Squash (plant)

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Squash
Yellow squash
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Cucurbitales Family: Cucurbitaceae Genus: Cucurbita Species: C. maxima - hubbard squash, buttercup squash C. mixta - cushaw squash C. moschata - butternut squash C. pepo - most pumpkins, acorn squash, summer squash, zucchini[1]

Summer squash Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 20 kcal 70 kJ
Carbohydrates 3.4 g - Dietary fiber 1.1 g Fat 0.2 g Protein 1.2 g Water 95 g Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.14 mg 9% Vitamin C 17 mg 28% Potassium 262 mg 6%
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.

Squashes generally refer to four species of the genus Cucurbita native to the Mexico and Central America, also called marrows depending on variety or the nationality of the speaker. In North America, squash is loosely grouped into summer squash or winter squash, as well as autumn squash (another name is cheese squash) depending on whether they are harvested as immature fruits (summer squash) or mature fruits (autumn squash or winter squash). Gourds are from the same family as squashes. Well known types of squash include the pumpkin and zucchini.

Archaeological evidence suggests that squash may have been first cultivated in Mesoamerica some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago [2][3], but may have been independently cultivated elsewhere, albeit later [4]. Squash was one of the "Three Sisters" planted by Native Americans. The Three Sisters were the three main indigenous plants used for agriculture: maize (corn), beans, and squash. These were usually planted together, with the cornstalk providing support for the climbing beans, and shade for the squash. The squash vines provided ground cover to limit weeds. The beans provided nitrogen fixing for all three crops.

Summer squashes, including young vegetable marrows (such as zucchini [also known as courgette], pattypan and yellow crookneck) are harvested during the growing season, while the skin is still tender and the fruit relatively small, they are consumed almost immediately and require little or no cooking.

Winter squashes (such as butternut, Hubbard, buttercup, ambercup, acorn, spaghetti squash and pumpkin) are harvested at maturity, generally the end of summer, cured to further harden the skin, and stored in a cool place for eating later. They generally require longer cooking time than summer squashes. (Note: Although the term winter squash is used here to differentiate from summer squash, it is also commonly used as a synonym for Cucurbita maxima.)

The squash fruit is classified as a pepo by botanists, which is a special type of berry with a thick outer wall or rind formed from hypanthium tissue fused to the exocarp; the fleshy interior is composed of mesocarp and endocarp. The pepo, derived from an inferior ovary, is characteristic of the Squash Family (Cucurbitaceae).

In addition to the fruit, other parts of the plant are edible. Squash seeds can be eaten directly, ground into paste, or (particularly for pumpkins) pressed for vegetable oil. The shoots, leaves, and tendrils can be eaten as greens. The blossoms are an important part of native American cooking and are also used in many other parts of the world.

Pollination

Bee pollinating a zucchini squash

As with all other members of the family, the flowers come in pollen-bearing male form, and the ovary-bearing female form, with both forms being present on the plant. Squash has historically been pollinated by the native North American squash bee Peponapis pruinosa, and related species, but this bee and its relatives have declined, probably due to pesticide sensitivity, and most commercial plantings are pollinated by European honey bees today. One hive per acre (4,000 m² per hive) is recommended by the US Department of Agriculture. Gardeners with a shortage of bees often have to hand pollinate. Inadequately pollinated female squash flowers will usually start growing but abort before full development. Many gardeners blame various fungal diseases for the aborted fruit, but the fix proves to be better pollination not fungicide.

Squashes and cooking

Wikibooks' Cookbook has more about this subject:

Squash

Though considered a vegetable in cooking, botanically speaking, squash is a fruit (being the receptacle for the plant's seeds), and not a vegetable.

Etymology

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Cucurbita

The English word "squash" derives from askutasquash (literally "a green thing eaten raw"), a word from the Narragansett language, which was documented by Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, in his 1643 publication A Key Into the Language of America. Similar words for squash exist in related languages of the Algonquian family such as Massachusett.

Squashes grow hanging from a network of stalks	A yellow squash	Petit Pan squash	Longitudinal section of female flower of squash (courgette), showing ovary, ovules, pistil, and petals
A turban squash	Delicata squash, also known as Sweet Potato squash	Various squashes such as Turban, Sweet Dumpling, Carnival, Gold Acorn, Delicata, Buttercup and Golden Nugget.

