From complex to simple: balsamroot, inulin, and the chemistry of traditional Interior Salish pit-cooking technologyThis paper was submitted for the Special Issue on Ethnobotany, inspired by the Ethnobotany Symposium organized by Alain Cuerrier, Montréal Botanical Garden, and held in Montréal at the 2006 annual meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association/l’Association Botanique du Canada.

Botany ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra L. Peacock
Keyword(s):  
Production Systems ◽  
Average Energy ◽  
Botanical Garden ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Cooking Methods ◽  
Cooking Practices ◽  
Complex Carbohydrates ◽  
Interior Salish ◽  
Wild Plant Food ◽  
Balsamorhiza Sagittata

This paper presents the results of an experiment replicating traditional Interior Salish pit-cooking methods to process balsamroot ( Balsamorhiza sagittata (Pursh) Nutt.), a former food staple that contains the complex carbohydrate inulin. Analysis of fresh and cooked balsamroot samples reveals that with sufficient heat, moisture, and the release of volatile organic acids, inulin is hydrolyzed during pit cooking. This process converts complex carbohydrates into simple ones, resulting in an increase of 250% in the energy provided by simple sugars. When the average energy contributions of protein, simple and complex carbohydrates are tallied, the net result is an energy gain of approximately 65% between fresh and pit-cooked balsamroot. This research demonstrates the effectiveness of ancient pit-cooking practices in transforming unpalatable and inedible root resources into sweet-tasting, highly digestible sources of carbohydrate energy and supports my assertion that this processing technology was a key component of the wild plant food production systems of Interior Salish Peoples.

scholarly journals The energy content of whole and semi-processed baobab (Adansonia digitata) fruit and seeds

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Wood
Keyword(s):  
Energy Content ◽  
Average Energy ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Short Report ◽  
Adansonia Digitata ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Energy Value ◽  
Northern Tanzania ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
Wild Plant Food

This short report describes field and lab experiments used to determine the energy content of 1 kg of baobab fruit in two forms: 1) whole unprocessed fruit and 2) semi-processed fruit that has had the outer shell removed. These goal of this report is to permit researchers to accurately estimate the energy content of baobab fruit as weighed during anthropological research with Hadza hunter-gatherers of northern Tanzania. The estimates assume that the seed of the baobab is being cracked open and the “nutmeat” consumed, as is customarily done by Hadza. The baobab fruit is an economically important wild plant food in many parts of Africa, and global demand for the fruit is growing, and thus these results have value for a variety of audiences. Based on the analyses reported below, I estimate that 1 kilogram of whole unprocessed baobab represents an expected energy value of 1057 kcal. One kilogram of semi-processed baobab has an expected energy value of 1791 kcal. Incorporating the relative fraction of baobab that is brought to camp by Hadza in these two forms, I estimate that 1 kilogram of field-weighed baobab has an average energy content of 1339 kcal, or 1.339 kcal / gram.

Plant Use in the Mesolithic and its Role in the Transition to Farming

1994 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Zvelebil
Keyword(s):  
Fruit Trees ◽  
Specific Pattern ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Plant Food ◽  
Plant Use ◽  
Temperate Europe ◽  
Plant Processing ◽  
Wild Plant Food ◽  
Late Mesolithic

