1.
Species
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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
2.
Brassica oleracea
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Brassica oleracea is a plant species that includes many common foods as cultivars, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, savoy, kohlrabi, and gai lan. In its uncultivated form, it is called wild cabbage, and is native to southern and western Europe. Wild B. oleracea is a biennial plant that forms a stout rosette of large leaves in the first year. The leaves are fleshier and thicker than other Brassica species—an adaptation that helps it store water, in its second year, it uses the stored nutrients to produce a flower spike 1 to 2 metres tall with numerous yellow flowers. B. oleracea has become established as an important human food crop plant, used because of its large food reserves and it is rich in essential nutrients including vitamin C. A diet rich in vegetables is linked to a reduced risk of several human cancers. Theophrastus mentions three kinds of rhaphanos, a curly-leaved, a smooth-leaved, and a wild-type and he reports the antipathy of the cabbage and the grape vine, for the ancients believed cabbages grown near grapes would impart their flavour to the wine. The historical genus of Crucifera, meaning cross-bearing, may be the only unifying feature beyond taste, according to the Triangle of U theory, B. oleracea is very closely related to five other species of the genus Brassica. These tree cabbages yield fresh leaves throughout the year, are perennial and their woody stalks are sometimes dried and made into walking sticks. With the advent of agriculture and the domestication of wild crop plants, through artificial selection for various phenotype traits the emergence of variations of the plant with drastic differences in looks took only a few thousand years. Preference for leaves, terminal bud, lateral bud, stem, the preference for the eating of the leaves led to the selection of plants with larger leaves being harvested and their seeds planted for the next growth. Around the fifth century BC, the formation of what we now know as kale had developed, preference led to further artificial selection of kale plants with more tightly bunched leaves, or terminal bud. Somewhere around the first century AD emerged the phenotype variation of Brassica oleracea that we know as cabbage, phenotype selection preferences in Germany led kale down another evolutionary pathway. By selecting for fatter stems the variant plant known as kohlrabi emerged around the first century AD, further selection in Belgium in lateral bud led to the Brussels sprout in the 18th century. European preference emerged for eating immature buds, selection for inflorescence, by the 15th century AD, cauliflower had developed leading also to the emergence of broccoli in Italy about 100 years later. PROTAbase on Brassica oleracea PROTAbase on Brassica oleracea Video Overview of Brassica oleracea, from Untamed Science
3.
Brassicaceae
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Brassicaceae or Cruciferae is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. The name Brassicaceae is derived from the included genus Brassica, the alternative older name, Cruciferae, meaning cross-bearing, describes the four petals of mustard flowers, which resemble a cross. Cruciferae is one of eight plant family names without the suffix -aceae that are authorized alternative names, the family contains 372 genera and 4060 accepted species. The largest genera are Draba, Erysimum, Lepidium, Cardamine, pieris rapae and other butterflies of the family Pieridae are some of the best-known pests of Brassicaceae species planted as commercial crops. The family is included in the Brassicales according to the APG system, older systems placed them into the Capparales, a now-defunct order that had a similar definition. This family comprises about 375 genera and 2500 species all over the world,94 species of 38 genera are found in Nepal, a close relationship has long been acknowledged between the Brassicaceae and the caper family, Capparaceae, in part because members of both groups produce glucosinolate compounds. The APG II system, therefore, has merged the two families under the name Brassicaceae, the APG III system has recently adopted this last solution, but this may change as a consensus arises on this point. This article deals with Brassicaceae sensu stricto, i. e. treating the Cleomaceae and Capparaceae as segregated families, the family consists mostly of herbaceous plants with annual, biennial, or perennial lifespans. The leaves are alternate, sometimes organized in basal rosettes, in rare shrubby crucifers of Mediterranean their leaves are mostly in terminal rosettes and they are very often pinnately incised and do not have stipules. The structure of the flowers is extremely uniform throughout the family and they have four free saccate sepals and four clawed free petals, staggered. They can be disymmetric or slightly zygomorphic, with a typical cross-like arrangement and they have six stamens, four of which are longer and are arranged in a cross like the petals and the other two are shorter. The pistil is made up of two fused carpels and the style is short, with two lobes. The flowers form ebracteate racemose inflorescences, often apically corymb-like, pollination occurs by entomogamy, nectar is produced at the base of the stamens and stored on the sepals. The fruit is a kind of capsule named siliqua. It opens by two valves, which are the modified carpels, leaving the attached to a framework made up of the placenta. Often, an indehiscent beak occurs at the top of the style, where a siliqua is less than three times as long as it is broad, it is usually termed a silicula. The siliqua may break apart at constrictions occurring between the segments of the seeds, thus forming a sort of loment, it may eject the seeds explosively or may be evolved in a sort of samara. The fruit is often the most important diagnostic character for plants in this family, most members share a suite of glucosinolate compounds that have a typical pungent odour usually associated with cole crops
4.