Use as an object of art

Moche Squash Ceramic. 300 A.D. Larco Museum Collection

The squash has been an essential crop in the Andes since the pre-Columbian Era. The Moche culture from Northern Peru made ceramics from earth, water, and fire. This pottery was a sacred substance, formed in significant shapes and used to represent important themes. Squash are represented frequently in Moche ceramics. ^[1]

References

1. ^ Berrin, Katherine & Larco Museum. The Spirit of Ancient Peru:Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera. New York:Thames and Hudson, 1997.

External links

• Squash Display at Missouri Botanical Garden - Pics of 150 varieties from The Great Pumpkin Patch
• Squash Display at Missouri Botanical Garden - * [5] - Master Gardeners: McClellan Ranch 2003 Squash Varieties

• All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
  Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity

Cucumber

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the fruit. For other uses, see Cucumber (disambiguation).
Cucumber

Cucumbers grow on vines
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Division:
Magnoliophyta
Class:
Magnoliopsida
Order:
Cucurbitales
Family:
Cucurbitaceae
Genus:
Cucumis
Species:
C. sativus
Binomial name
Cucumis sativusL.
Cucumber, with peel, rawNutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 20 kcal 70 kJ
Carbohydrates
3.63 g
- Sugars 1.67 g
- Dietary fiber 0.5 g
Fat
0.11 g
Protein
0.65 g
Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.027 mg
2%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.033 mg
2%
Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.098 mg
1%
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.259 mg
5%
Vitamin B6 0.040 mg
3%
Folate (Vit. B9) 7 μg
2%
Vitamin C 2.8 mg
5%
Calcium 16 mg
2%
Iron 0.28 mg
2%
Magnesium 13 mg
4%
Phosphorus 24 mg
3%
Potassium 147 mg
3%
Zinc 0.20 mg
2%
Percentages are relative to USrecommendations for adults.Source: USDA Nutrient database
The cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. Though it technically is a fruit, cucumbers are widely considered vegetables.
Contents[hide]
1 Botany
1.1 Flowering and pollination
2 Taste
2.1 Pickling
3 Varieties
4 History of the cucumber
4.1 Earliest cultivation
4.2 Roman Empire
4.3 In the Middle Ages
4.4 Post-Enlightenment
4.5 Diuretic Properties
5 Industry
6 Image gallery
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
//

Botany
The cucumber is a creeping vine that roots in the ground and grows up trellises or other supporting frames, wrapping around ribbing with thin, spiraling tendrils. The plant has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruit.
The fruit is roughly cylindrical, elongated, with tapered ends, and may be as large as 60 cm long and 10 cm in diameter. Cucumbers grown to be eaten fresh (called slicers) and those intended for pickling (called picklers) are similar. Cucumbers are mainly eaten in the unripe green form. The ripe yellow form normally becomes too bitter and sour.
Having an enclosed seed and developing from a flower, cucumbers are scientifically classified as fruits. Much like tomatoes and squash, however, their sour-bitter flavor contributes to cucumbers being perceived, prepared and eaten as vegetables. Still, "vegetable" is a purely culinary term, and there is no conflict in classifying cucumber as both a fruit and a vegetable.

A cucumber sprout with its first leaves

Flowering and pollination
A few varieties of cucumber are parthenocarpic, the blossoms creating seedless fruit without pollination. Pollination for these varieties degrades the quality. In the US, these are usually grown in greenhouses, where bees are excluded. In Europe, they are grown outdoors in some regions, and bees are excluded from these areas. Most cucumber varieties, however, are seeded and require pollination. Thousands of hives of honey bees are annually carried to cucumber fields just before bloom for this purpose. Cucumbers may also be pollinated by bumblebees and several other bee species.
Symptoms of inadequate pollination include fruit abortion and misshapen fruit. Partially pollinated flowers may develop fruit which are green and develop normally near the stem end, but pale yellow and withered at the blossom end.
Traditional varieties produce male blossoms first, then female, in about equivalent numbers. New gynoecious hybrid cultivars produce almost all female blossoms. However, since these varieties do not provide pollen, they must have interplanted a pollenizer variety and the number of beehives per unit area is increased. Insecticide applications for insect pests must be done very carefully to avoid killing off the insect pollinators.

