Fruits and nuts

June 22, 2015June 22, 2015

Marketing baobab

Just back from two weeks in Kenya, where I was too taken up with work and family to blog much, but not nearly enough to neglect Twitter. And of course Jeremy has been busy over at Eat This Podcast, so I’m sure you didn’t miss me. Much.

I did manage to score some neglected species goodness in Nairobi. This is baobab fruit pulp. You soak it in boiling water, strain it, and mix it with milk (and maybe sugar) for a really tasty, pleasantly tart, drink. Some ladies from West Africa taught us the process. And also procured the raw material, which can apparently only be had in a Somali suburb of Nairobi called Eastleigh. But I see no reason why the juice shouldn’t be sold at Java, Art Cafe or other trendy eateries in more mainstream, let us say, neighbourhoods. Then all those factsheets might actually have been worth it.

You can get nice #baobab #fruit pulp (with embedded #seeds) in Eastleigh, apparently #Nairobi #kenya

A photo posted by Luigi Guarino (@ggguarino) on Jun 16, 2015 at 3:46am PDT

June 8, 2015June 16, 2015

Brainfood: Eastern promise, Biodiversity databases, Pulse carotenoids, Castor oil breeding, Maya beans, NUS and water, Chinese Vitis

An ethnobotanical perspective on traditional fermented plant foods and beverages in Eastern Europe. 116 taxa, with a preponderance of Rosaceae.
Estimating species diversity and distribution in the era of Big Data: to what extent can we trust public databases? Trust, but verify.
Genetic diversity of nutritionally important carotenoids in 94 pea and 121 chickpea accessions. There’s carotenoid diversity in the Canadian collections.
Role of conventional and biotechnological approaches in genetic improvement of castor (Ricinus communis L.). We have the technology. What we don’t have is results.
Phaseolus from Cerén—A Late Classic Maya Site. The wilds were also eaten.
The Potential Role of Neglected and Underutilised Crop Species as Future Crops under Water Scarce Conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Some neglected species may be somewhat adapted to low water conditions, perhaps.
The wild relatives of grape in China: Diversity, conservation gaps and impact of climate change. 15 of 39 species need help, especially as the range of many is expected to be reduced by climate change.

June 3, 2015June 3, 2015

Nibbles: Savannah diversity, Omani banana, Truffle dogs, Taro & reef, Organic returns, Interspecific hybrids, Silk worm DNA, Indian diversity, American-Indian diversity, Aquaculture, Edge of Extinction, Inga key, Mexican forests, Mexican genebank, Beer, Spanish wheat, Commodities & SDGs

Metabarcoding of poop reveals secret of large herbivore diversity in African savannahs.
Unique Omani banana fights pests.
Truffle dogs: “Il cane, le corna non te le mette mai…”
Traditional taro cultivation protects Hawaiian reef.
Organic farming pays.
Climate change favouring offspring of interspecies hybridization. Also in crops? Like brassicas maybe?
Domestication of silk worm probed molecularly. Is that even a word?
Video explains Baranaja. Spoiler alert: it’s the diversity, stupid.
And along the same lines: rare seeds go home.
Brazil wants to be among the top 5 fish producers in the world. What could possibly go wrong.
Extracts from Jules Pretty’s book on what we can all learn from more nature-loving societies.
The key to Inga conservation. Is keys.
Community-based forest management in the Yucatan: “Future generations have the right to know them.” And not just the trees, bees too.
Since we’re in Mexico: a visit to the genebank.
The women of beer. None of them using cassava, though, alas.
“El mercado tiene sus normas y los científicos no las conocemos”.
Agro-commodity traders can be good for you. Somebody mention the market?

May 30, 2015June 1, 2015

Nibbles: Seeds, IPES report, Old wheat & bread, Twiga, Coca eradication, Double cheese, Breeding apples, Rose collection, Old tea, Insect as food, Fishing industry, UNFCCC negotiations, Famine book, Comms toolkit

Seeds scoped in the Pacific. I doubt the region will feature much in the Access to Seeds Index. Not unless it features community seed production groups like Atauro in East Timor.
Wanna reform the food system? Here’s the theory.
And here’s the practice, at least for wheat (and bread). Though some would probably beg to differ.
Blowing up African retail, one banana at the time.
Biological control of coca. What could possibly go wrong.
The reason for the holes in swiss cheese? We finally have the data.
But personally I prefer halloumi.
There are patents. There is PVP. And there are trademarks. A podcast on apple breeding, if you can believe it.
A whole bunch of heirloom roses all in one place.
Museum boffins find stale tea, Brits go ape.
Go on, have an insect.
Or maybe a nice piece of fish. While you can.
Confused about the UNFCCC negotiations about agriculture? Farming First has you covered.
Famine is history. Discuss.
NSF toolkit for communicating science. Maybe I should have read this before Nibbling.

May 25, 2015May 20, 2015

Brainfood: Agrobiodiversity & nutrition, Solanaceae, Pepper resistance, Fenugreek erosion, Wild grapes double, CC & mountains

Improving diets with wild and cultivated biodiversity from across the landscape. Only 12 papers on the link between agrobiodiversity or crop diversity and nutrition included nutritionally relevant information, so perhaps not surprising that we still don’t really know how agrobiodiversity or wild biodiversity contribute to overall diet quality.
Biodiversity of Food Species of the Solanaceae Family: A Preliminary Taxonomic Inventory of Subfamily Solanoideae. 15 genera used as food, 4 have economic crops, but then one of them is Solanum.
Diversity of genetic backgrounds modulating the durability of a major resistance gene. Analysis of a core collection of pepper landraces resistant to Potato virus Y. Breakdown of resistance conferred by given allele depends a lot on the background it finds itself in.
Brief but alarming reminder about the need for reintroducing ‘Greek hay’ (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) in Mediterranean agricultures. Why don’t people like this thing? Is it the smell?
Crop Wild Relatives as Genetic Resources – the Case of the European Wild Grape. Introgression from American wild species in S. German wild grapes. Still probably valuable for various disease resistances, though.
Mining new resources for grape resistance against Botryosphaeriaceae: a focus on Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris. See what I mean?
Global mountain topography and the fate of montane species under climate change. Some plants may have more land available to them as they migrate upwards.