1.
Species
–
In biology, a species is the basic unit of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is defined as the largest group of organisms in which two individuals can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. While this definition is often adequate, looked at more closely it is problematic, for example, with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, or in a ring species, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear. Other ways of defining species include similarity of DNA, morphology, all species are given a two-part name, a binomial. The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs, the second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet. For example, Boa constrictor is one of four species of the Boa genus, Species were seen from the time of Aristotle until the 18th century as fixed kinds that could be arranged in a hierarchy, the great chain of being. In the 19th century, biologists grasped that species could evolve given sufficient time, Charles Darwins 1859 book The Origin of Species explained how species could arise by natural selection. Genes can sometimes be exchanged between species by horizontal transfer, and species may become extinct for a variety of reasons. In his biology, Aristotle used the term γένος to mean a kind, such as a bird or fish, a kind was distinguished by its attributes, for instance, a bird has feathers, a beak, wings, a hard-shelled egg, and warm blood. A form was distinguished by being shared by all its members, Aristotle believed all kinds and forms to be distinct and unchanging. His approach remained influential until the Renaissance, when observers in the Early Modern period began to develop systems of organization for living things, they placed each kind of animal or plant into a context. Many of these early delineation schemes would now be considered whimsical, animals likewise that differ specifically preserve their distinct species permanently, one species never springs from the seed of another nor vice versa. In the 18th century, the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus classified organisms according to shared physical characteristics and he established the idea of a taxonomic hierarchy of classification based upon observable characteristics and intended to reflect natural relationships. At the time, however, it was widely believed that there was no organic connection between species, no matter how similar they appeared. However, whether or not it was supposed to be fixed, by the 19th century, naturalists understood that species could change form over time, and that the history of the planet provided enough time for major changes. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, in his 1809 Zoological Philosophy, described the transmutation of species, proposing that a species could change over time, in 1859, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace provided a compelling account of evolution and the formation of new species. Darwin argued that it was populations that evolved, not individuals and this required a new definition of species. Darwin concluded that species are what appear to be, ideas
Species
–
John Ray
Species
–
Carl Linnaeus believed in the fixity of species.
2.
Capsicum annuum
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Capsicum annuum is a species of the plant genus Capsicum native to southern North America and northern South America. This species is the most common and extensively cultivated of the five domesticated capsicums, the species encompasses a wide variety of shapes and sizes of peppers, both mild and hot, ranging from bell peppers to chili peppers. Cultivars are descended from the wild American bird pepper still found in regions of the Americas. Moreover, crosses between C. annuum and C. frutescens arent likely because seeds obtained from polliations between those two species will not germinate. Although the species name annuum means “annual”, the plant is not an annual and in the absence of winter frosts can survive several seasons, the single flowers are an off-white color while the stem is densely branched and up to 60 centimetres tall. The fruit are berries that may be green, yellow or red when ripe, while the species can tolerate most climates, C. annuum is especially productive in warm and dry climates. The species is a source of popular sweet peppers and hot chilis with numerous varieties cultivated all around the world, common naming in English falls generally in line with the flavor and size of the variant. Larger, sweeter variants are called sweet peppers in Great Britain, the smaller, hotter varieties are called chillis, chilies, chile, or chili peppers. Capsinoid chemicals provide the distinctive tastes in C. annuum variants, in particular, capsaicin creates a burning sensation, which in extreme cases can last for several hours after ingestion. A measurement called the Scoville scale has been created to describe the hotness of peppers, hot peppers are used in medicine as well as food in Africa and other places around the world. Ornamental varieties tend to have unusually colored fruit and foliage with colors such as black, all are edible, and most are hot. List of Capsicum cultivars Paprika Chili pepper Malgorzata, Materska, flavone C-glycosides from Capsicum annuum L. relationships between antioxidant activity and lipophilicity. Arimboor, Ranjith, Natarajan, Ramesh Babu, Menon, K. Ramakrishna, Chandrasekhar, red pepper carotenoids as a source of natural food colors, analysis and stability-a review. Journal of Food Science and Technology
Capsicum annuum
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Capsicum annuum
Capsicum annuum
Capsicum annuum
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Capsicum annuum cultivars
Capsicum annuum
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Dried
Guajillo chile pod
3.
Scoville scale
–
Capsaicin is one of many related chemicals, collectively called capsaicinoids. The scale is named after its creator, American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville and his method, devised in 1912, is known as the Scoville Organoleptic Test. In Scovilles method, a weight of dried pepper is dissolved in alcohol to extract the heat components. Decreasing concentrations of the extracted capsinoids are given to a panel of five trained tasters, the heat level is based on this dilution, rated in multiples of 100 SHU. A weakness of the Scoville Organoleptic Test is its imprecision due to human subjectivity, depending on the palate and their number of mouth heat receptors. Another weakness is sensory fatigue, the palate is quickly desensitised to capsaicins after tasting a few samples within a time period. Since Scoville ratings are defined per unit of dry mass, comparison of ratings between products having different water content can be misleading, for example, typical fresh chili peppers have a water content around 90 percent, whereas Tabasco sauce has a water content of 95 percent. For law-enforcement-grade pepper spray, values from 500,000 up to 1 million SHU have been mentioned, but the strength of the spray depends on the dilution. The Carolina Reaper is currently the highest rated pepper in the world, numerical results for any specimen vary depending on its cultivation conditions and the uncertainty of the laboratory methods used to assess the capsaicinoid content. Pungency values for any pepper are variable, owing to expected variation within a species—easily by a factor of 10 or more—depending on seed lineage, climate, the inaccuracies described in the measurement methods above also contribute to the imprecision of these values. Since at least the 1980s, spice heat has been precisely measured by a method that uses high-performance liquid chromatography. This identifies and measures the concentration of heat-producing chemicals, the measurements are used in a mathematical formula that weights them according to their relative capacity to produce a sensation of heat. This method yields results, not in Scoville units, but in American Spice Trade Association pungency units. A measurement of one part capsaicin per million corresponds to about 16 Scoville units, Scoville units are a measure for capsaicin content per unit of dry mass. Wilbur Scoville profile on NNDB Scoville Scale/Scoville Heat Units Explanation at Tabasco Website
Scoville scale
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Pepper stand at market in Texas, with Scoville scale.
Scoville scale
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Naga Jolokia (
bhut jolokia,
naga morich) is rated at over one million Scoville units. It is primarily found in the Northeast Indian states of
Assam,
Nagaland, and
Manipur. It is also found in
Bangladesh.
Scoville scale
–
The
Red Savina pepper, one of the hottest chilis, is rated at around 500,000 Scoville units.
4.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
Australia
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Aboriginal rock art in the
Kimberley region of Western Australia
Australia
Australia
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Portrait of Captain
James Cook, the first European to map the eastern coastline of Australia in 1770
Australia
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Tasmania's
Port Arthur penal settlement is one of eleven UNESCO World Heritage-listed
Australian Convict Sites.
5.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
India
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Flag
India
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The granite
tower of
Brihadeeswarar Temple in
Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by
Raja Raja Chola I.
India
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Writing the will and testament of the Mughal king court in Persian, 1590–1595
6.