Taste

This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008)Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Pickling cucumbers
There appears to be variability in the human olfactory response to cucumbers, with the majority of people reporting a mild, almost watery flavor or a light melon taste, while a small but vocal minority report a highly repugnant taste, some say almost perfume like. The presence of the organic compound phenylthiocarbamide is believed to cause the bitter taste.

Pickling
Main article: Pickled cucumber
Cucumbers can be pickled for flavor and longer shelf life. As compared to eating cucumbers, pickling cucumbers tend to be shorter, thicker, less regularly-shaped, and have bumpy skin with tiny white- or black-dotted spines. They are never waxed. Color can vary from creamy yellow to pale or dark green. Pickling cucumbers are sometimes sold fresh as “Kirby” or “Liberty” cucumbers. The pickling process removes or degrades much of the nutrient content, especially that of vitamin C. Pickled cucumbers are soaked in vinegar or brine or a combination, often along with various spices. Pickled cucumbers are often referred to simply as "pickles" in the U.S. or "Gherkins" or "Wallies" in the U.K, the latter name being more common in the north of England where it refers to the large vinegar-pickled cucumbers commonly sold in fish & chip shops.

Varieties

Dosakai at a market in Guntur, India.
English cucumbers can grow as long as 2 feet (0.61 m). They are nearly seedless, have a delicate skin which is pleasant to eat, and are sometimes marketed as “Burpless”, because the seeds and skin of other varieties of cucumbers can give some people gas
Japanese cucumbers (kyūri) are mild, slender, deep green, and have a bumpy, ridged skin. They can be used for slicing, salads, pickling, etc., and are available year-round.
Mediterranean cucumbers are small, smooth-skinned and mild. Like the English cucumber, Mediterranean cucumbers are nearly seedless.
Slicers grown commercially for the North American market are generally longer, smoother, more uniform in color, and have a much tougher skin. Slicers in other countries are smaller and have a thinner, more delicate skin.
In North America, the term “wild cucumber” refers to manroot.
Dosakai is a yellow cucumber available in parts of India. These vegetables are generally round in shape. It is commonly added in Sambar/Soup, Daal and also in making Dosa-Aavakaaya(Indian Pickle) and Chutney.
In May 2008, British supermarket chain Sainsbury's unveiled the 'c-thru- cumber', a thin-skinned variety which reportedly does not require peeling.[1]

History of the cucumber
Cucumber originated in India.[2][3] Large genetic variety of cucumber has been observed in different parts of India.[3] The cucumber has been cultivated for at least 3,000 years in Western Asia, and was probably introduced to other parts of Europe by the Romans. Records of cucumber cultivation appear in France in the 9th century, England in the 14th century, and in North America by the mid-16th century.

Earliest cultivation
The cucumber is believed to be native to India, and evidence indicates that it has been cultivated in Western Asia for 3,000 years. The cucumber is also listed among the foods of ancient Ur and the legend of Gilgamesh describes people eating cucumbers. Some sources also state that it was produced in ancient Thrace, and it is certainly part of modern cuisine in Bulgaria and Turkey, parts of which make up that ancient state. From India, it spread to Greece (where it was called “vilwos”) and Italy (where the Romans were especially fond of the crop), and later into China. The fruit is mentioned in the Bible (Numbers 11:5) as having been freely available in Egypt, even to the enslaved Israelites: We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely/the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. The Israelites later came to cultivate the cucumber themselves, and Isaiah 1:8 briefly mentions the method of agriculture - The Daughter of Zion is left/like a shelter in a vineyard/like a hut in a field of melons/like a city under siege. The shelter was for the person who kept the birds away, and guarded the garden from robbers.

Roman Empire
The Roman Emperor Tiberius had the cucumber on his table daily during summer and winter. The Romans reportedly used artificial methods (similar to the greenhouse system) of growing to have it available for his table every day of the year. They would be wheeled out in carts to sit in the sun daily, then taken in to keep them warm, stored under frames or in cucumber houses glazed with oiled cloth known as “specularia”.
Pliny the Elder describes the Italian fruit as very small, probably like a gherkin, describing it as a wild cucumber considerably smaller than the cultivated one. Pliny also describes the preparation of a medication known as “elaterium”, though some scholars believe that he refers to Cucumis silvestris asininus, a species different from the common cucumber.[4] Pliny also writes about several other varieties of cucumber, including the Cultivated Cucumber,[5] and remedies from the different types (9 from the cultivated, 5 from the "anguine", and 26 from the "wild". The Romans are reported to have used cucumbers to treat scorpion bites, bad eyesight, and to scare away mice. Wives wishing for children wore them around their waists. They were also carried by the midwives, and thrown away when the child was born.