Pseudanthium
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The individual flowers of a pseudanthium commonly are called florets. The real flowers are small and often greatly reduced. Pseudanthia are characteristic of the daisy and sunflower family, whose flowers are differentiated into ray flowers and disk flowers, the disk flowers in the center of the pseudanthium are actinomorphic and the corolla is fused into a tube. Flowers on the periphery are zygomorphic and the corolla has one large lobe, either ray or disk flowers may be absent in some plants, Senecio vulgaris lacks ray flowers and Taraxacum officinale lacks disk flowers. The pseudanthium has a whorl of bracts below the flowers, forming an involucre, in all cases, a pseudanthium is superficially indistinguishable from a flower, but closer inspection of its anatomy will reveal that it is composed of multiple flowers. Head This is an equivalent term for head and pseudanthium when used in the botanical sense. Capitulum Capitulum can be used as a synonym for pseudanthium and flower head, however its use is generally. At least one source defines it as a flower head. In addition to its use as a term meaning flower head it is also used to mean the top of the sphagnum plant. Calathid This is a rarely used term. It was defined in the 1966 book, The genera of flowering plants, however, on-line botanical glossaries do not define it and Google Scholar does not link to any significant usage of the term in a botanical sense. Possible pseudanthia of this type may occur in the following families, Hydatellaceae Lemnaceae Pandanaceae Triuridaceae Phyllanthaceae
5.
Cabbage
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Cabbage or headed cabbage is a leafy green or purple biennial plant, grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the cabbage, B. oleracea var. oleracea. Cabbage heads generally range from 0.5 to 4 kilograms, smooth-leafed firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed red and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colors seen more rarely. Under conditions of long sunlit days such as are found at high latitudes in summer. Some records are discussed at the end of the history section and it is difficult to trace the exact history of cabbage, but it was most likely domesticated somewhere in Europe before 1000 BC, although savoys were not developed until the 16th century. By the Middle Ages, it had become a prominent part of European cuisine, cabbage is prone to several nutrient deficiencies, as well as to multiple pests, and bacterial and fungal diseases. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that production of cabbage. Almost half of these crops were grown in China, where Chinese cabbage is the most popular Brassica vegetable, cabbages are prepared in many different ways for eating. They can be pickled, fermented for dishes such as sauerkraut, steamed, stewed, sautéed, braised, cabbage is a good source of vitamin K, vitamin C and dietary fiber. Contaminated cabbage has been linked to cases of illness in humans. Cabbage is a member of the genus Brassica and the mustard family, several other cruciferous vegetables are considered cultivars of B. oleracea, including broccoli, collard greens, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and sprouting broccoli. All of these developed from the wild cabbage B. oleracea var. oleracea, the varietal epithet capitata is derived from the Latin word for having a head. B. oleracea and its derivatives have hundreds of names throughout the world. Cabbage was originally used to refer to forms of B. oleracea. A related species, Brassica rapa, is commonly named Chinese, napa or celery cabbage and it is also a part of common names for several unrelated species. These include cabbage bark or cabbage tree and cabbage palms, which include several genera of palms such as Mauritia, Roystonea oleracea, Acrocomia, the original family name of brassicas was Cruciferae, which derived from the flower petal pattern thought by medieval Europeans to resemble a crucifix. The word brassica derives from bresic, a Celtic word for cabbage, many European and Asiatic names for cabbage are derived from the Celto-Slavic root cap or kap, meaning head. The late Middle English word cabbage derives from the word caboche and this in turn is a variant of the Old French caboce
6.
