1. Food Plants

2. Upcoming Labs Feb. 25 – Beverages March 2 – Herbs, Spices
March 4 – Plant Fibers
March 9 – Discussion of Pollan

3. 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)[41]

4. 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)

5. Plant Storage Organs
Some examples of storage organs in plants: (a) tap root of carrot (Daucus carota);
(b) bulb of onion (Allium sp.); (c) corm of crocus (Crocus sp.);
(d) rhizome of iris (Iris sp.); (e) root tuber of dahlia (Dahlia sp.);
(f) stem tuber of potato (Solanum tuberosum).

6. Starchy Rhizome - Ginger

7. Tuber – White Potato

8. Tuber – Planting Seed Potato

9. Bulb – the Onion

10. Bulb – Tulip with Offsets (new bulbs)

11. Corm - Gladiolus

12. Tuberous Roots – Sweet Potato

13. Taproots – Carrots and Turnips

14. For Love of the Potato

15. New Foods to Europe
Alfred Crosby has gathered data which suggests the introduction of maize and potatoes alone allowed the doubling of Europe’s population in the period after Columbus’ discovery of America
Corn was important because of the very high yields possible from corn agriculture

16. New Foods to Europe
Potatoes were important because, unlike corn, they provided a complete set of amino acids (corn lacks lysine) - potatoes were great for poor people in Europe because they can be easily grown in areas of poor, depleted soil, they will grow well during a short growing season (typical of northern Europe) and they can even be left in the ground if necessary, so they are less sensitive to the timing of the harvest than competing poor-soil crops, such as rye, which must be harvested when the seeds are ripe or it will rot

17. Ukrainian Food
Potato Pancakes Borsch

18. Potato Vodka

19. The Potato Comes to Europe
The potato came to Europe about at first, most people in Europe, including the Irish, used the potato as a back up for grain production, but by the end of the 17th century, it had become an important winter food; by the mid-eighteenth century it was a general field crop and provided the staple diet of small farmers during most of the year

20. Benefits of the Potato

21. Van Gogh – The Potato Eaters

23. Severity of blight and famine

24. Cartoon of Irish “Bogtrotters” circa 1840’s

25. Young potato plant with early stage of late blight

26. Dried potato leaf infected with late blight – Phytophthora infestans

27. Potato tubers with Late blight

28. Potato field infected with late blight – Infection started in center of field

30. Irish family digging Potatoes - 1847

31. Irish family potato dinner - 1846

32. Irish food riots

33. Irish food sent to England – 1847 or 1848

34. Lessons learned?
“Whatever may be the misfortunes of Ireland, the potato is not implicated. It, on the contrary, has more than done its duty, in giving them bones and sinew cheap ... There is no other crop equal to the potato in the power of sustaining life and health.”
- Bain 1848

35. Sweet potato tubers

36. Origin of Sweet Potato
Sweet Potato – Ipomoea batatas – was first domesticated in Peru about 5 or 6 thousand years ago – its culture spread through out South and Central America and the Caribbean region
The Arawak People called it batata which became corrupted into the word potato
It was brought to Europe by Columbus around 1500

37. Sweet Potato
Sweet potato is a tuberous root cultivated by vegetative propagation (cuttings)
It was a staple food throughout the Americas and also across the Polynesian islands – big question is how did it get to Polynesia – by people or by accident?

38. Sweet Potato – Ipomoea batatas

39. Plans for a balsa
wood raft – used
along coast of
South America
drawn by F.E.
Paris in 1841

40. Thor Heyerdahl’s balsa wood raft – 1947 in action and model

41. Possible Inca route to Pacific Islands and Kon-Tiki route

42. Polynesians to South America?
It is more likely that Polynesians happened to cross the Pacific and obtained sweet potatoes directly from the South Americans
In most parts of the South Pacific, sweet potatoes are called kumara, very similar to the Peruvian word of cumara
However, in Hawaii, the sweet potato is called ‘uala, more similar to the Columbian word kuala - perhaps a couple of groups were in contact with South America

43. Polynesian Ships in Tahiti

44. Sweet Potato Agriculture
Sweet Potato is rich in carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals – some of the carbohydrates are in the form of sugars rather than starch, hence the sweet taste
About 50% more calories than white potato, but slightly less protein
Two main varieties – a drier, starchier yellow-fleshed variety and a moister, sweeter, deeper orange variety
China dominates sweet potato cultivation, but also important in Japan and several African countries; increasing production in US

45. Sweet Potato Cultivation

46. Manihot or Cassava – Manihot esculenta

47. Cassava
Cassava (Manihot esculenta), also called yucca or manioc, is a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae family
It is cultivated as an annual crop in many parts of the tropical world because it has a starchy tuberous root that is a major source of carbohydrates

48. Cassava
The cassava root is long and tapered, with a firm homogeneous flesh encased in a detachable rind, about 1 mm thick, rough and brown on the outside.
Cassava roots are very rich in starch, and contain significant amounts of calcium (50 mg/100g), phosphorus (40 mg/100g) and vitamin C (25 mg/100g). However, they are poor in protein and other nutrients.

49. Cassava Roots

50. Cassava Agriculture
Wild populations of M. esculenta subspecies flabellifolia, shown to be the progenitor of domesticated cassava, are centered in west-central Brazil where it was likely first domesticated no more than 10,000 years ago
With its high food potential, it had become a staple food of the native populations of northern South America, southern Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean by the time of the Spanish conquest, and its cultivation was continued by the colonial Portuguese and Spanish. Forms of the modern domesticated species can be found growing in the wild in the south of Brazil.
There are several wild Manihot species

51. Moche Ceramic Cassava – 100 AD

52. Cassava Consumption
Cassava is classified as "sweet" or "bitter" depending on the level of cyanogenic compounds; improper preparation of bitter cassava causes a disease called konzo.
Cassava can be cooked in various ways. The soft-boiled root has a delicate flavor and can replace boiled potatoes in many uses: as an accompaniment for meat dishes, or made into soups, purees, stews, etc. Deep fried (after boiling or steaming), it can replace fried potatoes, with a distinctive flavor. Tapioca and foufou are made from the starchy cassava root flour.

53. Tapioca

54. Global Cassava Production

55. Taro – Colocasia esculenta

56. Taro – Colocasia esculenta
Taro is believed to have originated in Southeast Asia and spread west and east thousands of years ago – may have been cultivated very early by people in SE Asia – eventually reached tropical Africa and from there was brought to the West Indies and South America by slaves – today it is cultivated in the tropics where it thrives in wet, saturated soil conditions – propagated by planting corms

57. Taro cultivation
The corm is steamed, crushed and made into a dough, then allowed to ferment by microbes – the paste is then eaten with the fingers or rolled into small balls – this is the method for making poi – staple Hawaiian food
Corms can also be prepared like potatoes – steamed, baked, roasted, or boiled
Corm is about 25% carbohydrate (about 3% sugar), 2% protein and very little fat
Good source of calcium due to presence of calcium oxalate crystals – will cause intense burning if eaten raw so must be cooked to break down the crystals

58. Taro harvest - Hawaii

59. Taro corms

60. More Taro