In the Middle Ages
Charlemagne had cucumbers grown in his gardens in ninth-century France. They were reportedly introduced into England in the early 1300s, lost, then reintroduced approximately 250 years later. The Spaniards (in the person of Christopher Columbus) brought cucumbers to Haiti in 1494. In 1535, Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, found “very great cucumbers” grown on the site of what is now Montreal.

Post-Enlightenment

This section does not cite any references or sources. (June 2008)Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Throughout the 1500s, European trappers, traders, bison hunters, and explorers bartered for the products of Native American agriculture. The tribes of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains learned from the Spanish how to grow European vegetables. The best farmers on the Great Plain were the Mandan Indians in what is now North and South Dakota. They obtained cucumbers and watermelons from the Spanish, and added them to the vegetables they were already growing, including several varieties of corn and beans, pumpkins, squash, and gourd plants. The Iroquois were also growing them when the first Europeans visited them.
In 1630, the Reverend Francis Higginson produced a book called, “New England’s Plantation”, in which, describing a garden on Conant’s Island in Boston Harbor known as “The Governor’s Garden”, he states: “The countrie aboundeth naturally with store of roots of great varietie and good to eat. Our turnips, parsnips, and carrots are here both bigger and sweeter than is ordinary to be found in England. Here are store of pompions, cowcumbers, and other things of that nature which I know not...”
William Wood also published in 1633’s New England Prospect (published in England) observations he made in 1629 in America: “The ground affords very good kitchin gardens, for Turneps, Parsnips, Carrots, Radishes, and Pompions, Muskmillons, Isquoter-squashes, coucumbars, Onyons, and whatever grows well in England grows as well there, many things being better and larger.”
In the later 1600s, a prejudice developed against uncooked vegetables and fruits. A number of articles in contemporary health publications state that uncooked plants brought on summer diseases and should be forbidden to children. The cucumber kept this vile reputation for an inordinate period of time: “fit only for consumption by cows”, which some believe is why it gained the name, “cowcumber”.
A copper etching made by Maddalena Bouchard between 1772 and 1793 shows this plant to have smaller, almost bean-shaped fruits, and small yellow flowers. The small form of the cucumber is figured in Herbals of the sixteenth century, but states, ‘if hung in a tube while in blossom, the Cucumber will grow to a most surprising length.’
Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary on September 22, 1663: “this day Sir W. Batten tells me that Mr. Newhouse is dead of eating cowcumbers, of which the other day I heard of another, I think.”
Fredric Hasselquist, in his travels in Asia Minor, Egypt, Cyprus and Palestine in the 1700s, came across the Egyptian or hairy cucumber, Cucumis chate. It is said by Hasselquist to be the “queen of cucumbers, refreshing, sweet, solid, and wholesome.” He also states that “they still form a great part of the food of the lower-class people in Egypt serving them for meat, drink and physic.” George E. Post, in Hastings’s “A Dictionary of the Bible”, states, “It is longer and more slender than the common cucumber, being often more than a foot long, and sometimes less than an inch thick, and pointed at both ends.”

Diuretic Properties
The cucumber is also a natural diuretic which is used in the fitness world by bodybuilders and people trying to cut fat.

Cucumber and gherkin output in 2005

Industry
In the United States, consumption of pickles has been slowing, while consumption of fresh cucumbers is rising. In 1999, the consumption in the US totalled 3 billion pounds of pickles with 171,000 acres (690 km²) of production across 6,821 farms and an average farm value of $361 million.
According to FAO, China produced at least 60% of the global output of cucumber and gherkin in 2005, followed at a distance by Turkey, Russia, Iran and the USA.


Notes
^ Daily Mail - The 'c-thru' cucumbers with no skin to encumber them
^ cucumber, Encyclopaedia Britannica Incorporated, 2008.
^ a b Doijode 2001: 281
^ Pliny the Elder, Book XX. Remedies Derived from the Garden Plants Chapter 2. (1.) -- The Wild Cucumber; Twenty-Six Remedies.
^ Pliny the Elder, Book XX, chap. 5, the "Anguine or Erratic Cucumber" (Book XX, Chap 4. (2.))

