CC BY-SA 2.0. Environ. Gaertn. While C. liberica is often used as a strong rootstock for grafting other Coffea species, there is an anticipated higher demand for C. liberica due to its lower caffeine levels and clustered fruit maturation, leading to higher quality of coffee and seed weights, which is of growing interest to breeding programs (Amidou et al., 2007; Patay et al., 2016). 43, 599619. Resistance of watermleon to the wilt disease. Front. Hist. Geogr. Lange, M. K. (2004). A., Nazir, U., Anjum, S. A., Farooq, A., Zohaib, A., et al. 11, 206227. (2012). Encyclopedia.com. Food Syst. Also, by grilling melon you bridge the gap of savory and sweet." Sci. (Photo: Iqbal Osman on Flickr. (B) Sliced okra pods prepared for cooking. When did watermelon come to America? - Answers Thus, 2014 is "The Year of the Cucumber". 201, 1931. B., Olajide-Taiwo, F. B., Adebisi-Adelani, O., Usman, J. M., and Badmus, M. A. Seidu, J. M., Bobobee, E. Y. H., Kwenin, W. K. J., Frimpong, R., Kugbe, S. D., Tevor, W. J., et al. August 7, 2022 In Fruits Nearly 80 percent of all U.S. watermelon production hails from four States Florida, Georgia, Texas and California. For example, enslaved cooks developed gumbo, jambalaya, pepper pot and a mix of green leafy vegetables and pork called Hoppin John, says Deetz. Nitrogen nutrition in nodulated field plants of the shrub tea legume Aspalathus linearis assessed using 15N natural abundance. Are Watermelons Native To North America? A domestication history of dynamic adaptation and genomic deterioration in Sorghum. Do original watermelons still exist? 2, 13771380. Domestication of Eleusine coracana. 13, 213217. Health 3, 4951. The Truth About Yellow Watermelon Source: S. Handa. Ann. Int. First, seeds could cause an intestinal blockage, so make sure you remove them. A. How did this green-and-white striped rind and its juicy, red flesh become a racist moniker? Africa as a continent contributed 6% of this total production globally [Statistics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAOSTAT), 2018]. The ancient pictures of the putative watermelon are a key pointer. Crude palm oil is one of the world's richest sources of carotenoids, containing 15 times the retinol content of carrotsthis boosts the immune system and prevents night blindness (Nagendran et al., 2000). Even healthy foods like tomatoes and watermelons should be avoided before sleeping. doi: 10.1016/j.sajb.2011.07.004, Joubert, E., Jolley, B., Koch, I. S., Muller, M., Van der Rijst, M., and De Beer, D. (2016). Nature 500, 340346. Limited yields partially explain their underutilization in agriculture, even within Africa (Bjornlund et al., 2020; Borelli et al., 2020). According to National Geographic, Hebrew writings from 200 A.D. described watermelon as yellow, not red. 29, 102116. doi: 10.1080/16070658.2010.11734255, Fahad, S., Bajwa, A. The difference becomes when Black people are denigrated vis-a-vis these foods. (1968). Rest of Europe didn't state growing watermelons until the 17th century when they were widely accepted as a minor garden crop. Give it a good long study, maybe a sniff and keep in mind that this fruit has been titillating eaters all over the world for centuries. Four States Account for Most U.S. Watermelon Production - Farm Equipment (2003). Kola (Cola acuminata and C. nitida). doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2007.10.001, Teh, C.-K., Muaz, S. D., Tangaya, P., Fong, P.-Y., Oong, A.-L., Mayes, S., et al. Florida has historically been the top producer of watermelons and accounted for 19 percent of the 3.9 billion pounds of U.S. watermelon production in 2012. at the crossroads: current knowledge and research gaps. doi: 10.1080/14620316.2017.1358112. Genet. By William R. Black Courtesy Brown University Library December 8, 2014. Part B: Regional Aspects. Lost Crops of Africa: Volume I: Grains. doi: 10.1080/07075332.2018.1457556. Spain is Europe's main producer of melons and by far the largest European exporter of melons. Market barriers faced by formal and informal vendors of African leafy vegetables in Western Kenya. Remarkably, shea trees can thrive in as little as 400 mm of annual rainfall, and can survive 8 months of drought (Tom-Dery et al., 2018). Fossilized pollen grains of oil palm found in the Niger Delta suggest that the plant evolved in this region millions of years ago (Zeven, 1964). At this time of vulnerability, various ethnovarieties