Cassava (Manihot esculentum) is the only cultivated only food crop species in its genus (Fauquet 1990). It has many names including mogo (Africa), manioc, yucca, and tapioca (wikipedia). Cassava is a woody perennial shrub that is never grown, as a crop, from further than 30°N and 30° S of the equator (Cock 1985). The crop is much more limited in range by rainfall rather than temperature. The cassava plant, under cultivation, can grow to 5 to 12 feet, but in abandoned fields could grow up to 18 feet (Jones 1959). The leaves are large and palmate, growing between 3 to 11 lobes, varying on the region of attachment (Nartey 1978). They grow only toward the end of the branches; locations of earlier leaves are marked by a series of alternating nodes along the branch (Jones 1959). As the plant grows, the main stem forks, usually into three branches, and in their turn the lesser branches divide similarly (Cock 1985). The stems are woody and brittle, whose diameter varies with age, averaging about 3 to 6 cm (Nartey 1978).
The cassava plant is mainly cultivated for its tuberous starchy root. The crop is a major source of calories, following maize, sugar (cane and beet), and rice, for over 400 million people in tropical countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa (El-Sharkway 1993). Cassava provides 38.7%, 11.7%, and 6.7% of the total caloric intake in Africa, Latin America, and the Far East, respectively (Nartey 1978). Cassava has high dry weight proportion, between 30% and 40%, and starch and sugar make up 90% of the dry matter (Cock 1958). Cassava is relatively rich in calcium and ascorbic acid (vitamin c) and contains significant quantities of thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin (Jones 1959). Diets, which consist mainly of cassava, may lea...
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... by Portuguese trades migrating between Brazil and the West African coast. Evidence reveals that cassava was introduced as early as the 1588 to the Congo. The Portuguese brought cassava from Brazil to their trading stations along the coast from present day Ghana to Somalia (Jones 1959). Through multiple sites of introduction cassava quickly spread throughout Angola, Zaire, Congo, Gabon, and Cameroon.
Cassava was independently introduced into East Africa and Madagascar by the middle of the eighteenth century. A hundred years later
In Africa,
Even though the exact location of origin is still under debate, there is no debating the importance of cassava to in daily caloric intake for many of the tropical nations. It is clear that cassava was introduced to Africa, India, countries of South East Asia, and the Pacific Islands all originate from Brazil (Thampan 1979).
Along with an exuberance of gold and silver, plants such as corn, tobacco, potatoes, tomatoes, chocolate, sugar, and myriad other fruits and vegetables were introduced into European diets. The humble potato was especially adopted by the Irish; Tomatoes, the Spanish; and tobacco, the entire world. Due to the increased food supply, the European population exploded and necessitated the subsequent settlement of the ‘New World’.
Though, the origin of the cacao bean is indefinite, the first instant that Europeans encountered cacao beans is alleged to have been in 1502 between Christopher Columbus and the ancient Mayan civilization. Initial impressions were less than satisfactory. Christopher Columbus having believed the beans were “shriveled almonds” (Rosenblum 6), . During Hernan Cortez’s voyage to the Aztec Empire of the Americas during 1517, he was introduced to the Emperor Montezuma’s favorite drink “chocolatl”. Though, he also was not very appreciative of the drink, Cortez was fascinated with the very idea that cacao beans were used as a form of currency among the Aztec. The Spanish would pay Aztec laborers in cacao beans, as they would load their treasure ships with deposits of silver and gold. For this reason, the Spanish nicknamed the cacao bean “black gold” (Lopez 19). Still, it was Spanish monks and missionaries who recognized the value of cacao beans as a medial t...
The immediate cause of the European voyages of discovery was the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. While Egypt and Italian city-state of Venice was left with a monopoly on ottoman trade for spices and eastern goods it allowed Portugal and Spain to break the grip by finding an Atlantic route. Portugal took the lead in the Atlantic exploration because of the reconquest from the Muslims, good finances, and their long standing seafaring traditions. In dealing with agriculture, The Portuguese discovered Brazil on accident, but they concentrated on the Far East and used Brazil as a ground for criminals. Pernambuco, the first area to be settled, became the world’s largest sugar producer by 1550. Pernambuco was a land of plantations and Indian slaves. While the market for sugar grew so did the need for slaves. Therefore the African Slave start became greatly into effect. Around 1511 Africans began working as slaves in the Americas. In 1492, Columbus embarked on his voyage from Spain to the Americas. The Euro...