[edit] References
Doijode, S. D. (2001). Seed storage of horticultural crops. Haworth Press. ISBN 1560229012

[edit] External links
Cucumis sativus (TSN 22364). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on January 30, 2006.
Plant profile at the Plants Database (http://plants.usda.gov/) - shows classification and distribution by US state.
History links and bibliographic references
A very brief history of the cucumber in America
Cucumber as health food
Ancient history of the cucumber
A brief article on cucumber history
Several plants listed from a work by Pliny the Elder
Source noting cucumbers in Ur in 3000 BC
Asnapium: An Inventory of One of Charlemagne's Estates, c. 800
The Domesday Book
The Bible
Gilgamesh (the epic Sumerian poem)
Sir Kenelm Digby's Closet
Encyclopedia Brittanica
The Complete Cucumber by Caroline Francis
Cucumbers by Bob Adams Publishers
Selected Themes ad Icons from Medieval Spanish Literature: of Berards, Shoes, Cucumbers and Leprosy by John R. Burt
Origin of Cultivated Plants by Alphonse de Candolle
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucumber"
Categories: Cucurbitaceae Plants and pollinators Vegetable-like fruits
Hidden categories: Articles needing additional references from April 2008 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements since June 2008 Articles needing additional references from June 2008
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)

Green Beans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the green bean commonly used in Asian cuisine, see Mung bean.

Green common beans on the plant


Green beans (American English) or French beans (British English) or Mahune (South Slavic, Balkans) also called squeaky beans are the unripe fruits of any kind of bean, including the yardlong bean, the hyacinth bean, the winged bean, and especially the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), whose pods are also usually called string beans in the northeastern United States, but can also go by snap beans. Varieties have been bred especially for the fleshiness, flavor, or sweetness of their pods. Smaller bean pods are often referred to by the French name haricots verts. The pea is also classed as a green bean in the USA.
Green beans are of nearly universal distribution. They are marketed canned, frozen and fresh. A dish with green beans popular in the southern United States, particularly at Thanksgiving, is green bean casserole. Some restaurants in the USA serve green beans that are battered and fried. Green beans are also sold dried and fried with vegetables like carrots, corn, and radishes.
Haricots verts, French for green beans, are a longer, thinner type of green beans.[1] They are different from the typical, American green beans.

References
^ About Haricots Verts

External links
Italian recipes for String Beans at Recipe Omnibus
Nutritional Analysis at FoodsDatabase

This fruit-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Planting
Keep in moist rag for about a week. This bean plants like almost all other beans, the root grows very quickly and the rest follows. Plant about 1 inch below ground. This applies to all beans.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_bean"
Categories: Vegetable-like fruits Edible legumes Fruit stubs
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Sweet corn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Husked sweetcorn

Sweet corn (Zea mays var. rugosa^[1]), also called sweetcorn, sugar corn, or simply corn, is a variety of maize with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally-occurring recessive mutation in the genes which control conversion of sugar to starch inside the endosperm of the corn kernel. Unlike field corn varieties, which are harvested when the kernels are dry and fully mature, sweet corn is picked when immature and eaten as a vegetable, rather than a grain. Since the process of maturation involves converting sugar into starch, sweet corn stores poorly and must be eaten, canned, or frozen before the kernels become tough and starchy.

Sweetcorn (seeds only) Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 90 kcal 360 kJ
Carbohydrates 19 g - Sugars 3.2 g - Dietary fiber 2.7 g Fat 1.2 g Protein 3.2 g Vitamin A equiv. 10 μg 1% Folate (Vit. B9) 46 μg 12% Vitamin C 7 mg 12% Iron 0.5 mg 4% Magnesium 37 mg 10% Potassium 270 mg 6%
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database

History

Young sweetcorn

Sweet corn occurs as a spontaneous mutation in field corn and was grown by several Native American tribes. The Iroquois gave the first recorded sweet corn (called "Papoon") to European settlers in 1779.^[2] It soon became a popular vegetable in southern and central regions of the United States.

Commercial production in the 20th century saw the rise of the se (sugary enhanced) mutants, which are more suitable for local fresh sales, and in the 1950s the sh2 (shrunken-2) gene was isolated that minimized production of the enzyme that converts sugar to starch.^[3] There are

currently hundreds of varieties, with more constantly being developed.

Anatomy

The same rows of corn 41 days later at maturity.

