Curated category
Staple foods
- MaizeMaize relies on humans to survive. Its kernels stay locked to the cob, unlike its wild ancestor teosinte, whose seeds scatter to the ground on their own.
- WheatHunter-gatherers in West Asia harvested wild wheats for thousands of years before they were domesticated, perhaps as early as 21,000 BC.
- PotatoArchaeologists have uncovered potato remains at the coastal site of Ancon in central Peru, dating back to 2500 BC. These ancient tubers provide the earliest…
- RyeArchaeologists uncovered rye grains at the Epipalaeolithic site of Tell Abu Hureyra in northern Syria. This discovery suggests systematic cultivation began…
- BeanThe legume family, known scientifically as Fabaceae, contains the plants that produce beans. These seeds grow in many different genera across the globe.
- OatThe common oat Avena sativa stands as a genetic mosaic, its DNA woven from three distinct ancestral species. Molecular analysis reveals this cereal grass…
- Sweet potatoThe sweet potato or sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae.
- Cooking bananaCarl Linnaeus originally classified bananas into two species based only on their uses as food. He named Musa paradisiaca for plantains and Musa sapientum for…
- BananaThe genus Musa was created by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. This name may be derived from Antonius Musa, physician to the Emperor Augustus, or Linnaeus may have…
- PumpkinArchaeological evidence places the cultivation of Cucurbita pepo between 7000 BCE and 5500 BCE in Mesoamerica. Pumpkin fragments discovered in Mexico date…
- FlourArchaeologists have found evidence of humans making cereal flour over 14,000 years ago. This discovery comes from Shubayqa 1, a Natufian hunter-gatherer site…
- BreadEvidence from 30,000 years ago in Europe and Australia revealed starch residue on rocks used for pounding plants. Archaeologists found that during this time…