Cumbia serves as a unifier of Mexican people, especially families, and serves as a sociocultural outlet for celebration and upholds cultural traditions. A main theme of Mexican culture is togetherness of the family, and many celebrations create a community and place for family involvement. Celebrating together creates and maintains bonds and is an outlet for expression sharing commonalities such as cultural thoughts and ideas. Solidifying a connection in the community with people that listen to cumbia strengthens the culture and forms unity. Mexican cumbia is a significant aspect of Mexican identity and produces a gateway environment for embracing heritage and reflects a highly family and community oriented culture.
Between the time period of 1492 to 1750, the regions of America and Africa, through the Columbian exchange, had experienced similarities in the spread of crops, people, and diseases, but differences when it came to the reason for change in population density, environmental change, and change of local ethnicities.
Kuddus , Mohammed, Ibrahim A. M. Ginawi, and Awdah Al-Hazimi. “Cannabis sativa: An Ancient Wild Edible Plant of India.” Emirates Journal of Food & Agriculture 25.10 (2013) : 736-745. Print.
...atoes, corns, and peppers, were introduced into the Old Word; while coffee, oranges, banana and sugar cane were introduced into the Americas. Potato was one of the most important crops in the World that was introduced into the Old world. As a substitute for wheat, potatoes provided billions of people food to survive worldwide. However, diseases also rose among potato plants and destroyed millions of plants and caused famine which killed millions of people. The origin of potatoes was first found to be domesticated by South America Andes and learned by Europeans, and then it was spread into Africa, Asian and at last North America. Potatoes also caused political, social and economic issues from its production, such as late blight, the Great Famine, and increase in Chinese population; these issues had brought some serious consequences that even lasted until modern days.
Together with the accessibility of the food in the south of Benin and its affordability, my region’s diet is equal to the Mediterranean diet. The reason why it is not superior to the Mediterranean diet is that it does not contains enough nutrients to guarantee a long life expectancy.
The story of the pineapple falls into three distinct periods. The first period precedes the discovery of America and goes back into the antiquity of South America where the pineapple is believed to have developed. There is very little information about it during this period but it is known that the pineapple was already being cultivated and widely distributed through inhabited areas of the American tropics.
Africans did not willingly come to the United States, but in the slave ships which brought them, they brought food not indigenous to America, grew it, and assimilated it into everyday foods of the people that owned them. Today most Americans take this food for granted, without knowing its origin. The transatlantic slave trade brought rice, okra, black-eyed peas, and kidney and lima beans to the shores of America very early in its history. Also sorghum, millet, watermelon, yams and sesame; found their way into America and became part of the ingredients found in the early cook books written by Americans in the Deep South. To better understand the foods which arrived from Africa, knowing the slaves and slave traders that brought them is important. “It is believed that the first African slaves were imported to the New World at the beginning of the 17th century and that the first slaves came from Senegambia and the Windward Coast. Senegambia was a loosely defined region of West Africa that comprises the present-day nations of Senegal and The Gambia. Windward Coast is roughly the current country of Ivory
It is reported that the C. Arabica shrubs in Ethiopia rainforest have more genetic materials than the commercial cultivars used to produce most coffee around the world. The C.arabica shrubs occur naturally in moist evergreen undergrowth of the Ethiopian Afromonate rain forest between 1000 and 2000 meters above sea level. This made Ethiopia the third largest C.arabica coffee producer next to Brazile and
The botanical name for this tropical rainforest plant is Theobroma Cacao [7]. Theobroma Cacao is Greek for “Food of the gods” [15].
The people of the Igbo also referred to as the Ibo, live in a southeastern area of Africa in Nigeria. The life of the Igbo social and economic structure is not all that different then that of the United States (US), as it was constructed around agriculture, local manufacturing and trade. The tribal families have their animals primarily for the prominent status that comes with ownership and for the need of sacrifices at the village center. In the book they celebrate with palm wine, but currently one of the principal exports is a palm oil and palm kernel. The main crops of the Igbo are yams, cassava, and taro, which are all under ground tuber root type vegetation. Cassava is a plant that is used to cassava flour, breads, tapioca, a laundry starch, and even an as an alcoholic beverage (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (Ed.), 2014). Taro is used...
Therefore, the way the producers get the cocoa to the market is by after the beans are dried and packed into sacks, the farmer sells to a buying station or local agent. The buyer then transports the bags to an exporting company. The exporting company inspects the cocoa and places it into plastic bags. The cocoa is trucked to the exporter’s
African foods are bountiful and diverse. They are rich in nutritional fiber and often unrefined and they offer a healthy choice when consumed in the right blend. Most African recipes are based around ingredients and spices that are natural and can be easily farmed or produced at a subsistence level. Most African foods do not contain refined sugars and processed additives and are mainly starch based, with generous amounts of fresh vegetables and proteins found in fish or beef (AIG, 2011).