of shea, as identified by local farmers and resource users through indigenous knowledge systems, provide food and income (Karambiri et al., 2017). PLoS ONE 12:e0174150. Finger millet is one of the richest grain sources of minerals including calcium and the amino acid lysine which is deficient in many other cereals (Chandra et al., 2016). Transformations in slavery: a history of slavery in Africa. African okra (Abelmoschus callei). The African slave trade to Asia and the Indian Ocean islands. Nature 522, 146148. Nutritionists say watermelon is low in calories and sugar and chock-full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, making it a great addition to a healthy diet. Benchasri, S. (2012). Oil palm plantations in Peninsular Malaysia: determinants and contraints on expansion. which have both African and New World origins), spider plant (Figure 9B) (Cleome gynandra), slenderleaf (Crotolaria sp. 63, 429445. This tradition excludes the role of women in agriculture, thus inhibiting their income generation through limits to access and control over on-farm resources. They started out as small, hard, bitter fruits, somewhere in Southern or Western Africa. Where do watermelons originate from? Related to hibiscus (Hibiscus spp.) Available online at: https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/Probabilistic/POP/TOT/903 (accessed July 17, 2020). Each crop discussed will begin with tracing and understanding their origins of domestication, migration histories out of Africa, contributions to nutrition, cuisine, culture, and household products, along with available indigenous cultivation practices and their current significance to smallholder farmers. Achigan-Dako, E. G., Fagbemissi, R., Avohou, H. T., Vodouhe, R. S., Coulibaly, O., and Ahanchede, A. Food crops, medicinal plants, and the atlantic slave trade, in African American Foodways: Explorations of History and Culture, ed A. L. Bower (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press), 1744. J. Linn. Colonization did not focus solely on nations, but on undermining people and their foods, histories, cultures, and local development (Turner and Turner, 2007; Cot, 2016). Cowpea, a multifunctional legume, in Genomics of Tropical Crop Plants, eds P. H. Moore and R. Ming (New York, NY: Springer), 227258. Additionally, palm oil played a key role in the trading of slavesthe oil was rubbed onto the freshly shaved skin of enslaved African peoples before selling them in a market to make them look younger (Hall, 2008). Okra is yet another example of an indigenous African crop, nutritious and stress tolerant, which deserves more attention for its contribution to global food systems and societies. Citrulline and DRIP-1 protein (ArgE homologue) in drought tolerance of wild watermelon. In central Asia, however, its one of the 10 most important crops, the team explains. Phys. Where did watermelons originally come from? Right now approximately 300 types of watermelon exist, though only about 50 are eaten regularly. Humanities 5, 114. The African Heritage Cookbook. News By Benjamin Plackett ( lifes-little-mysteries ) published 5 July 2021 This ancient crop is NOT from the Fertile Crescent. Conserv. J. Agric. Sci. Sorghum (Figure 12A) is the world's fifth most important cereal crop, and grows in dry regions of every continent, but was domesticated in Central Eastern Sudan more than 5,000 years ago with thousands of years of continuous archaeological evidence discovered in Egyptian Nubia at Qasr Ibrim (Winchell et al., 2017; Smith et al., 2019) (Figure 1). And now a team, publishing in PNAS, believes it has the answer. Lastly, it is important to note that in addition to the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, millions of African slaves were also forcibly exported throughout the Asian Slave Trade (800 AD to 1900 AD) (Collins, 2006). Keywords: Africa, crop, domestication, African-American, cuisine, genetic resources, agronomy, resilience, Citation: Sousa EC and Raizada MN (2020) Contributions of African Crops to American Culture and Beyond: The Slave Trade and Other Journeys of Resilient Peoples and Crops. They brought the kola nut one of the main parts of Coca-Cola to what is now the United States. The use of rooibos goes beyond tea into cosmetics, novel foods, slimming preparations, extracts, and flavorings (Wynberg, 2017). Kelley Deetz is with Stratford Hall in the U.S. state of Virginia and the writer of a book about the influence of Virginias enslaved cooks. 