The fruit of the sweet corn plant is the corn kernel, a type of fruit called a caryopsis. The ear is a collection of kernels on the cobb. The ear is covered by tightly wrapped leaves called the husk. Silk is the name for the styles of the pistillate flowers, which emerge from the husk. The husk and silk are removed by hand, before boiling but not before roasting, in a process called husking or shucking.

Consumption

The kernels are boiled or steamed, and usually served with butter and salt. In Europe, China, Korea, and Japan, they are often used as a pizza topping. Corn on the cob is sweet corn cob that has been boiled, steamed, or grilled whole; the kernels are then eaten directly off the cob or cut off. Creamed corn is sweet corn served in a milk or cream sauce. Sweet corn can also be eaten as baby corn.

If left to dry on the plant, kernels may be taken off the cob and cooked in oil where, unlike popcorn, they expand to about double the original kernel size. See Corn nuts. A soup may also be made from the plant, called sweet corn soup.

Varieties

It has been suggested that Super sweet corn be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Sweetcorn that has not been husked yet, headed to market.

Shoepeg corn is a particularly small, white variety of sweet corn. Kernels that are allowed to mature to hard grains are used as seed corn or ground into corn flour.

Open pollinated (non-hybrid) corn has largely been replaced in the commercial market by sweeter, earlier hybrids, which also have the advantage of maintaining their sweet flavor longer. Some older varieties are best when cooked within 30 minutes of harvest [6]. Despite their short storage life, many open pollinated varieties such as Golden Bantam remain popular for home gardeners and specialty markets, or are marketed as heirloom seeds. Although less sweet, they are often described as more tender and flavorful than hybrid varieties.

Genetics

There are several different genetic mutations responsible for various types of sweet corn. Early varieties, such as those used by American Indians, were the result of the mutant su ("sugary") allele.^[4] They contain about 5-10% sugar by weight. Another form of the same gene, the se or "sugary enhanced" allele, was responsible for so-called "Everlasting Heritage" varieties, such as 'Silver Queen'. Varieties with the se alleles have a much longer storage life and contain 12-20% sugar.^[5] Beginning in the 1950s, plant breeders at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign began developing 'supersweet' varieties, which occur due to a mutation at another gene (the sh or "shrunken" gene).^[6]

All of the alleles responsible for sweet corn are recessive, so it must be isolated from any field corn varieties that release pollen at the same time; the endosperm develops from genes from both parents, and heterozygous kernels will be tough and starchy. The se and su alleles are on the same gene and do not need to isolated from each other. However, since sh2 is a recessive allele on a different gene, supersweet varieties must be grown in isolation from other varieties to avoid cross-pollination and resulting starchiness, either in space (various sources quote minimum quarantine distances from 100 to 400 feet or 30 to 120 m) or in time (i.e. the supersweet corn does not pollinate at the same time as other corn in nearby fields).

In colder areas, a fourth type of sweet corn, known as sy (for synergistic), is often grown. This variety of corn mixes se and sh2 kernels on the same cob and does not require isolation.

Health benefits

Eating cooked sweet corn significantly boosts the grain's health-giving antioxidant activity, which can substantially reduce the chance of heart disease and cancer. "There is a notion that processed fruits and vegetables have a lower nutritional value than fresh produce. Those original notions seem to be false, as cooked sweet corn retains its antioxidant activity, despite the loss of vitamin C," says Rui Hai Liu assistant professor of food science at Cornell University. The researchers found cooked sweet corn increases levels of antioxidants. The scientists measured the antioxidants' ability to quench free radicals, which cause damage to the body from oxidation. Cooked sweet corn also releases increased levels of ferulic acid, which provides health benefits, such as battling cancer."When you cook it, you release it, and what you are losing in vitamin C, you are gaining in ferulic acid and total antioxidant activity.^[7]

References

1. ^ "Sweet Corn". Horticulture 233 webpage. Oregon State University.
2. ^ "Sweet Corn Production." Jonathan R. Schultheis, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, North Carolina State University. Revised 12/94. [1]
3. ^ [2]"Supersweet sweet corn: 50 years in the making." Debra Levey Larson. Inside Illinois Vol. 23, No. 3, Aug. 7, 2003. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign news bureau.
4. ^ "Sweet Corn Production." Jonathan R. Schultheis, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, North Carolina State University. Revised 12/94. [3]
5. ^ "Sweet Corn." Oregon State University Horticulture 233 webpage. [4]
6. ^ [5]"Supersweet sweet corn: 50 years in the making." Debra Levey Larson. Inside Illinois Vol. 23, No. 3, Aug. 7, 2003. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign news bureau.
7. ^ Cooking sweet corn boosts its ability to fight cancer and heart disease by freeing healthful compounds, Cornell scientists find