Plant stem
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A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. The stem is divided into nodes and internodes, The nodes hold one or more leaves. Adventitious roots may also be produced from the nodes, the internodes distance one node from another. The term shoots is often confused with stems, shoots generally refers to new plant growth including both stems and other structures like leaves or flowers. In most plants stems are located above the surface but some plants have underground stems. Stems have four main functions which are, Support for and the elevation of leaves, flowers, the stems keep the leaves in the light and provide a place for the plant to keep its flowers and fruits. Transport of fluids between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem Storage of nutrients Production of new living tissue, the normal lifespan of plant cells is one to three years. Stems have cells called meristems that annually generate new living tissue, Stems are often specialized for storage, asexual reproduction, protection or photosynthesis, including the following, Acaulescent – used to describe stems in plants that appear to be stemless. Actually these stems are just extremely short, the leaves appearing to rise out of the ground. Arborescent – tree like with woody stems normally with a single trunk, branched – aerial stems are described as being branched or unbranched Bud – an embryonic shoot with immature stem tip. Bulb – a short underground stem with fleshy storage leaves attached, e. g. onion, daffodil. Bulbs often function in reproduction by splitting to form new bulbs or producing small new bulbs termed bulblets, bulbs are a combination of stem and leaves so may better be considered as leaves because the leaves make up the greater part. Caespitose – when stems grow in a mass or clump or in low growing mats. Cladode – a flattened stem that appears more-or-less leaf like and is specialized for photosynthesis, climbing – stems that cling or wrap around other plants or structures. Corm – a short enlarged underground, storage stem, e. g. taro, decumbent – stems that lie flat on the ground and turn upwards at the ends. Fruticose – stems that grow shrublike with woody like habit, herbaceous – non woody, they die at the end of the growing season. Pedicel – stems that serve as the stalk of a flower in an inflorescence or infrutescence. Peduncle – a stem that supports an inflorescence Prickle – a sharpened extension of the outer layers
7.
Cauliflower
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Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea in the genus Brassica, which is in the family Brassicaceae. It is a plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – the edible white flesh sometimes called curd, the cauliflower head is composed of a white inflorescence meristem. Cauliflower heads resemble those in broccoli, which differs in having flower buds as the edible portion, Brassica oleracea also includes broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, and kale, collectively called cole crops, though they are of different cultivar groups. In the 1st century AD, Pliny included what he called cyma among his descriptions of cultivated plants in Natural History, plinys descriptions likely refer to the flowering heads of an earlier cultivated variety of Brassica oleracea, but comes close to describing modern cauliflower. In the 12th century, three varieties were described in Spain as introductions from Syria, where it had doubtless been grown for more than a thousand years. It is found in the writings of the Arab botanists Ibn al-Awwam and Ibn al-Baitar, françois Pierre La Varenne employed chouxfleurs in Le cuisinier françois. It was introduced in India in 1822 from England by the British, the origin of the name is from the Latin word caulis and flower. Cauliflower is relatively difficult to grow compared to cabbage, with problems such as an underdeveloped head. The earliest maturity possible for cauliflower is 7 to 12 weeks from transplanting, in the northern hemisphere, fall season plantings in July may enable harvesting before autumn frost. Long periods of sun exposure in summer hot weather may cause cauliflower heads to discolor with a red-purple hue, transplantable cauliflowers can be produced in containers as flats, hotbeds, or in the field. In soil that is loose, well-drained and fertile, field seedlings are shallow-planted 0.5 inches, ideal growing temperatures are about 65 °F when seedlings are 25 to 35 days old. Applications of fertilizer to developing seedlings begins when leaves appear, usually with a starter solution weekly, transplanting to the field normally begins late spring and may continue until mid-summer. Row spacing is about 15–18 inches, rapid vegetative growth after transplanting may benefit from such procedures as avoiding spring frosts, using starter solutions high in phosphorus, irrigating weekly, and applying fertilizer. The most important disorders affecting cauliflower quality are a stem, stunted head growth or buttoning, ricing, browning. Among major pests affecting cauliflower are aphids, root maggots, cutworms, moths, the plant is susceptible to black rot, black leg, club root, black leaf spot, and downy mildew. When cauliflower is mature, heads appear as white, compact, and 6–8 inches in diameter. Forced air cooling to remove heat from the field during hot weather may be needed for optimal preservation, short-term storage is possible using cool, high-humidity storage conditions
8.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
9.