Bangladesh
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Bangladesh, officially the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It shares land borders with India and Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and China are located near Bangladesh but do not share a border with it. The countrys maritime territory in the Bay of Bengal is roughly equal to the size of its land area, Bangladesh is the worlds eighth most populous country. Dhaka is its capital and largest city, followed by Chittagong which has the countrys largest port, Bangladesh forms the largest and eastern part of the Bengal region. Bangladeshis include people of different ethnic groups and religions, Bengalis, who speak the official Bengali, make up 98% of the population. The politically dominant Bengali Muslims make the nation the worlds third largest Muslim-majority country, most of Bangladesh is covered by the Bengal delta, the largest delta on Earth. The country has 700 rivers and 8,046 km of inland waterways, highlands with evergreen forests are found in the northeastern and southeastern regions of the country. Bangladesh has many islands and a coral reef and it is home to the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world. The countrys biodiversity includes a vast array of plant and wildlife, including critically endangered Bengal tigers, the Greeks and Romans identified the region as Gangaridai, a powerful kingdom of the historical subcontinent, in the 3rd century BCE. Archaeological research has unearthed several ancient cities in Bangladesh, which had trade links for millennia. The Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal transformed the region into a cosmopolitan Islamic imperial power between the 14th and 18th centuries, the region was home to many principalities which had inland naval prowess. It was also a center of the worldwide muslin and silk trade. As part of British India, the region was influenced by the Bengali renaissance, the Partition of British India made East Bengal a part of the Dominion of Pakistan, and was renamed as East Pakistan. The region witnessed the Bengali Language Movement in 1952 and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, after independence, a parliamentary republic was established. A presidential government was in place between 1975 and 1990, followed by a return to parliamentary democracy, the country has also been affected by poverty, natural disasters, hunger, dominant party systems and military coups. Bangladesh is a power and a major developing nation. Listed as one of the Next Eleven, it has the 46th largest economy and it is one of the largest textile exporters in the world. Its major trading partners are the European Union, the United States, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, with its strategically vital location between Southern, Eastern and Southeast Asia, Bangladesh is an important promoter of regional connectivity and cooperation
Bangladesh
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Mahasthangarh is the oldest archaeological site in Bangladesh. It dates back to 700 BCE and was the ancient capital of the
Pundra Kingdom
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
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Asia in 323 BC, the
Gangaridai Empire in relation to the
Nanda Empire,
Alexander 's Empire and neighbours
Bangladesh
–
The
Somapura Mahavihara, once the largest
Buddhist vihara in South Asia, built by Emperor
Dharmapala of Bengal
7.
Singapore
–
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, sometimes referred to as the Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree north of the equator, at the tip of peninsular Malaysia. Singapores territory consists of one island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its size by 23%. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan, after early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce. Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub, the country has also been identified as a tax haven. Singapore ranks 5th internationally and first in Asia on the UN Human Development Index and it is ranked highly in education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, and housing, but does not fare well on the Democracy index. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner-occupied, 38% of Singapores 5.6 million residents are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. There are four languages on the island, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil. English is its language, most Singaporeans are bilingual. Singapore is a multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The Peoples Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959, however, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island, Sang Nila Utama, the Srivijayan prince said to have founded and named the island Singapura, perhaps saw a Malayan tiger. There are however other suggestions for the origin of the name, the central island has also been called Pulau Ujong as far back as the third century CE, literally island at the end in Malay. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals, the Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by Sang Nila Utama and these Indianized Kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was part of the Johor Sultanate. The wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control for the following period, in 1824 the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, prior to Raffles arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and gambier plantations
Singapore
–
Raffles Square around 1900.
Singapore
–
Flag
Singapore
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Victorious Japanese troops marching through Singapore City after the British capitulation at the
Battle of Singapore in 1942.
Singapore
–
A cheering crowd welcome the return of British forces, 1945
8.
New Zealand
–
New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
New Zealand
–
The Waitangi sheet from the
Treaty of Waitangi
New Zealand
–
Flag
New Zealand
–
Painting of
Mount Earnslaw by John Turnbull Thomson, oil on canvas, 1888
New Zealand
–
John Key,
Prime Minister of New Zealand since 2008
9.
Red
–
Red is the color at the longer-wavelengths end of the spectrum of visible light next to orange, at the opposite end from violet. Red color has a predominant light wavelength of roughly 620–740 nanometers, light with a longer wavelength than red but shorter than terahertz radiation and microwave is called infrared. Red is one of the secondary colors, resulting from the combination of yellow. Traditionally, it was viewed as a primary colour, along with yellow and blue, in the RYB color space and traditional color wheel formerly used by painters. Reds can vary in shade from light pink to very dark maroon or burgundy. Red is the color of cyan. In nature, the red color of blood comes from hemoglobin, the red color of the Grand Canyon and other geological features is caused by hematite or red ochre, both forms of iron oxide. It also causes the red color of the planet Mars, the color of autumn leaves is caused by pigments called anthocyanins, which are produced towards the end of summer, when the green chlorophyll is no longer produced. One to two percent of the population has red hair, the color is produced by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin. Since red is the color of blood, it has historically been associated with sacrifice, danger, modern surveys in the United States and Europe show red is also the color most commonly associated with heat, activity, passion, sexuality, anger, love and joy. In China, India and many other Asian countries it is the color of symbolizing happiness, since the 19th century, red has also been associated with socialism and communism. The word red is derived from the Old English rēad, the word can be further traced to the Proto-Germanic rauthaz and the Proto-Indo European root rewdʰ-. In Sanskrit, the word means red or blood. In the Akkadian language of Ancient Mesopotamia and in the modern Inuit language of Inuit, the words for colored in Latin and Spanish both also mean red. In Portuguese the word for red is vermelho, which comes from Latin vermiculus, in the Russian language, the word for red, Кра́сный, comes from the same old Slavic root as the words for beautiful—красивый and excellent—прекрасный. Thus Red Square in Moscow, named long before the Russian Revolution, in heraldry, the word gules is used for red. Red can vary in hue from orange-red to violet-red, and for each hue there is a variety of shades and tints. Red hematite powder was found scattered around the remains at a grave site in a Zhoukoudian cave complex near Beijing
Red
–
Pure, or solid red, the color of most ripe
strawberries.
Red
–
Red
Red
–
Scarlet is one quarter of the way between the colors red and orange. It is the color worn by a
cardinal of the
Roman Catholic Church..
Red
–
The
cardinal takes its name from the color worn by Roman Catholic
cardinals.
10.
Yellow
–
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of visible light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength of roughly 570–590 nm, in traditional color theory, used in painting, and in the subtractive color system, used in color printing, yellow is a primary color. In the RGB color model, used to create colors on television and computer screens, yellow is made by combining red, the word yellow comes from the Old English geolu, geolwe, meaning yellow, yellowish, derived from the Proto-Germanic word gelwaz yellow. It has the same Indo-European base, gʰel-, as the gold and yell. In Iran it has connotations of pallor/sickness, but also wisdom and it plays an important role in Asian culture, particularly in China, where it is seen as the color of happiness, glory, wisdom, harmony, and culture. The word yellow comes from the Old English geolu, geolwe, meaning yellow, yellowish and it has the same Indo-European base, gʰel-, as the words gold and yell, gʰel- means both bright and gleaming, and to cry out. The English term is related to other Germanic words for yellow, namely Scots yella, East Frisian jeel, West Frisian giel, Dutch geel, German gelb, and Swedish and Norwegian gul. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the oldest known use of word in English is from The Epinal Glossary in 700. Yellow, in the form of yellow pigment made from clay, was one of the first colors used in prehistoric cave art. The cave of Lascaux has an image of a horse colored with yellow estimated to be 17,300 years old, in Ancient Egypt, yellow was associated with gold, which was considered to be imperishable, eternal and indestructible. The skin and bones of the gods were believed to be made of gold, the Egyptians used yellow extensively in tomb paintings, they usually used either yellow ochre or the brilliant orpiment, though it was made of arsenic and was highly toxic. A small paintbox with orpiment pigment was found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun, men were always shown with brown faces, women with yellow ochre or gold faces. The ancient Romans used yellow in their paintings to represent gold and it is found frequently in the murals of Pompeii. During the Post-Classical period, yellow became firmly established as the color of Judas Iscariot, from this connection, yellow also took on associations with envy, jealousy and duplicity. The tradition started in the Renaissance of marking non-Christian outsiders, such as Jews, in 16th century Spain, those accused of heresy and who refused to renounce their views were compelled to come before the Spanish Inquisition dressed in a yellow cape. The color yellow has been associated with moneylenders and finance. The National Pawnbrokers Associations logo depicts three golden spheres hanging from a bar, referencing the three bags of gold that the saint of pawnbroking, St. Nicholas, holds in his hands. Additionally, the symbol of three golden orbs is found in the coat of arms of the House of Medici, a fifteenth century Italian dynasty of bankers and lenders
Yellow
–
Yellow is the color of
gold,
butter, and ripe
lemons.