See also

• Cornbread
• Cornmeal
• Creamed corn
• Frozen vegetables

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_corn"

Categories: Staple foods | Cereals | Grasses | Tropical agriculture | Native American cuisine | Vegetables | Maize

Bell Pepper

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bell pepper is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum. Cultivars of the plant produce peppercorns which develop into fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, green and orange. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties as "sweet peppers". Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Pepper seeds were later carried to Spain in 1493 and from there spread to other European and Asian countries. Today, Mexico remains one of the major pepper producers in the world.

Nomenclature

The term "bell pepper" is one of the many names for some fruits of the Capsicum annuum species of plants. The misleading name "pepper" (pimiento in Spanish) was given by Christopher Columbus upon bringing the plant back to Europe. At that time peppercorns were a highly prized condiment.

Today, the term "bell pepper" or "pepper" or "capsicum" is often used for any of the large bell shaped capsicum fruits, regardless of their color. In British English, the fruit is simply referred to as a "pepper", whereas in many Commonwealth of Nations countries, such as Australia, India, Malaysia and New Zealand, they are called "capsicum". Across Europe, the term "paprika", which has its roots in the word for pepper, is used—sometimes referred to by their color (e.g. "groene paprika", "gele paprika", in Dutch, which are green and yellow, respectively). Paprika also refers to the powdered spice made from the same fruit. In France it is called "poivron" or "piment." In Japan, the word ピーマン ("pîman," from the French) refers only to green bell peppers, whereas パプリカ ("papurika," from paprika) refers to bell peppers of other colors. In the United States and Canada, the fruit is often referred to simply as a "pepper" or referred to by color (e.g. "red pepper", "green pepper"), although the more specific term "bell pepper" is understood in most regions. Bell peppers are botanically fruits, but are generally considered in culinary contexts to be vegetables.

In parts of the U.S. around southern Ohio, Northeastern Pennsylvania and northern Kentucky the term "mangoes" (or "mangos") has sometimes been used to refer to bell peppers. However, as the actual mango fruit has become more common in the region, this usage has faded.

In Russia it is commonly called болгарский перец (bolgarskiy perets), meaning Bulgarian pepper. In France, it is called poivron, with the same root as poivre (meaning black pepper). In Denmark the bell pepper is referred to as "peberfrugt", meaning pepper-fruit.

In Brazil it's commonly called Pimentão, meaning Big pepper. It's widely used in a variety of dishes, like pasta, rice and other dishes from Cuisine of Brazil.

Varieties

The color can be green, red, yellow, orange and, more rarely, white, purple, blue, and brown, depending on when they are harvested and the specific cultivar. Green peppers are unripe bell peppers, while the others are all ripe, with the color variation based on cultivar selection. Because they are unripe, green peppers are less sweet and slightly more bitter than yellow, orange, purple or red peppers. The taste of ripe peppers can also vary with growing conditions and post-harvest storage treatment; the sweetest are fruit allowed to ripen fully on the plant in full sunshine, while fruit harvested green and after-ripened in storage are less sweet.

In popular culture

• Green peppers are Kermit the Frog's favorite pizza topping.^[1]
• In the Simpsons episode 'Dial 'N' for Nerder', Homer Simpson's suggested diet is of bell peppers.
• Takeshi Kaga, chairman of Iron Chef and owner of Kitchen Stadium, dramatically bites into a yellow bell pepper at the end of the shows theme song.

Gallery

Green Bell Peppers on display at a Grocery Store	A variety of colored bell peppers	A whole and halved red bell pepper	A whole purple pepper
Red bell peppers

See also

Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on

Bell Pepper

• List of capsicum cultivars
• Scoville scale
• Paprika

References

1. ^ "The Muppets And Jessica Simpson In Pizza Hut Commercial". The Wrong Advice. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.

External links

• Bell Pepper page at World's Healthiest Foods

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_pepper"

Categories: Chili peppers | Crops originating from the Americas | Vegetable-like fruits