The purpose of this paper is to review the current evidence for plant use in Mesolithic Europe and to summarize its implications. In order to do so, four sources of data are examined: macrobotanical remains, palynological data, artefactual evidence, and the human biological record.A prelimary survey of palaeobotanical evidence for plant use in the Mesolithic indicates that the evidence is far more extensive than expected hitherto and that accumulations of plant food, especially of nuts, point to their regular and extensive use. In those areas such as Britain, where a large number of fine-resolution palynological studies have been carried out, the incidence of clearance and burning phases seems to be too high to be explained by acts of nature alone. A good case can be made for deliberate forest clearance and the maintenance of a more open landscape by Late Mesolithic groups as part of a promotional strategy to increase the productivity of nut and fruit trees and shrubs, wetland plants, and possibly native grasses.Artefactual evidence points to a widespread distribution of soil-working tools (hoes and antler mattocks), especially in temperate Europe, and to a greater than expected presence of reaping and grinding equipment, lending conditional support for the existence of a specialized plant processing tool kit for digging, reaping, and plant processing.Palaeopathological evidence indicates the existence of a dietary pattern in the west Mediterranean making extensive use of starchy and carbohydrate foods which resulted in a high caries rate among the Mesolithic population of that area.In discussing the signiftcanse of these four lines of evidence, it is argued that, by the Late Mesolithic, the patterns of plant use support the notion of wild plant food husbandry instead of the incidental and opportunistic use of plants for food which has implicitly been accepted as a norm for the Mesolithic in Europe. Three geographical areas can be identified with their specific pattern of plant use: temperate Europe, Mediterranean Europe, and the south-eastern Balkans/Pontic Steppe. The patterns of plant use suggested in this paper emphasize the additive nature of the adoption of the agro-pastoral Neolithic farming practices in Europe.

scholarly journals Safeguarding Wild Plant Genetic Resources of Georgia within the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Tsira Mikatadze-Panstulaia ◽  
Sandro Kolbaia ◽  
Ana Gogoladze
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Botanical Garden ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Seed Collection ◽  
Royal Botanic Gardens

Working group of the Department of Plant Conservation of the National Botanical Garden of Georgia (NBGG) have been participating in the global Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew since 2005. During the 2005-2018 period, within the scope of MSB-1 and MSB-2, seeds and herbarium samples of more than 1750 plant species and interspecific taxa, belonging to 107 families and 483 genera (more than 41% of Georgia’s flora) – 348 endemics of Caucasus and 151 endemics of Georgia, have been secured in the National Seed Bank of Georgia (NSB). Seed Bank data are managed in BRAHMS (Department of Plant Sciences of Oxford University). The collection of wild plant species is accompanied by the comprehensive database of geographical, botanical and habitat information. Later phase involves laboratory treatment and germination/viability testing (at least 500 seeds per species) and the long-term deposition and storage (under -20◦C temperature) at the National Seed Bank of Georgia. The duplicates of seed collection and herbarium vouchers are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. Germination capacity and viability of collections in NSB is determined before cold storage of seeds, while at the MSB already banked seeds are tested.Keywords: Seed bank; Ex-situ conservation; Plant diversity; Botanical garden; Genetic resources

scholarly journals Hittite Cuisine: fire installations, cooking pottery and foodways in central Anatolia of the Late Bronze Age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Casucci
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Cooking Methods ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Anatolian Plateau ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Cooking Practices ◽  
Domestic Economies

Food and cooking methods are crucial in defining group identity and social relations and in examining the domestic economies. The Poster aims to study, from a functional and typological point of view, the fire installations and the contextual kitchen pottery in the Central Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age (1650-1200 B.C.). In particular, the archaeological contexts of the main Hittite sites of Anatolian Plateau, subjects of major interest in recent years, will be examined. The analysis and the comparison of the cooking tools (fireplaces, ovens, pots and baking plates) will allow to obtain some conclusions on the “Hittite Cuisine”, namely on the cooking techniques and the types of food consumed in the heart of Hittite kingdom. Archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data will also be integrated with the aim of a better comprehension of diets and cooking methods. In addition, some ethnographic observations will be discussed, in order to compare ancient and modern cooking practices in Anatolia.

scholarly journals Influence of Cooking Methods on Glucosinolates and Isothiocyanates Content in Novel Cruciferous Foods

Foods ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nieves Baenas ◽  
Javier Marhuenda ◽  
Cristina García-Viguera ◽  
Pilar Zafrilla ◽  
Diego Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Brassica Oleracea ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cooking Methods ◽  
Fresh Weight ◽  
Good Source ◽  
Cooking Method ◽  
Brassica Spp ◽  
Brassica Vegetables ◽  
Cooking Practices ◽  
Health Promoting