Yellow
–
Yellow
Yellow
–
Image of a horse colored with
yellow ochre. from
Lascaux cave.
Yellow
–
Paintings in the Tomb of Nakht in
ancient Egypt (15th century BC).
11.
Christopher Columbus
–
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean and those voyages and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola initiated the European colonization of the New World. Western imperialism and economic competition were emerging among European kingdoms through the establishment of routes and colonies. During his first voyage in 1492, he reached the New World instead of arriving at Japan as he had intended, landing on an island in the Bahamas archipelago that he named San Salvador. Over the course of three voyages, he visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Central America. These voyages had, therefore, an impact in the historical development of the modern Western world. He spearheaded the transatlantic trade and has been accused by several historians of initiating the genocide of the Hispaniola natives. Columbus himself saw his accomplishments primarily in the light of spreading the Christian religion, Columbus never admitted that he had reached a continent previously unknown to Europeans, rather than the East Indies for which he had set course. He called the inhabitants of the lands that he visited indios, the name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. His name in Italian is Cristoforo Colombo and, in Spanish and he was born before 31 October 1451 in the territory of the Republic of Genoa, though the exact location remains disputed. His father was Domenico Colombo, a wool weaver who worked both in Genoa and Savona and who also owned a cheese stand at which young Christopher worked as a helper. Bartolomeo, Giovanni Pellegrino, and Giacomo were his brothers, Bartolomeo worked in a cartography workshop in Lisbon for at least part of his adulthood. He also had a sister named Bianchinetta, Columbus never wrote in his native language, which is presumed to have been a Genoese variety of Ligurian. In one of his writings, he says he went to sea at the age of 10, in 1470, the Columbus family moved to Savona, where Domenico took over a tavern. In the same year, Christopher was on a Genoese ship hired in the service of René of Anjou to support his attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Naples. Some modern historians have argued that he was not from Genoa but, instead and these competing hypotheses have generally been discounted by mainstream scholars. In 1473, Columbus began his apprenticeship as business agent for the important Centurione, Di Negro, later, he allegedly made a trip to Chios, an Aegean island then ruled by Genoa. In May 1476, he took part in a convoy sent by Genoa to carry valuable cargo to northern Europe
Christopher Columbus
–
Posthumous portrait of Christopher Columbus by
Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519. There are no known authentic portraits of Columbus.
Christopher Columbus
–
Christopher Columbus at the gates of the
monastery of Santa María de la Rábida with his son Diego, by
Benet Mercadé
Christopher Columbus
–
Columbus' handwritten notes in Latin, on the margins of his copy of
The Travels of Marco Polo
Christopher Columbus
–
"Columbus map", drawn c. 1490 in the
Lisbon workshop of Bartolomeo and Christopher Columbus
12.
Black pepper
–
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. When dried, the fruit is known as a peppercorn, when fresh and fully mature, it is approximately 5 millimetres in diameter, dark red, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed. Peppercorns, and the ground pepper derived from them, may be described simply as pepper, or more precisely as black pepper, green pepper, black pepper is native to south India and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions. Currently, Vietnam is the worlds largest producer and exporter of pepper, dried ground pepper has been used since antiquity for both its flavour and as a traditional medicine. Black pepper is the worlds most traded spice and it is one of the most common spices added to cuisines around the world. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine, black pepper is ubiquitous in the modern world as a seasoning and is often paired with salt. The word pepper has its roots in the Tamil word for long pepper, todays pepper derives from the Old English pipor. and from Latin which was the source of Romanian piper, Italian pepe, Dutch peper, German Pfeffer, French poivre, and other similar forms. In the 16th century, pepper started referring to the unrelated New World chili pepper as well, Pepper was used in a figurative sense to mean spirit or energy at least as far back as the 1840s, in the early 20th century, this was shortened to pep. Black pepper is produced from the still-green, unripe drupes of the pepper plant. The drupes are cooked briefly in hot water, both to them and to prepare them for drying, the heat ruptures cell walls in the pepper. The drupes are dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the pepper around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, once dried, the spice is called black peppercorn. On some estates, the berries are separated from the stem by hand, once the peppercorns are dried, pepper spirit and oil can be extracted from the berries by crushing them. Pepper spirit is used in medicinal and beauty products. Pepper oil is used as an ayurvedic massage oil and used in certain beauty. White pepper consists solely of the seed of the pepper plant and this is usually accomplished by a process known as retting, where fully ripe red pepper berries are soaked in water for about a week, during which the flesh of the pepper softens and decomposes. Rubbing then removes what remains of the fruit, and the seed is dried. Sometimes alternative processes are used for removing the outer pepper from the seed, ground white pepper is used in Chinese and Thai cuisine, but also in salads, cream sauces, light-coloured sauces, and mashed potatoes. White pepper has a different flavour from black pepper, it lacks certain compounds present in the layer of the drupe
Black pepper
–
Black pepper
Black pepper
–
Black and white peppercorns
Black pepper
–
Ground black pepper and a plastic pepper shaker
Black pepper
–
Roughly cracked black peppercorns, also known as mignonette or poivre mignonette
13.
Capsicum
–
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas, where they have cultivated for thousands of years. Following the Columbian Exchange, it has become cultivated worldwide, in addition to use as spices and food vegetables, Capsicum species have also been used as medicines and lachrymatory agents. The generic name may come from Latin capsa box, presumably alluding to the pods or the Greek word κάπτω kapto to gulp. The name pepper comes from the similarity of the flavor to black pepper, Piper nigrum, although there is no botanical relationship with it or with Sichuan pepper. The original term, chilli came from the Nahuatl word chīlli, denoting a larger Capsicum variety cultivated at least since 3000 BC, as evidenced by remains found in pottery from Puebla, the fruit of Capsicum plants have a variety of names depending on place and type. The piquant varieties are commonly called chili peppers, or simply chillies, the large, mild form is called red pepper, green pepper, or bell pepper in North America and United Kingdom and typically capsicum in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and India. The fruit is called paprika in some other countries, ideal growing conditions for peppers include a sunny position with warm, loamy soil, ideally 21 to 29 °C, that is moist but not waterlogged. Extremely moist soils can cause seedlings to damp-off and reduce germination, the plants are sensitive to frost. For flowering, Capsicum are a non-photoperiod-sensitive crop, however, at extremely high temperature,92 to 100 °F, pollen loses viability, and flowers are much less likely to pollinate successfully. Capsicum consists of 20–27 species, five of which are domesticated, C. annuum, C. baccatum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, phylogenetic relationships between species have been investigated using biogeographical, morphological, chemosystematic, hybridization, and genetic data. Fruits of Capsicum can vary tremendously in color, shape, chemosystematic studies helped distinguish the difference between varieties and species. For example, C. baccatum var. baccatum had the same flavonoids as C. baccatum var. pendulum, peru is thought to be the country with the highest cultivated Capsicum diversity since varieties of all five domesticates are commonly sold in markets in contrast to other countries. Bolivia is considered to be the country where the largest diversity of wild Capsicum peppers are consumed. Most of the capsaicin in a pungent pepper is concentrated in blisters on the epidermis of the ribs that divide the chambers, or locules. A study on capsaicin production in fruits of C. chinense fruits, the amount of capsaicin in hot peppers varies significantly among varieties, and is measured in Scoville heat units. The worlds current hottest known pepper as rated in SHU is the Carolina Reaper, sources, Tubocapsicum anomalum Makino Vassobia fasciculata Hunz. Witheringia stramoniifolia Kunth Most Capsicum species are 2n=2x=24, a few of the non-domesticated species are 2n=2x=32
Capsicum
–
Capsicum
Capsicum
Capsicum
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Red peppers in
Cachi (
Argentina) air-drying before being processed into powder
Capsicum
–
An arrangement of
jalapeño,
banana,
cayenne,
chili, and
habanero peppers
14.
