wheat hybridized with a wild grass called goat grass to form the present Wheat which is called Emmer Wheat 6 Classes of Wheat 1.) Hard Red Spring Wheat 2.) Soft Read Winter 3.) Durum 4.) Hard White Wheat 5.) Soft White Wheat
Pellagra (nutrient deficiency)
4Ds - Dermatitis - Dementia - Diarrhea - death Southern states early 20th century - 50% of mental patients had Pellagra Corn moved out of central Mexico and was very well received It was realized that corn by itself was not complete nutrition - they mixed with legumes - in order to liberate the B vitamins from corn they had to mix it with alkali process (nixtamilization) Nixtamilization - hominy - grits - pozole - stew of hominy and pork - masa - finely ground hominy
Modern humans have been around for 200,000 years
Agriculture/Farming/Cultivation - the process of growing a plant to harvest - intentional planting of crops Domestication - genetic altering of plants brought about by human activities - artificial selection - human driven plant evolution - result of this is an irreversible change and altered genes - useful traits are selected for - example. wild wheat's seeds fall to the ground
Why did Ag develop?
Cultural progress hypothesis - oddest assumption is that Ag is inherently superior to foraging. - comparison of simple life of cultivation with the complex life of hunting/gathering - assumption that Ag cultures have more free time - gave knowledge of plant cultivation Kung - African Pygmies - do not grow things, not nutritional compromised. - they do not spend more time hunting and gathering that we spend on Ag
Tamarind
Drink - sour like lemonade - native to Africa India, Thailand - food is made sour - name from Arad: Tamar Hindi - Indian Date
Earliest Ag sites
Earliest - 11,000 yrs ago (fertile crescent) - middle east, Nile valley, Syria, Persian Gulf - Wheat (Einkern), Peas, lentil, 10,000 -11,000 - far east, SE Asia (Thailand, China) - Yanatze River - Rice - 11,500 yrs Indonesia, soybeans, millet, sugarcane, rape, hemp 10,000 yrs ago- new world, Mexico, Peru, - corn, squash, tomato, lima beans, white potato, sweet potato, chili peppers, peanut and avocado
Legumes
Family only second to the grasses in terms of importance to humans -1600 spp - 3 sub families with most crop plants in one sub family - dried seeds are known as Pulses - seeds are made out of cotyledons - these seeds have proteins instead of endosperm like in grains -legumes are fruits - each seed is individually fertilized by pollen tube - pulses are the die seeds of legumes Every civilization has complemented their major grains with one or more legumes for complete nutrition
Reason for malnutrition
Nitrogen is the main component of protein. Most legumes have the ability to fix nitrogen. Legumes have structures called N fixing nodules that have N fixing bacteria that fixes inorganic atmospheric nitrogen into organic form. - Rhizobium - N fixing bacteria (common in crop plants) - Frankia - n fixing bacteria in trees (Alder)
Corn - Maize
Origin - Central Mexico Teo Sinte - like corn, has both male and female flowers, silk of corn is the style Popcorn - has hard seed coat, high moisture cells produces steam and explodes which turns the endosperm inside out. Flour corn - soft endosperm, easy to grind, but attacked by insects Dent corn - has soft starch center, hard on outside, soft starch shrinks more one druing, leaves dent in kernel. all modern field corns are dent corns. Major uses are for animal feed, corn meal, cornstarch, high fructose corn syrup, ethanol Sweet corn - endosperm contains sugar instead of starch, harvested and eaten immature.
Rice
Rice - is the only grain grown for human consumption only - feeds more people than any other grain - people burn forests to send nutrients down the river to their rice fields and to get charcoal. Origin of rice - marsh grass in SE Asia - cultivation 11,500 years before present - convenience hypothesis for origin of cultivation - 6400 YBP - domesticated rise cultivars - tools for rice cultivation 9000 YBP - spread to W Asia, N Africa and S Europe In the United States rice... - 1694 rice was brought from Madagascar - Spanish brought rice to south America at beginning of 18th century - United States South - South Carolina and Georgia - huge fortunes made with slave labor - rice culture faded in the US after the civil war. - starting to produce rice again with machinery - cultivar "Carolina Gold" - has more B vitamins - most of the cultivars are known as "paddy" or "upland" -many people grown nitrogen fixing plants in between growing rice to get nitrogen into the soil - the more polished the rice is the less nutritional value it has. - if you only eat polished rice then you can get Beriberi, thiamine deficiency - Genetically engineering for human serum albawine
Common Bean (green bean)
huge cultivar - kidney, navy, pinto, green, wax, string, black beans Most widely grown legume in the world. 2 areas of domestication - independently domesticated in central America/Mexico 2500 YBP - Peru - 4000 YBP Extremely important for Native Americans - grows on a vine and is grown with other crops such as corn - Succotash - stew of corn and beans Phytohaemagglutinin - coagulates mammalian blood -especially abundant in red kidney beans - needs to be boiled to prevent this High in starch - has proteins - high in fiber - vitamins: B6 folate Peanuts - native to South America - taken
Orange and Green
protestants verse Catholics 1641- 59% land owned by Catholics 1688 - 22% 1695 - 14% 1714 - 7% Gavel Kind- repeated gifting of land to the male heirs which kept splitting up the land into smaller and smaller pieces. Ireland was largely Agricultural - living high and population levels were high just before the famine - Protestant Church - taxed what they grew...tithe - the tax proctor - valued the crop high to get more tax but then they said it was a bad year to get more money for themselves - common trick. - They subsisted by the potato.
top 3 grains
wheat, rice, and corn - very nutritiously dense especially in endosperm and germ and aleurone layer