Brassica vegetables are of great interest due to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, being responsible for the glucosinolates (GLS) and their hydroxylated derivatives, the isothiocyanates (ITC). Nevertheless, these compounds are quite unstable when these vegetables are cooked. In order to study this fact, the influence of several common domestic cooking practices on the degradation of GLS and ITC in two novel Brassica spp.: broccolini (Brassica oleracea var italica Group x alboglabra Group) and kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica L.) was determined. On one hand, results showed that both varieties were rich in health-promoter compounds, broccolini being a good source of glucoraphanin and sulforaphane (≈79 and 2.5 mg 100 g−1 fresh weight (F.W.), respectively), and kale rich in glucoiberin and iberin (≈12 and 0.8 mg 100 g−1 F.W., respectively). On the other hand, regarding cooking treatments, stir-frying and steaming were suitable techniques to preserve GLS and ITC (≥50% of the uncooked samples), while boiling was deleterious for the retention of these bioactive compounds (20–40% of the uncooked samples). Accordingly, the appropriate cooking method should be considered an important factor to preserve the health-promoting effects in these trending Brassica.

scholarly journals Assessment of Indian cooking practices and cookwares on nutritional security: A review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 357-372
Author(s):  
Sarthak Saxena ◽  
Sonia Saini ◽  
Mrinal Samtiya ◽  
Sunita Aggarwal ◽  
Tejpal Dhewa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Aluminium Toxicity ◽  
Cooking Methods ◽  
Toxic Trace Elements ◽  
Nutritional Security ◽  
Food Diversity ◽  
The People ◽  
Cooking Practices ◽  
Sensory Qualities ◽  
Clay Pots

Food provides us nutrients and the energy required for growth, reproduction, and maintenance. Energy is required to perform all voluntary and involuntary activities like digestion, respiration, circulation, carrying out professional, household and recreational activities. Despite having rich food diversity, we are using only a few items as our staple food.  With the adoption of eastern cooking practices and cookwares, risk of both pre-and post-transitional diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, malnutrition, obesity, etc. has increased significantly. Aluminium toxicity and nutrients breakdown has become a common problem in pressure cooking. To overcome this problem, it is important to shift from the modernized cooking methods to our traditional cooking practices, i.e., use of earthen cookwares, clay pots and some selected metal utensils, e.g., copper, iron, brass, etc. It has been shown that earthen, copper, iron, and soapstone cookwares do not leach toxic trace elements into the food and enhance the sensory qualities without decreasing the food nutrients. Adoption of traditional Indian cooking practices (such as fermentation, roasting, germination, etc.), cookwares (such as earthen, copper, iron, soapstone, etc.) and increasing the consumption of healthy diet grains like millets, etc. can easily combat the pre- and post-transition health problems in India, effectively. This review would provide a deep understanding to the people to decide the best cookware and cooking processes that will improve their health and provide ample nutritional value to them.

scholarly journals BEEF COOKING PRACTICES IN A SEGMENT OF AN URBAN NIGERIAN

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
A. OKUBANJO
Keyword(s):  
Urban Population ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Cooking Methods ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Cooking Method ◽  
Fresh State ◽  
Cooking Practices ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Cooked Meat

A survey was carried out among a segment of a Nigerian urban population in an attempt to determine the range of cooking methods and time commonly used in the preparation of beef for the table. Responses were obtained from 492 respondents who cut across several defined age groups and economic The findings indicate that almost all the respondents cook their meat from the fresh state. Boiling was the most frequently used cooking method followed by boiling/frying and boiling /frying/stewing which are the traditional systems of preparing stew in Nigeria. Boiling/stewing was used more frequently by the 41-50yr age group but was least used by the 25-20yr age group. Most respondents cook their beef for between 20 and 40 min, and utilized the broth from the boiled meat in preparing the stew rather than discarding it. The level of tenderness of the cooked meat was singularly the most important factor while marbling was the least factor contributing to its acceptability  

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