Chili pepper
–
The chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. In Australia, Britain, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and in other Asian countries, the substances that give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically are capsaicin and several related chemicals, collectively called capsaicinoids. After the Columbian Exchange, many cultivars of chili pepper spread across the world, chilies were brought to Asia by Portuguese navigators during the 16th century. Worldwide, some 3.8 million hectares of land produce 33 million tons of chili peppers, India is the worlds biggest producer, consumer and exporter of chili peppers. Guntur in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh produces 30% of all the chilies produced in India, Andhra Pradesh as a whole contributes 75% of Indias chili exports. Chili peppers have been a part of the diet in the Americas since at least 7500 BCE. Bolivia is considered to be the country where the largest diversity of wild Capsicum peppers are consumed, upon their introduction into Europe, chilies were grown as botanical curiosities in the gardens of Spanish and Portuguese monasteries. Chilies were cultivated around the globe after Indigenous people shared them with travelers, diego Álvarez Chanca, a physician on Columbus second voyage to the West Indies in 1493, brought the first chili peppers to Spain and first wrote about their medicinal effects in 1494. It was introduced in India by the Portuguese towards the end of 15th century, today chilies are an integral part of South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines. There is a correlation between the chili pepper geographical dissemination and consumption in Asia and the presence of Portuguese traders, India. The chili pepper features heavily in the cuisine of the Goan region of India, Chili peppers journeyed from India, through Central Asia and Turkey, to Hungary, where they became the national spice in the form of paprika. To Japan, it was brought by the Portuguese missionaries in 1542, in 1995 archaeobotanist Hakon Hjelmqvist published an article in Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift claiming there was evidence for the presence of chili peppers in Europe in pre-Columbian times. According to Hjelmqvist, archaeologists at a dig in St Botulf in Lund found a Capsicum frutescens in a layer from the 13th century, Hjelmqvist thought it came from Asia. Hjelmqvist also said that Capsicum was described by the Greek Theophrastus in his Historia Plantarum, around the first century CE, the Roman poet Martialis mentioned Piperve crudum in Liber XI, XVIII, allegedly describing them as long and containing seeds. Green and red peppers, for example, are the same cultivar of C. annuum. In the same species are the jalapeño, the poblano, New Mexico, serrano, peppers are commonly broken down into three groupings, bell peppers, sweet peppers, and hot peppers. Most popular pepper varieties are seen as falling into one of these categories or as a cross between them, the substances that give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically are capsaicin and several related chemicals, collectively called capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is also the component in pepper spray, a less-than-lethal weapon
Chili pepper
–
Green
bird's eye, yellow
madame Jeanette, and red
cayenne peppers
Chili pepper
–
Small white variety of chili grown in
Udupi district, India
Chili pepper
–
Thai pepper, similar in variety to the
African birdseye, exhibits considerable strength for its size
Chili pepper
–
A display of hot peppers and a board explaining the
Scoville scale at a
Houston, Texas, grocery store
15.
Capsaicin
–
Capsaicin is an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. It is an irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact. Capsaicin and several related compounds are called capsaicinoids and are produced as secondary metabolites by chili peppers, probably as deterrents against certain mammals, pure capsaicin is a non-volatile, hydrophobic, colorless, highly pungent, crystalline to waxy compound. The compound was first extracted in impure form in 1816 by Christian Friedrich Bucholz and he called it capsicin, after the genus Capsicum from which it was extracted. John Clough Thresh, who had isolated capsaicin in almost pure form, karl Micko isolated capsaicin in its pure form in 1898. Capsaicins chemical composition was first determined by E. K. Nelson in 1919, Capsaicin was first synthesized in 1930 by Ernst Spath and Stephen F. Darling. In 1961, similar substances were isolated from chili peppers by the Japanese chemists S. Kosuge, the general biosynthetic pathway of capsaicin and other capsaicinoids was elucidated in the 1960s by Bennett and Kirby, and Leete and Louden. Radiolabeling studies identified phenylalanine and valine as the precursors to capsaicin. and Sukrasno, suzuki et al. are responsible for identifying leucine as another precursor to the branched-chain fatty acid pathway. Similar studies showed high levels in the placenta of chili peppers with high pungency of genes responsible for branched-chain fatty acid pathway. Plants exclusively of the Capsicum genus produce capsaicinoids, which are alkaloids, Capsaicin is believed to be synthesized in the interlocular septum of chili peppers and depends on the gene AT3, which resides at the pun1 locus, and which encodes a putative acyltransferase. Capsaicin is the most abundant capsaicinoid found in the Capsicum genus, phenylalanine supplies the precursor to the phenylpropanoid pathway while leucine or valine provide the precursor for the branched-chain fatty acid pathway. To produce capsaicin, 8-methyl-6-nonenoyl-CoA is produced by the fatty acid pathway. All condensation reactions between the products of the phenylpropanoid and branched-chain fatty acid pathway are mediated by capsaicin synthase to produce the final capsacinoid product. Capsaicin is present in quantities in the placental tissue, the internal membranes and, to a lesser extent. The seeds themselves do not produce any capsaicin, although the highest concentration of capsaicin can be found in the pith of the inner wall. The seeds of Capsicum plants are dispersed predominantly by birds, in birds, thus, natural selection may have led to increasing capsaicin production because it makes the plant less likely to be eaten by animals that do not help it disperse. In high concentrations, capsaicin will also cause an effect on other sensitive areas. The degree of heat found within a food is often measured on the subjective Scoville scale, because people enjoy the heat, there has long been a demand for capsaicin-spiced products like curry, chili con carne, and hot sauces such as Tabasco sauce and salsa
Capsaicin
16.
Capsinoids
–
Capsinoids, which include capsiate, dihydrocapsiate, and nordihydrocapsiate, are substances naturally present in chili peppers. Although they are similar to capsaicin, the substance that causes pungency in hot peppers. Capsinoids have an estimated “hot taste threshold” which is about 1/1000 that of capsaicin, capsinoids were not reported in the scientific literature until 1989, when biologists first isolated them in a unique variety of chili peppers, CH-19 Sweet, which does not contain capsaicin. Capsinoids include capsiate, dihydrocapsiate, and nordihydrocapsiate, structural differences between capsaicin and members of the capsinoid family of compounds are illustrated below. Capsinoids have a bond in their structures, as compared with the amide bond characteristic of capsaicin. It is anecdotally said that hot peppers help people in the tropics “cool off. ”This theory is consistent with the peripheral vasodilatory effect of capsaicin that has shown to lower skin temperature in humans exposed to a hot environment. Capsaicin feels hot in the mouth because it activates sensory receptors on the tongue otherwise used to detect thermal heat and this receptor is called Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1. TRPV1 receptors are located in the gut and in other organs. Stimulation of TRPV1 receptors is known to bring about activation of the nervous system. Capsaicin has been shown to increase fat burning in humans and animals through stimulation of the SNS, like capsaicin, capsinoids activate TRPV1 receptors, although they are not hot in the mouth. Capsinoids cannot reach the TRPV1 oral cavity receptors, located slightly below the surface in the mouth, on the other hand, both capsaicin and capsinoids activate TRPV1 receptors in the same manner. Research has indicated that the TRPV1 receptors in the gut are important for the effects of capsaicin. Both energy metabolism and body temperature increases are observed in humans following extracted capsinoids or CH-19 Sweet administration, animal studies also demonstrate these increases, as well as suppressed in body fat accumulation following capsinoids intake. The exact mechanisms and the importance of each remain under investigation, as are the effects of capsinoids on appetite. Capsinoids are hydrolyzed before absorption and break down to fatty acids, single dose oral administration of up to 30 mg capsinoids did not raise blood pressure or heart rate in healthy volunteers, nor did administration of CH-19 Sweet
Capsinoids
17.
