The Nature of Crops: How We Came to Eat the Plants We Do
Author(s): John Warren
Have you ever wondered why we eat wheat, rice, potatoes and cassava? Why we routinely domesticate foodstuffs with the power to kill us, or why we chose almonds over acorns? Answering all these questions and more in a readable and friendly style, this book takes you on a journey through our history with crop plants. Arranged into recurrent themes in plant domestication, this book documents the history and biology of over 50 crops, including cereals, spices, legumes, fruits and cash crops such as chocolate, tobacco and rubber. In The Nature of Crops John Warren reveals: - Why the Egyptians worshipped onions; - Why red-flowering runner beans provide fewer beans than white-flowering; - The inherent dangers of being a pineapple worker; and - Why a bird will always beat you in a chilli pepper eating competition!
General Information
- :
- : CABI Publishing
- : CABI Publishing
- : 0.318
- : 23 April 2015
- : United Kingdom
- : books
Other Specifications
- : John Warren
- : Paperback
- : English
- : 633
- : 184
More About The Product
John Warren, Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK
1. Introduction: The nature of natural What does domestication involve? Peanuts, Rye, Tomato 2. Wild things Recently domesticated crops and crops that have returned to the wild: Cranberries, Huckleberries, Currants, Kiwifruits, Cacao, Cashew nuts, Pistachio nuts, Cabbages 3. Learning to live with exotic sexual practices How plant breeding systems limit domestication: Vanilla, Beans, Figs, Hops, Avocados, Papayas, Carrots 4. Storing up trouble Plants with storage organs: Cassava, Yams, Potatoes, Taro, Akees, Onions 5. The weird and wonderful Herbs, spices and crops with exotic phytochemicals: Wasabi, Chillies, Saffron, Herbs, Willow, Tobacco, Cannabis, Durians 6. Accidents of history The role of chance events in domestication: Strawberries, Wheats, Bananas, Citrus, Rhubarb 7. Classic combinations and reoccurring themes Plant families that have been repeatedly domesticated: Grains, Legumes, Pumpkins, Spinaches 8. Ownership and theft How the economic value of crops has influenced their domestication: Breadfruits, Sugarcanes, Cloves, Rubber, Tea, Coffee, Mulberries, Monkey Puzzles, Artichokes, Pineapples 9. Fifty shades of green Nutrient rich crops and the next generation: Clovers, Ryegrass.
