The True Appearance Of Some Fruits And Vegetables Before Cultivation

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Video: The True Appearance Of Some Fruits And Vegetables Before Cultivation

Video: The True Appearance Of Some Fruits And Vegetables Before Cultivation
Video: Foods That Originally Looked Totally Different 2024, November
The True Appearance Of Some Fruits And Vegetables Before Cultivation
The True Appearance Of Some Fruits And Vegetables Before Cultivation
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Fruits and vegetables did not always look as we know them today.

Although many people today are against their genetic modification, it is good to know that people have been using it for thousands of years.

Before they were grown for food, many of today's fruits and vegetables looked radically different.

Wild versus modern watermelon

Wild watermelon
Wild watermelon

Photo: indipendent-co-uk

In the past, watermelon had a much smaller edible part. This is best seen in a 17th-century painting by Giovanni Stanci, in which the red part of the fruit is very small. Today the edible part is much larger and juicy.

Wild versus modern corn

Wild corn
Wild corn

Photo: indipendent-co-uk

North American sweet corn is the most impressive example of selective breeding.

It is grown from the low-edible plant Theosynth. Modern corn is 1,000 times larger than it was in the year 9,000. Wild corn has 1.9% sugar, while modern corn has over 6.6%.

Wild versus modern banana

The first cultivated bananas appeared more than 7,000 years ago in Papua New Guinea. They come from two wild varieties that had large and hard seeds.

Wild banana
Wild banana

Photo: indipendent-co-uk

The cross between them created the modern banana - sweet, easy to peel, seedless and full of nutrients.

Wild versus modern eggplant

Wild eggplant
Wild eggplant

Photo: indipendent-co-uk

In the beginning, the aubergines were colored in all colors - white, yellow, green, purple, blue.

Their early version had thorns at the point where the trunk connects to the flower. Selection over the centuries has led to the removal of thorns and the purple color of vegetables we know today.

Wild versus modern carrot

Div Carrot
Div Carrot

Photo: indipendent-co-uk

Carrot breeding began in the 10th century in Asia Minor and Persia. They were thin purple vegetables with forked roots.

Unlike modern carrots, early carrots were a biennial crop with a strong and characteristic odor. The carrots we know today are much larger, orange and annual.

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