Canadian English
–
Canadian English is the set of varieties of the English language native to Canada. A larger number,28 million people, reported using English as their dominant language, 82% of Canadians outside the province of Quebec reported speaking English natively, but within Quebec the figure was just 7. 7% as most of its residents are native speakers of Quebec French. Canadian English contains elements of British English and American English, as well as many Canadianisms, the construction of identities and English-language varieties across political borders is a complex social phenomenon. The term Canadian English is first attested in a speech by the Reverend A. Constable Geikie in an address to the Canadian Institute in 1857, Canadian English is the product of five waves of immigration and settlement over a period of more than two centuries. Studies on earlier forms of English in Canada are rare, yet connections with other work to historical linguistics can be forged, an overview of diachronic work on Canadian English, or diachronically-relevant work, is Dollinger. Until the 2000s, basically all commentators on the history of CanE have argued from the language-external history, an exception has been in the area of lexis, where Avis et als Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, offered real-time historical data though its quotations. Recently, historical linguists have started to study earlier Canadian English on historical linguistic data, dCHP-1 is now available in open access. )Most notably, Dollinger pioneered the historical corpus linguistic approach for English in Canada with CONTE and offers a developmental scenario for 18th and 19th century Ontario. Recently, Reuter, with a 19th-century newspaper corpus from Ontario, has confirmed the scenario laid out in Dollinger, Canadian spelling of the English language combines British and American conventions. Words such as realize and paralyze are usually spelled with -ize or -yze rather than -ise or -yse, french-derived words that in American English end with -or and -er, such as color or center, often retain British spellings. While the United States uses the Anglo-French spelling defense and offense, some nouns, as in British English, take -ice while matching verbs take -ise – for example, practice and licence are nouns while practise and license are the respective corresponding verbs. Canadian spelling sometimes retains the British practice of doubling consonants when adding suffixes to words even when the syllable is not stressed. Compare Canadian travelled, counselling, and marvellous to American traveled, counseling, in American English, such consonants are only doubled when stressed, thus, for instance, controllable and enthralling are universal. In other cases, Canadians and Americans differ from British spelling, such as in the case of nouns like curb and tire, Canadian spelling conventions can be partly explained by Canadas trade history. For instance, the British spelling of the word cheque probably relates to Canadas once-important ties to British financial institutions, Canadas political history has also had an influence on Canadian spelling. Canadas first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, once directed the Governor General of Canada to issue an order-in-council directing that government papers be written in the British style, a contemporary reference for formal Canadian spelling is the spelling used for Hansard transcripts of the Parliament of Canada. Many Canadian editors, though, use the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, often along with the chapter on spelling in Editing Canadian English, and, throughout part of the 20th century, some Canadian newspapers adopted American spellings, for example, color as opposed to the British-based colour. Some of the most substantial historical spelling data can be found in Dollinger, the use of such spellings was the long-standing practice of the Canadian Press perhaps since that news agencys inception, but visibly the norm prior to World War II. The practice of dropping the letter u in such words was also considered a labour-saving technique during the days of printing in which movable type was set manually
Canadian English
–
A Canadian-built Curtiss JN-4C "Canuck" training biplane of 1918, with a differing vertical tail to the original U.S. version
Canadian English
–
Based on Labov et al.; averaged F1/F2 means for speakers from Western and Central Canada. Note that /ɒ/ and /ɔ/ are indistinguishable; /æ/ and /ɛ/ are very open.
18.
Midwest
–
It was officially named the North Central region by the Census Bureau until 1984. Illinois is the most populous of the states and North Dakota the least, a 2012 report from the United States Census put the population of the Midwest at 65,377,684. The Midwest is divided by the Census Bureau into two divisions, the East North Central Division includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, all of which are also part of the Great Lakes region. Major rivers in the include, from east to west, the Ohio River, the Upper Mississippi River. Chicago is the most populated city in the American Midwest and the third most populous in the entire country, other large Midwest cities include, Indianapolis, Columbus, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Wichita and St. Louis. Chicago and its suburbs form the largest metropolitan area with 9.8 million people, followed by Metro Detroit. Paul, Greater St. Louis, Greater Cleveland, Greater Cincinnati, Kansas City metro area, the term Midwestern has been in use since the 1880s to refer to portions of the central United States. A variant term, Middle West, has used since the 19th century. Another term sometimes applied to the general region is the heartland. Other designations for the region have fallen out of use, such as the Northwest or Old Northwest, the Northwest Territory was one of the earliest territories of the United States, stretching northwest from the Ohio River to northern Minnesota and upper-Mississippi. The upper-Mississippi watershed including the Missouri and Illinois Rivers was the setting for the earlier French settlements of the Illinois Country, economically the region is balanced between heavy industry and agriculture, with finance and services such as medicine and education becoming increasingly important. Its central location makes it a crossroads for river boats, railroads, autos, trucks. Politically the region swings back and forth between the parties, and thus is heavily contested and often decisive in elections, after the sociological study Middletown, which was based on Muncie, Indiana, commentators used Midwestern cities as typical of the nation. The region has a higher ratio than the Northeast, the West. Traditional definitions of the Midwest include the Northwest Ordinance Old Northwest states, the states of the Old Northwest are also known as Great Lakes states and are east-north central in the United States. The Ohio River runs along the section while the Mississippi River runs north to south near the center. Many of the Louisiana Purchase states in the west-north central United States, are known as Great Plains states. The Midwest lies north of the 36°30′ parallel that the 1820 Missouri Compromise established as the line between future slave and non-slave states
Midwest
–
Typical terrain of the
Driftless Area as viewed from
Wildcat Mountain State Park in
Vernon County, Wisconsin
Midwest
–
The Midwest as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Midwest
–
Flint Hills grasslands of Kansas
Midwest
–
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
19.
Sri Lanka
–
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia near south-east India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest, Sri Lankas documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lankas recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, in addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a semi-presidential system. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the capital and largest city. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of the two countries in South Asia that are rated among high human development on the Human Development Index. In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names, according to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni, because his followers hands were reddened by the red soil of the area. In Hindu mythology, such as the Mahabharata, the island was referred to as Lankā, in Tamil, the island is referred to as Eelam. Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā or Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni, as a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. The country is known in Sinhalese as Śrī Laṃkā and in Tamil as Ilaṅkai, in 1972, its formal name was changed to Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. Later in 1978 it was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority. The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years, the era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala and it is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravanas airport, early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. According to the Mahāvamsa, a written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. Ancient cemeteries that were used before 600BC and other signs of advanced civilization has also discovered in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
–
Avukana Buddha statue, a 12 metres (39 ft) standing Buddha statue belongs to the reign of
Dhatusena of Anuradhapura, 5th century
Sri Lanka
–
Flag
Sri Lanka
–
Ptolemy's world map of Ceylon, first century CE, in a 1535 publication.
Sri Lanka
–
The
Sigiriya rock fortress
20.
