Food Plants - PDF Archive

284 Pages·2010·32.94 MB·English

THE NEW
OXFORD BOOK OF
FOOD PLANTS
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THE NEW OXFORD BOOK OF
F O O D P L A N T S
. . . .
J G VAUGHAN & C A GEISSLER
Illustrations by . . ,
B E NICHOLSON
&
ELISABETH DOWLE ELIZABETH RICE
1
1
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp
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Text © J. G. Vaughan and C. A. Geissler, , 
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Vaughan, J. G. (John Griffi th)
Th e New Oxford book of food plants / J. G. Vaughan and C. A. Geissler;
illustrated by B. E. Nicholson; with additional illustrations by
Elisabeth Dowle and Elizabeth Rice.
. Food crops. I. Geissler, Catherine Alison. II. Title.
SB.V  —dc –
Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India
Printed in Italy
on acid-free paper by
Lego S.p.A.
ISBN ----
FOREWORD
david bellamy
Another work of scientifi c scholarship craft ed by John Vaughan, Catherine Geissler and leading botanical artists that
focuses on the plants that now feed over six billion people across the world.
I had the privilege of being taught by John Vaughan when an undergraduate in London University. Th ere he enlivened
Plant Anatomy, one of the most potentially boring parts of Botany, with hands on research concerning food, glorious food.
Sadly John passed away before the revisions of this crucially important book had been completed to go into print to edu-
cate, entertain and enthral a world facing the problems of food security. I therefore dedicate this foreword to his memory
and thank his wife Rita for supporting him through his busy life.
Catherine Geissler’s forte is in the fi eld of human nutrition and she is to be congratulated for bringing us up to date in
this fast moving area of knowledge. We are what we eat and a healthy diet is a key to a healthy life. Th e fact is that despite
all the E numbers and additives we consume today it appears that more people are living longer, but obesity and the use of
recreational drugs are raising their ugly heads.
Th ey are to be congratulated for not only do the illustrations allow instant recognition of the plants but they also make
your mouth water while the text enthrals, entertains and educates the reader about the plants that feed the vast bulk of the
living world. Th is timely book will not only be of immense use to every student of the life sciences but should take pride of
place in household kitchens and those of all Celebrity Chefs.
Above all this, the book touches history both natural and people-made. When Eve squatted down somewhere in Africa
and produced the fi rst defi nitive member of Homo sapiens, little did she know that in the year 2009 ad her descendants
would require 19 billion meals a day just to keep them all happy and healthy. During their diaspora they tested their teeth
and taste buds on just about every plant and animal that crossed their path. Th us the cuisines and armamentaria of natural
medicines of the world came into existence.
For those who are not strict vegetarians please don’t feel left out because plants also feed the animals that help to feed
you. Each animal is a solar powered, self building, repairing and regenerating mobile mini supermarket, the solid waste
from which is recycled returning organic compost to the soil.
Sadly today biodiverse structured organic soils are among the most threatened of the world’s resources. So much so that
the production of food plants has to be backed up with the use of vast amounts of fossil fuel to drive the farm machinery
and produce and apply the fertilizers and farm chemicals that produce an ever-growing number of the meals eaten today.
With this book in your library your weekly trip to the local supermarket becomes a world botanical cruise. Check them
out and you will be amazed at how many diff erent plants world cuisines depend on. It was Karl Linneus who gave Latin
names to plants and animals so that the world could share the good news of their virtues and their problems. It was Leon-
ardo da Vinci who told the Classic World that grapes were water held together with sunshine, long before scientists unrav-
elled the mysteries of photosynthesis.
Th is book originally craft ed by John Vaughan and Catherine Geissler, updated by Catherine Geissler, and with additional
illustrations by E lisabeth Dowle, will really open your minds to the real wonders of the plants that make food, glorious
food.
DAVID BELLAMY
BEDBURN
December 2008

