Author: Luigi Guarino

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Rounding up the breadfruit

Jeremy’s latest Eat This Newsletter has a piece on Dumbarton Oaks’ Plant of the Month feature on breadfruit. And much else besides. Do have a look. In contrast to Jeremy, I myself have knowingly eaten breadfruit, in various forms. It makes pretty good chips. I’ve also blogged about it here — a lot.

Breadfruit’s Bounty

Dumbarton Oaks is a beautiful building, museum, library and garden in Washington DC and I have often linked to its Plant of the Month features. This month’s is breadfruit, and well worth exploring. I’ve never knowingly eaten breadfruit, though I have tasted its close relative jackfruit, and yet one thing I know about it is that it was at the heart of the Mutiny on the Bounty. The British government tasked Captain William Bligh with transporting breadfruit seedlings from their home in the Pacific to the Caribbean, where it was hoped the trees would provide cheap food for enslaved people on the sugar plantations. Then it gets complicated.

There’s a lot to savour in the story of breadfruit’s enforced migration from its origins in the Pacific to the plantations of the Caribbean and the lasting impacts there. The article brings all these facets out with (occasionally clunky) links to images, maps and cooking videos.

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Brainfood: Diversity patterns double, Diversification drivers, Polish genetic erosion, Tibetan naked barley diversity, Indian sorghum diversity, Do novo domestication, Eggplant tree, Banana diversity, Pearl millet diversity, Pigeon pea genome, Grasspea genome, Jersey bull diversity

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Nibbles: KC Bansal, Mike Jackson, Spain strawberry genebank, Ho-Chunk maize, Heritage varieties, Roman apples, Hazelnut breeding, Old rye, Serbia grapevine herbarium, Horse domestication, Mt Vernon fruits, Worldwide Day of Botanical Art, Pre-colonial African agriculture

  1. Prof. KC Bansal, who used to run the Indian national genebank, gets a much-deserved UNESCO honour.
  2. Friend-of-the-blog Dr Mike Jackson on running a rice genebank. UNESCO honour for him too?
  3. Spain’s strawberry genebank gets its 15 minutes.
  4. University and Native American nation collaborate on regenerating heritage corn varieties.
  5. The pros and cons of heritage varieties, according to an American farmer.
  6. Did the ancient Romans have heritage apples?
  7. Beautifully written piece on the use of heritage varieties — and much else besides — in breeding hazelnuts in the US. If you only read one of these Nibbles, read this one.
  8. Old shipwrecked rye seeds may end up in whiskey. Best place for them.
  9. Old Serbian grapevine herbarium samples should stay right where they are.
  10. Old horses most certainly did not stay where they were. But where was that exactly?
  11. Not sure where old bottled fruit from Washington’s estate will end up. The DNA lab maybe, like those Serbian grapevines?
  12. There’s going to be a Worldwide Day of Botanical Art on May 18, 2025. Rejoice.
  13. Decolonizing food insecurity in West Africa.
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Nibbles: China grasslands, Edible lily, Ag data, China potatoes, CIP genebank, Vavilov book, Ghana seeds, Nutrition enterprises, Seed production films, Khoury pod, Relais & Châteaux

  1. China rehabilitates its grasslands.
  2. Not content with that, China breeds a new edible lily.
  3. Not sure what food group lilies are in, but farmers are growing more fruits and vegetables, it seems.
  4. Still not resting on its lilies, China breeds climate-smart potatoes.
  5. No doubt CIP and its genebank is helping with that.
  6. There’s a new book on Vavilov and his genebank. He knew a thing or two about potatoes.
  7. Ghana is totally on board with the whole genebank thing. And the Dutch are helping.
  8. Genebanks should hook up with small- and medium-sized enterprises for nutrition. What, not large ones?
  9. Genebanks also need nice education films on seed production.
  10. Friend-of-the-blog Colin Khoury interviewed on In Defence of Plants podcast.
  11. Luxury hotels and restaurants hook up with UNESCO to protect biodiversity. Vavilov would have been so proud.
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Nibbles: Tree seeds, Tepary beans, USDA trials, Seed Savers Exchange, China genebank, Nepal indigenous crops, Giant yams, Brogdale, Old apples, AI taxonomy, FEED database, IPBES Nexus report, Business & biodiversity

  1. Collecting tree seeds properly and respectfully is not easy.
  2. No word on how easy it is to collect tepary beans respectfully.
  3. Helping the USDA with their germplasm evaluations, on the other hand, is a breeze. Any tepary beans?
  4. Seed Savers Exchange makes conserving seeds look easy. Spoiler alert: it isn’t.
  5. It seems to be very easy to open new national genebanks in China.
  6. Farming is easier in Nepal with indigenous crops.
  7. Giant yams don’t look very easy to grow, but that’s not stopping some dedicated Indian women.
  8. It’s pretty easy — and fun — to visit the United Kingdom’s National Fruit Collection.
  9. Someone mention apples? Loammi Baldwin knew a thing or two about them.
  10. It’s going to get easier to identify plants. It says here.
  11. If you’re looking for interventions or policies to shift diets towards being healthier and more sustainable, your job just got a little easier.
  12. Likewise if you think the crises of biodiversity loss, water and food insecurity, health risks and climate change should be tackled together.
  13. Yes, even if you’re a business trying to manage your biodiversity risk you have a right to have it easier. Start by being respectful when climbing trees?