Banana pepper
–
The banana pepper is a medium-sized member of the chili pepper family that has a mild, tangy taste. While typically bright yellow, it is possible for them to change to green, red and it is often pickled, stuffed or used as a raw ingredient in foods. It is a cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum and its flavor is not very hot, and as is the case with most peppers, its heat depends on the maturity of the pepper, with the ripest being sweeter than younger ones. A mature fruit will be about 2-3 inches in length and have a shape and yellowish color similar to a banana. Friggitelli are often referred to as banana peppers. The hot varieties of pepper are called Hungarian wax peppers. The plant requires full sun, like other Capsicum annuum varieties, plants can be grown from seed and cuttings. A mature plant will reach 1 to 2 feet tall and can be grown in many climates, cultivars include Early Sweet Banana, Hungarian Yellow Wax, Long Sweet Yellow, Sweet Banana, and Sweet Hungarian. Banana peppers are a source of dietary fiber, vitamin A, potassium. Pickled banana peppers are sold sliced and used to garnish pizzas, sandwiches. Pickled and stuffed peppers are common inclusions on Antipasto bars filled with prosciutto and/or cheese. Stuffed banana peppers are served warm with a variety of Italian sausage, chopped or diced banana peppers are used in many relishes and salsas to add sweetness with other peppers providing heat. Banana peppers may be jellied along with hot green peppers such as jalapeños
Banana pepper
–
Yellow Wax Peppers
Banana pepper
–
Banana Pepper Plant
21.
Food energy
–
Food energy is chemical energy that animals derive from food and molecular oxygen through the process of cellular respiration. Humans and other animals need a minimum intake of energy to sustain their metabolism. Foods are composed chiefly of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, alcohol, water, vitamins, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, alcohol, and water represent virtually all the weight of food, with vitamins and minerals making up only a small percentage of the weight. Organisms derive food energy from carbohydrates, fats and proteins as well as organic acids, polyols. Some diet components that provide little or no energy, such as water, minerals, vitamins, cholesterol. Water, minerals, vitamins, and cholesterol are not broken down, fiber, a type of carbohydrate, cannot be completely digested by the human body. Ruminants can extract energy from the respiration of cellulose because of bacteria in their rumens. Using the International System of Units, researchers measure energy in joules or in its multiples, the kilojoule is most often used for food-related quantities. An older metric system unit of energy, still used in food-related contexts, is the calorie, more precisely. Within the European Union, both the kilocalorie and kilojoule appear on nutrition labels, in many countries, only one of the units is displayed, in the US and Canada labels spell out the unit as calorie or as Calorie. Fats and ethanol have the greatest amount of energy per gram,37 and 29 kJ/g. Proteins and most carbohydrates have about 17 kJ/g, carbohydrates that are not easily absorbed, such as fiber, or lactose in lactose-intolerant individuals, contribute less food energy. Polyols and organic acids contribute 10 kJ/g and 13 kJ/g respectively, the amount of water, fat, and fiber in foods determines those foods energy density. Theoretically, one could measure food energy in different ways, using the Gibbs free energy of combustion, however, the convention is to use the heat of the oxidation reaction producing liquid water. The American chemist Wilbur Atwater worked these corrections out in the late 19th century, based on the work of Atwater, it became common practice to calculate energy content of foods using 4 kcal/g for carbohydrates and proteins and 9 kcal/g for lipids. The system was improved by Annabel Merrill and Bernice Watt of the USDA. Many governments require food manufacturers to label the energy content of their products, in the European Union, manufacturers of packaged food must label the nutritional energy of their products in both kilocalories and kilojoules, when required. In Australia and New Zealand, the energy must be stated in kilojoules
Food energy
–
The nutritional information label on a pack of
Basmati rice in the United Kingdom
22.
Carbohydrate
–
A carbohydrate is a biological molecule consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2,1, in other words, with the empirical formula Cmn. This formula holds true for monosaccharides, some exceptions exist, for example, deoxyribose, a sugar component of DNA, has the empirical formula C5H10O4. Carbohydrates are technically hydrates of carbon, structurally it is accurate to view them as polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones. The term is most common in biochemistry, where it is a synonym of saccharide, a group that includes sugars, starch, the saccharides are divided into four chemical groups, monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides and disaccharides, the smallest carbohydrates, are referred to as sugars. The word saccharide comes from the Greek word σάκχαρον, meaning sugar, while the scientific nomenclature of carbohydrates is complex, the names of the monosaccharides and disaccharides very often end in the suffix -ose. For example, grape sugar is the glucose, cane sugar is the disaccharide sucrose. Carbohydrates perform numerous roles in living organisms, polysaccharides serve for the storage of energy and as structural components. The 5-carbon monosaccharide ribose is an important component of coenzymes and the backbone of the genetic molecule known as RNA, the related deoxyribose is a component of DNA. Saccharides and their derivatives include many other important biomolecules that play key roles in the system, fertilization, preventing pathogenesis, blood clotting. In food science and in informal contexts, the term carbohydrate often means any food that is particularly rich in the complex carbohydrate starch or simple carbohydrates. Often in lists of information, such as the USDA National Nutrient Database, the term carbohydrate is used for everything other than water, protein, fat, ash. This will include chemical compounds such as acetic or lactic acid, carbohydrates are found in wide variety of foods. The important sources are cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, fruits, table sugar, bread, milk, starch and sugar are the important carbohydrates in our diet. Starch is abundant in potatoes, maize, rice and other cereals, sugar appears in our diet mainly as sucrose which is added to drinks and many prepared foods such as jam, biscuits and cakes. Glucose and fructose are found naturally in fruits and some vegetables. Glycogen is carbohydrate found in the liver and muscles, cellulose in the cell wall of all plant tissue is a carbohydrate. It is important in our diet as fibre which helps to maintain a healthy digestive system, formerly the name carbohydrate was used in chemistry for any compound with the formula Cm n
Carbohydrate
–
Grain products: rich sources of carbohydrates
Carbohydrate
23.
Sugar
–
Sugar is the generic name for sweet, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. There are various types of derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose, fructose, the table sugar or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. Sugar is used in prepared foods and it is added to some foods, in the body, sucrose is hydrolysed into the simple sugars fructose and glucose. Other disaccharides include maltose from malted grain, and lactose from milk, longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides or polysaccharides. Some other chemical substances, such as glycerol may also have a sweet taste, low-calorie food substitutes for sugar, described as artificial sweeteners, include aspartame and sucralose, a chlorinated derivative of sucrose. Sugars are found in the tissues of most plants and are present in sufficient concentrations for efficient commercial extraction in sugarcane, the world production of sugar in 2011 was about 168 million tonnes. The average person consumes about 24 kilograms of sugar each year, equivalent to over 260 food calories per person, since the latter part of the twentieth century, it has been questioned whether a diet high in sugars, especially refined sugars, is good for human health. Sugar has been linked to obesity, and suspected of, or fully implicated as a cause in the occurrence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, macular degeneration, the etymology reflects the spread of the commodity. The English word sugar ultimately originates from the Sanskrit शर्करा, via Arabic سكر as granular or candied sugar, the contemporary Italian word is zucchero, whereas the Spanish and Portuguese words, azúcar and açúcar, respectively, have kept a trace of the Arabic definite article. The Old French word is zuchre and the contemporary French, sucre, the earliest Greek word attested is σάκχαρις. The English word jaggery, a brown sugar made from date palm sap or sugarcane juice, has a similar etymological origin – Portuguese jagara from the Sanskrit शर्करा. Sugar has been produced in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times and it was not plentiful or cheap in early times and honey was more often used for sweetening in most parts of the world. Originally, people chewed raw sugarcane to extract its sweetness, sugarcane was a native of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. Different species seem to have originated from different locations with Saccharum barberi originating in India and S. edule, one of the earliest historical references to sugarcane is in Chinese manuscripts dating back to 8th century BC that state that the use of sugarcane originated in India. Sugar was found in Europe by the 1st century AD, but only as an imported medicine and it is a kind of honey found in cane, white as gum, and it crunches between the teeth. It comes in lumps the size of a hazelnut, sugar is used only for medical purposes. Sugar remained relatively unimportant until the Indians discovered methods of turning sugarcane juice into granulated crystals that were easier to store, crystallized sugar was discovered by the time of the Imperial Guptas, around the 5th century AD
Sugar
–
Closeup of raw (unrefined, unbleached) sugar
Sugar
–
Ant feeding on sugar crystals.