47, 207213. While climate change impacts will disproportionately impact African agriculture (Niang et al., 2014), the potential solutions may also be situated on the continent. Nonetheless, the preservation of this knowledge may prove beneficial to IPM in cowpea production around the globe. Indigenizing food sovereignty. Two okra species are important commercially: A. esculentus (Indian okra, responsible for 95% of global production) and A. callei (African okra, responsible for 5% of global production) (Kumar et al., 2010). Next, this paper will describe the African-American connections to these crops, where noted in the literature, including the contributions made by slaves, in terms of their establishment beyond Africa. The history of the manufacture of soap. More than ever before, understanding Africa's food contributions has particular implications for African-American cultures and the wider society, particularly to deconstruct the racialized stereotypes of certain foods, like that of watermelon and the racist and derogatory coon caricature noted earlier (Lemons, 1977). doi: 10.1023/A:1008723706557, Ronoh, R., Ekhuya, N. A., Linde, M., Winkelmann, T., Abukutsa-Onyango, M., Dinssa, F. F., et al. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. (2015). Rooibos is an indigenous South African tea crop that grows abundantly in local mountains (Figure 5A) (Van Wyk and Gorelik, 2017). Though there is another species of oil palm (E. oleifera) which originated in the Americas, African oil palm dominates Southeast Asia (Arias et al., 2015). In applying a gendered lens, we also see a greater need for research agendas focused on reducing the burden of labor for women farmers, which include subsidizing appropriate mechanization along the value chain (e.g., post-harvest processing such as milling) which will also increase interest and production in these crops. Wild watermelon emergence and control. doi: 10.1007/s11295-015-0946-y, Arnau, G., Bhattacharjee, R., Sheela, M. N., Chair, H., Malapa, R., Lebot, V., et al. Biodiv. This need is particularly relevant in Africa, where the population is projected to increase from its current 1.3 billion to 4.3 billion by 2100 (United Nations Population Division, 2019)not surprisingly similar to the demographic histories of other post-colonial nations such as India (United Nations Population Division, 2019). The cover of the Aug. 9, 1937 issue of Life Magazine is all about watermelons. Changing knowledge and perceptions of African indigenous vegetables: the role of community-based nutritional outreach. The crop is reported to be tolerant to drought even at the germination stagea critical stage for successful plant establishment (Ravelombola et al., 2017; Carvalho et al., 2019). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). J. Genoc. Relative to cereals such as maize (Zea mays), Asian rice (Oryza sativa), and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), African cereals are not widely grown and/or known in most Western countries today, but they are all important to Africa, and many are critical to the survival of dryland farmers around the world. It still grows wild there. Nutr. (1976). New York Times. Although there are wilt and anthracnose resistant varieties, further breeding for pest and pathogen resistance is needed (Braun, 1942; Parris, 1949; Adeoye et al., 2011; Guo et al., 2013). Aust. Farmers' knowledge and cultivation of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Verdc.) (A) Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentu). But if you look at many of the melon's biological cousins, its red, sweet pulp is nowhere . Important drought tolerant cereal crops originated in Africa including sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), finger millet (Eleusine coracana), fonio (Digitaria exilis), and teff (Eragrostis tef ). Field Crops Res. 96, 29412951. They show how Africans forced into slavery -- beginning in the 1500s -- influenced the American diet. But how did it start? ." 37, 6490. Burgarella, C., Cubry, P., Kane, N. A., Varshney, R. K., Mariac, C., Liu, X., et al. Studies have theorized that yellow watermelon was actually cultivated before its bright red counterpart (via Organic Facts). Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content.
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