PREFACE
In 1969 Th e Oxford Book of Food Plants appeared with illustrations by B. E. Nicholson and text by S. G. Harrison, G. B.
Masefi eld, and M. Wallis. Th e purpose of the book was to describe the origin, distribution, structure, cultivation, utiliza-
tion, and nutritive value of the world’s common food plants, as well as some lesser-known species. Th is book achieved
great success and has been found useful by professional scientists as well as the general reader.
As there had been many developments in this subject since the original publication it was considered timely to produce
a new version. John Vaughan and I therefore wrote Th e New Oxford Book of Food Plants with a range of additional features
and plants, illustrated by Elizabeth Rice and Elisabeth Dowle, which was published in 1997, and almost 10 years later we
planned a further revision. Very sadly, just aft er we had signed the contract with OUP, John died and so I have taken on
the task of bringing the 2009 version to fruition. His enthusiasm, drive, and botanical expertise are greatly missed. Several
experts, named in the acknowledgements, have kindly reviewed relevant sections, while all the botanical names have been
checked for currency against recent taxonomic authorities. Taxonomy appears to be fraught with diff erences of expert
opinion and I take full responsibility for any errors that remain.
One driver for the 1997 and the 2009 editions is that in recent years there has been considerable emphasis on the inclu-
sion of adequate amounts and variety of plant foods in the diet because of their health benefi ts. Th ese are due to their
contribution of dietary fi bre, unsaturated fats, certain vitamins, and other more recently researched constituents, the pro-
tective phytochemicals. Th e range of plant foods available in this country and elsewhere has increased greatly since the
fi rst edition as modern transport has allowed food plants from all over the world to be delivered fresh to the consumer.
Th e growth of ethnic communities in many countries has increased the demand for food plants that were previously con-
sidered exotic. Also the growth in foreign travel has created an interest by other sections of the population. Plant breeding,
including genetic engineering, has vastly increased the quality of plants available.
In the current edition I have retained a similar format and grouping of plants, with the original illustrations reproduced in
full and unaltered, the text updated, and information on more than 30 new species added. Th ese have been beautifully illus-
trated by Elisabeth Dowle. Th e new plants are spelt, einkorn, teff , saffl ower seed, cotton seed, linseed, niger seed, mate, betel
nut, tequila blue, khat, sweet woodruff , perilla, lemongrass, star anise, grains of paradise, tah tsai, choy sum hon-tsai-tai, mus-
tard sueh lihung, Chinese kale, kiwano, pitahaya, Chinese artichoke, purslane, acerola, pineapple guava, ginkgo, cola, boysen-
berry, yard long bean and peach palm. As in the previous edition the book includes an introduction, covering plant origins
and dispersal and giving an overview of all the plant groups in the order in which they occur in the book, and towards the end
a chapter on nutrition and health. Th is is followed by a series of tables summarizing the composition and energy values of the
major food plants (per 100 g), and additional tables on food consumption patterns in selected countries and on the role of vita-
mins. Some titles for recommended reading are provided to allow interested readers to delve deeper into the subject. Botanical
and nutritional glossaries and an index of scientifi c and common plant names and other subjects are included.
Th e authors of the original book had hoped that it would be a useful introduction to a topic of great importance to the
human race, and their hopes were certainly justifi ed. In view of the recent increased interest in the nutritional role of food
plants, this revised version of Th e New Oxford Book of Food Plants should be of interest to a wide range of people, the lay
public, gardeners, and cooks, as well as professional scientists in biology, nutrition, dietetics, food science, and students of
these subjects at universities, colleges, and schools.
C. A. G.
London
November 2008
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2009
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people have contributed to the production of this revised edition of Th e New Oxford Book of Food Plants. I am very
grateful to the late John Vaughan for his work in initiating the revision with Oxford University Press, and for selecting, and
seeking sources of, the plants to be added and illustrated. I am also grateful to his wife, Rita Vaughan, for providing me
with his correspondence, and for the encouragement she and her son and daughter, Anthony and Sian, gave to me to com-
plete the planned book. On the basis of John’s initial correspondence I should like to thank the following people for their
assistance in fi nding plant specimens for the new illustrations. Th ese include Dr Nigel Taylor, Annie Waddington, Kath
King, Shelley Cleave, Sarah Smith, Emma Fox, Dave Cooke, and Lisbeth Christensen, all at the Royal Botanical Gardens,
Kew, London as well as Georgia Pearman and Alistair Griffi ths at the Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall. Dr Clair Baynton,
of the Food Standards Agency, London kindly provided information about genetically modifi ed crops.
Many others have been involved in the book later on. Elisabeth Dowle, having provided many illustrations for the previ-
ous edition, not only illustrated all the new plants most beautifully for this one, but also grew many of them to be able to
paint them at various stages of maturity. Th e illustrations are a specially valuable feature of the book.
I am also grateful to several experts who reviewed sections of the original text to indicate where botanical updates were
necessary as the untimely death of John Vaughan precluded his intended role in this part of the work. Th ese include: Dr
Hernan Ceballos of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Consultative Group on International Agri-
culture (CGIAR), Washington, USA; Dr Peter Dawson of Tozer Seeds, UK; Mike Day, National Institute of Agricultural
Botany, Cambridge, UK; Dr Barrie Juniper, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, UK; Dr Deborah Kara-
mura, Biodiversity International (Uganda)(CGIAR); Dr Eldad Karamura, Biodiversity International (Uganda)(CGIAR);
Dr Gwilym Lewis, Head of Legume Team, the Herbarium, Library, Archives & Art, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London,
UK; Dr Cornelia Loechl, International Potato Center (CIP), Kampala, Uganda; Professor David Mabberley, Keeper of the
Herbarium, Library, Archives & Art, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, UK; Dr Joan Morgan; Dr Melina Smale, Oxfam
America; Dr Wolfgang Stuppy, Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, UK; Dr Latha Nagarajan,
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (CGIAR), Washington DC; Dr Alison Lean; Dr Derek Jennings.
I am also indebted to Professor Mabberley for pointing out that much of the plant taxonomy was out of date as new
genetic techniques had refi ned the classifi cations. Dr Jill Walker of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden & Harcourt
Arboretum kindly undertook the onerous task of checking the taxonomy of every plant against Professor Mabberley’s
Plant Book 2008.
Other samples for illustration were provided by Wesley Shaw of the Palm House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London,
UK, and by Hilary Duckett, of the Eden Project, Cornwall.
Finally I should like to thank Latha Menon, Senior Commissioning Editor, Trade Science, and Emma Marchant, Assist-
ant Commissioning Editor at Oxford University Press, for their patience and support in this enterprise.
C. A. G.
acknowledgements from the  edition
We acknowledge with many thanks the assistance given by the following: Dr B. F. Bland (John K. King & Sons Ltd, Col-
chester, UK); Ryvita Co. (UK); A. D. Evers (Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association, UK); Dr N. Galwey
(Cambridge University); Professor Sir Ghillean Prance (Director), J. S. Keesing, D. Field, Dr D. N. Pegler, Frances Cook,
C. Foster, Dr N. Taylor, C. Shine, Dr G. Lewis (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew); Linda Seaton (Lockwood Press); Professor
L. J. G. Van der Maesen, Dr J. J. Bos, Dr P. C. M. Jansen, Dr R. Van den Berg (Wageningen University, Th e Netherlands);
Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, UK; Dr P. Richards (Tate & Lyle); Dr M. Jenner (Speciality Sweeteners, UK);
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