Sugar
–
Sugar cane plantation
Sugar
–
Still-Life with Bread and Confectionary, by
George Flegel, first half of 17th century
24.
Dietary fiber
–
Dietary fiber or roughage is the indigestible portion of food derived from plants. It has two components, Soluble fiber, which dissolves in water, is readily fermented in the colon into gases and physiologically active byproducts. It delays gastric emptying which in turn can cause a feeling of fullness. Insoluble fiber, which does not dissolve in water, is inert and provides bulking, or it can be prebiotic. Bulking fibers absorb water as they move through the digestive system, Dietary fibers can act by changing the nature of the contents of the gastrointestinal tract and by changing how other nutrients and chemicals are absorbed. Some types of soluble fiber absorb water to become a gelatinous, viscous substance which is fermented by bacteria in the digestive tract, some types of insoluble fiber have bulking action and are not fermented. Lignin, a major dietary insoluble fiber source, may alter the rate, other types of insoluble fiber, notably resistant starch, are fully fermented. A novel position has been adopted by the US Department of Agriculture to include functional fibers as isolated fiber sources that may be included in the diet, the term fiber is something of a misnomer, since many types of so-called dietary fiber are not actually fibrous. Food sources of fiber are often divided according to whether they provide soluble or insoluble fiber. Plant foods contain both types of fiber in varying degrees, according to the plants characteristics, a disadvantage of a diet high in fiber is the potential for significant intestinal gas production and bloating. Originally, fiber was defined to be the components of plants that resist human digestive enzymes, the definition was later changed to also include resistant starch, along with inulin and other oligosaccharides. Official definition of dietary fiber differs a little among different institutions, Dietary fibers are found in fruits, vegetables, the exact amount of fiber contained in the food can be seen in the following table of expected fiber in USDA food groups/subgroups Dietary fiber is found in plants. While all plants contain some fiber, plants with high concentrations are generally the most practical source. Fiber-rich plants can be eaten directly, or, alternatively, they can be used to make supplements and fiber-rich processed foods. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, formerly the American Dietetic Association, some plants contain significant amounts of soluble and insoluble fiber. For example, plums and prunes have a thick skin covering a juicy pulp, the skin is a source of insoluble fiber, whereas soluble fiber is in the pulp. Grapes also contain an amount of fiber. The root of the plant, or glucomannan, produces results similar to fiber
Dietary fiber
–
Legumes contain healthy dietary fibers.
25.
Fat
–
Fat is one of the three main macronutrients, along with carbohydrate and protein. Fats, also known as triglycerides, are esters of three fatty acid chains and the alcohol glycerol, the terms oil, fat, and lipid are often confused. Oil normally refers to a fat with short or unsaturated fatty acid chains that is liquid at room temperature, lipid is the general term, as a lipid is not necessarily a triglyceride. Fats, like lipids, are generally hydrophobic, and are soluble in organic solvents. Fat is an important foodstuff for many forms of life, and they are a necessary part of the diet of most heterotrophs. Some fatty acids that are set free by the digestion of fats are called essential because they cannot be synthesized in the body from simpler constituents, there are two essential fatty acids in human nutrition, alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid. Other lipids needed by the body can be synthesized from these, fats and other lipids are broken down in the body by enzymes called lipases produced in the pancreas. Fats and oils are categorized according to the number and bonding of the atoms in the aliphatic chain. Fats that are saturated fats have no double bonds between the carbons in the chain, unsaturated fats have one or more double bonded carbons in the chain. The nomenclature is based on the end of the chain. This end is called the end or the n-end. Thus alpha-linolenic acid is called an omega-3 fatty acid because the 3rd carbon from that end is the first double bonded carbon in the counting from that end. Some oils and fats have double bonds and are therefore called polyunsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats can be divided into cis fats, which are the most common in nature, and trans fats. Unsaturated fats can be altered by reaction with hydrogen effected by a catalyst and this action, called hydrogenation, tends to break all the double bonds and makes a fully saturated fat. However, trans fats are generated during hydrogenation as contaminants created by a side reaction on the catalyst during partial hydrogenation. Saturated fats can stack themselves in a closely packed arrangement, so they can easily and are typically solid at room temperature. For example, animal fats tallow and lard are high in saturated fatty acid content and are solids, olive and linseed oils on the other hand are unsaturated and liquid
Fat
–
The
obese mouse on the left has large stores of adipose tissue. For comparison, a mouse with a normal amount of adipose tissue is shown on the right.
Fat
–
A fat, or
triglyceride, molecule. Note the three fatty acid chains attached to the central glycerol portion of the molecule.
26.
Protein (nutrient)
–
Proteins are essential nutrients for the human body. They are one of the blocks of body tissue. As a fuel, proteins provide as much energy density as carbohydrates,4 kcal per gram, in contrast, the most important aspect and defining characteristic of protein from a nutritional standpoint is its amino acid composition. Proteins are polymer chains made of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds, during human digestion, proteins are broken down in the stomach to smaller polypeptide chains via hydrochloric acid and protease actions. This is crucial for the synthesis of the amino acids that cannot be biosynthesized by the body. There are nine amino acids which humans must obtain from their diet in order to prevent protein-energy malnutrition. They are phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, there are five dispensable amino acids which humans are able to synthesize in the body. These five are alanine, aspartic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid and these six are arginine, cysteine, glycine, glutamine, proline and tyrosine. Humans need the essential amino acids in certain ratios, some protein sources contain amino acids in a more or less complete sense. This has given rise to various ranking systems for protein sources, Dietary sources of protein include both animals and plants, meats, dairy products, fish and eggs as well as grains, legumes and nuts. Vegetarians and vegans can get enough essential amino acids by eating a variety of plant proteins and it is commonly believed that athletes should consume a higher-than-normal protein intake to maintain optimal physical performance. Protein is a nutrient needed by the body for growth. Aside from water, proteins are the most abundant kind of molecules in the body, Protein can be found in all cells of the body and is the major structural component of all cells in the body, especially muscle. This also includes body organs, hair and skin, proteins are also used in membranes, such as glycoproteins. When broken down into amino acids, they are used as precursors to acid, co-enzymes, hormones, immune response, cellular repair. Additionally, protein is needed to form blood cells, proteins are believed to increase performance in terms of athletics. Amino acids, the blocks of proteins, are used for building muscle tissue. Protein is only used as fuel when carbohydrates are low
Protein (nutrient)
–
Protein milkshakes, made from protein powder (center) and milk (left), are a common
bodybuilding supplement.
Protein (nutrient)
–
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein.
Protein (nutrient)
–
An education campaign launched by the United States Department of Agriculture about 100 years ago, on cottage cheese as a lower-cost protein substitute for meat.
Protein (nutrient)
–
A child in Nigeria during the
Biafra War suffering from
kwashiorkor – one of the
three protein energy malnutrition ailments afflicting over 10 million children in developing countries.
27.
Vitamin
–
A vitamin is an organic compound and a vital nutrient that an organism requires in limited amounts. For example, ascorbic acid is a vitamin for humans, supplementation is important for the treatment of certain health problems, but there is little evidence of nutritional benefit when used by otherwise healthy people. Thirteen vitamins are universally recognized at present, Vitamins are classified by their biological and chemical activity, not their structure. Thus, each vitamin refers to a number of compounds that all show the biological activity associated with a particular vitamin. Such a set of chemicals is grouped under an alphabetized vitamin generic descriptor title, such as vitamin A, which includes the compounds retinal, retinol, and four known carotenoids. Vitamers by definition are convertible to the form of the vitamin in the body. Some, such as vitamin D, have hormone-like functions as regulators of mineral metabolism, or regulators of cell and tissue growth and differentiation. The largest number of vitamins, the B complex vitamins, function as cofactors or the precursors for them. In this role, vitamins may be bound to enzymes as part of prosthetic groups, For example. They may also be less tightly bound to enzyme catalysts as coenzymes, for example, folic acid may carry methyl, formyl, and methylene groups in the cell. Although these roles in assisting enzyme-substrate reactions are vitamins best-known function, study of structural activity, function and their role in maintaining health is called vitaminology. Each vitamin is typically used in reactions, and therefore most have multiple functions. Vitamins are essential for the growth and development of a multicellular organism. Using the genetic blueprint inherited from its parents, a fetus begins to develop from the nutrients it absorbs and it requires certain vitamins and minerals to be present at certain times. These nutrients facilitate the chemical reactions that produce among other things, skin, bone, if there is serious deficiency in one or more of these nutrients, a child may develop a deficiency disease. Even minor deficiencies may cause permanent damage, for the most part, vitamins are obtained with food, but a few are obtained by other means. Humans can produce some vitamins from precursors they consume, examples include vitamin A, produced from beta carotene, and niacin, from the amino acid tryptophan. In those who are healthy, there is little evidence that supplements have any benefits with respect to cancer or heart disease
Vitamin
–
A bottle of high potency B-complex vitamin supplement pills.
Vitamin
–
500 mg calcium supplement tablets, with vitamin D, made from
calcium carbonate,
maltodextrin,
mineral oil,
hypromellose,
glycerin,
cholecalciferol,
polyethylene glycol, and
carnauba wax.
Vitamin
–
The
Ancient Egyptians knew that feeding a person
liver would help cure
night blindness.
28.
Vitamin A
–
Vitamin A is a group of unsaturated nutritional organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal, retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids. Vitamin A has multiple functions, it is important for growth and development, for the maintenance of the immune system and good vision. Vitamin A is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of retinal, which combines with protein opsin to form rhodopsin, Vitamin A also functions in a very different role as retinoic acid, which is an important hormone-like growth factor for epithelial and other cells. In foods of animal origin, the form of vitamin A is an ester, primarily retinyl palmitate. The retinol form functions as a form of the vitamin. All forms of vitamin A have a ring to which an isoprenoid chain is attached, called a retinyl group. Both structural features are essential for vitamin activity, the orange pigment of carrots can be represented as two connected retinyl groups, which are used in the body to contribute to vitamin A levels. Alpha-carotene and gamma-carotene also have a single group, which give them some vitamin activity. None of the other carotenes have vitamin activity, the carotenoid beta-cryptoxanthin possesses an ionone group and has vitamin activity in humans. Vitamin A can be found in two forms in foods, Retinol, the form of vitamin A absorbed when eating animal food sources, is a yellow. Since the pure form is unstable, the vitamin is found in tissues in a form of retinyl ester. It is also produced and administered as esters such as retinyl acetate or palmitate. Vitamin A deficiency is estimated to approximately one third of children under the age of five around the world. It is estimated to claim the lives of 670,000 children under five annually, approximately 250, 000–500,000 children in developing countries become blind each year owing to vitamin A deficiency, with the highest prevalence in Southeast Asia and Africa. Vitamin A deficiency is the cause of preventable childhood blindness. It also increases the risk of death from common childhood conditions such as diarrhea, UNICEF regards addressing vitamin A deficiency as critical to reducing child mortality, the fourth of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Vitamin A deficiency can occur as either a primary or a secondary deficiency, early weaning from breastmilk can also increase the risk of vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A is a vitamin and depends on micellar solubilization for dispersion into the small intestine
Vitamin A
–
carrots
29.
Beta-carotene
–
β-Carotene is an organic, strongly colored red-orange pigment abundant in plants and fruits. It is a member of the carotenes, which are terpenoids, synthesized biochemically from eight isoprene units, among the carotenes, β-carotene is distinguished by having beta-rings at both ends of the molecule. β-Carotene is biosynthesized from geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, β-Carotene is the most common form of carotene in plants. When used as a coloring, it has the E number E160a. The structure was deduced by Karrer et al. in 1930, in nature, β-carotene is a precursor to vitamin A via the action of beta-carotene 15, 15-monooxygenase. Isolation of β-carotene from fruits abundant in carotenoids is commonly done using column chromatography and it can also be extracted from the beta-carotene rich algae, Dunaliella salina. The separation of β-carotene from the mixture of other carotenoids is based on the polarity of a compound, β-Carotene is a non-polar compound, so it is separated with a non-polar solvent such as hexane. Being highly conjugated, it is colored, and as a hydrocarbon lacking functional groups. Plant carotenoids are the primary source of provitamin A worldwide. Carotenoid absorption is restricted to the duodenum of the intestine and dependent on class B scavenger receptor membrane protein. One molecule of β-carotene can be cleaved by the intestinal enzyme β, β-carotene 15, absorption efficiency is estimated to be between 9 and 22%. The absorption and conversion of carotenoids may depend on the form of β-carotene, the intake of fats and oils at the time. Symmetric cleavage with the enzyme β, β-carotene-15, 15-dioxygenase requires the antioxidant α-tocopherol and this symmetric cleavage gives two equivalent retinal molecules and each retinal molecule further reacts to give retinol and retinoic acid. β-Carotene is also cleaved into two products, the product is β-apocarotenal. Asymmetric cleavage reduces the level of retinoic acid significantly, RE was developed 1967 by the United Nations/World Health Organization Food and Agriculture Organization. Another older unit of vitamin A activity is the international unit, β-Carotene contributes to the orange color of many different fruits and vegetables. The color of β-carotene is masked by chlorophyll in green vegetables such as spinach, kale, sweet potato leaves. Vietnamese gac and crude oil have the highest content of β-carotene of any known plant sources,10 times higher than carrots
Beta-carotene
–
β-Carotene
30.
Lutein
–
Lutein is a xanthophyll and one of 600 known naturally occurring carotenoids. Lutein is synthesized only by plants and like other xanthophylls is found in quantities in green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale. See xanthophyll cycle for this topic, Lutein is obtained by animals directly or indirectly, from plants. Lutein is apparently employed by animals as an antioxidant and for light absorption. Lutein is found in egg yolks and animal fats, in addition to coloring yolks, lutein causes the yellow color of chicken skin and fat, and is used in chicken feed for this purpose. The human retina accumulates lutein and zeaxanthin, the latter predominates at the macula lutea while lutein predominates elsewhere in the retina. There, it may serve as a photoprotectant for the retina from the effects of free radicals produced by blue light. Lutein is isomeric with zeaxanthin, differing only in the placement of one double bond, the principal natural stereoisomer of lutein is -beta, epsilon-carotene-3, 3′-diol. Lutein is a molecule and is generally insoluble in water. The presence of the chromophore of conjugated double bonds provides the distinctive light-absorbing properties. The polyene chain is susceptible to degradation by light or heat and is chemically unstable in acids. Lutein is present in plants as fatty-acid esters, with one or two fatty acids bound to the two hydroxyl-groups. For this reason, saponification of lutein esters to yield free lutein may yield lutein in any ratio from 1,1 to 1,2 molar ratio with the fatty acid. This xanthophyll, like its sister compound zeaxanthin, has primarily used as a natural colorant due to its orange-red color. Lutein absorbs blue light and therefore appears yellow at low concentrations and it inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor. Lutein was traditionally used in chicken feed to improve the color of chicken skin. Polled consumers viewed yellow chicken skin more favorably than white chicken skin, such lutein fortification also results in a darker yellow egg yolk. Today the coloring of the egg yolk has become the reason for feed fortification
Lutein
Mild
China
Mexico
Indonesia
Turkey
Spain
United States
Nigeria
Egypt
South Korea
Netherlands
Romania
Ghana
Italy
Tunisia
Algeria
Hungary
Morocco
Serbia*
Japan
Israel
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. PMID 20682072. doi:10.1186/1743-7075-7-65.