Antwerp
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Antwerp is a city in Belgium, the capital of Antwerp province in the region of Flanders. With a population of 510,610, it is the most populous city proper in Belgium and its metropolitan area houses around 1,200,000 people, which is second behind Brussels. Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde estuary, the Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe and within the top 20 globally. Antwerp has long been an important city in the Low Countries, the inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific señor or French seigneur, lord, referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century. The city hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics, according to folklore, notably celebrated by a statue in front of the town hall, the city got its name from a legend about a giant called Antigoon who lived near the Scheldt river. He exacted a toll from passing boatmen, and for those who refused, he severed one of their hands, eventually the giant was killed by a young hero named Silvius Brabo, who cut off the giants own hand and flung it into the river. Hence the name Antwerpen, from Dutch hand werpen, akin to Old English hand and wearpan, a longstanding theory is that the name originated in the Gallo-Roman period and comes from the Latin antverpia. Antverpia would come from Ante Verpia, indicating land that forms by deposition in the curve of a river. Note that the river Scheldt, before a period between 600 and 750, followed a different track. This must have coincided roughly with the current ringway south of the city, however, many historians think it unlikely that there was a large settlement which would be named Antverpia, but more something like an outpost with a river crossing. However, John Lothrop Motley argues, and so do a lot of Dutch etymologists and historians, aan t werp is also possible. This warp is a hill or a river deposit, high enough to remain dry at high tide. Another word for werp is pol hence polders, historical Antwerp allegedly had its origins in a Gallo-Roman vicus. Excavations carried out in the oldest section near the Scheldt, 1952–1961, produced pottery shards, the earliest mention of Antwerp dates from the 4th century. In the 4th century, Antwerp was first named, having been settled by the Germanic Franks, the name was reputed to have been derived from anda and werpum. The Merovingian Antwerp was evangelized by Saint Amand in the 7th century, at the end of the 10th century, the Scheldt became the boundary of the Holy Roman Empire. Antwerp became a margraviate in 980, by the German emperor Otto I, in the 11th century Godfrey of Bouillon was for some years known as the marquis of Antwerp. In the 12th century, Norbert of Xanten established a community of his Premonstratensian canons at St. Michaels Abbey at Caloes
10.
Peter Scheemakers
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He learned his art from his father, the Antwerp sculptor Pieter Scheemaeckers. He visited Denmark where he studied for four years with the court sculptor Johann Adam Sturmberg and he walked to Rome where he and Delvaux studied both classical and baroque styles of sculpture before settling in London in 1716. He and Delvaux worked there with another Flemish sculptor Pieter-Denis Plumier on a monument to John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham. Scheemakers and Delvaux entered into a partnership and set up a workshop in Millbank, Westminster. Their workshop produced many sober classical monuments and garden statuary after the Antique, the partners sold their stock in the partnership and travelled to Rome in 1728. Scheemakers stayed here for two years to study both antique and recent masterpieces, upon his return to England in 1730 Scheemakers restarted the Milbank workshop on his own. His ideal classical sculptures became very popular with the landowning class and he moved his workshop a few times, first to Old Palace Yard in 1736 and then to Vine Street in 1740 where he was active until his retirement in 1771. He returned to Antwerp where he died at the old age of 90 and he worked for a time with Francis Bird, and was the teacher of Henry Cheere and Charles Cope Trubshaw, amongst others. Joseph Nollekens joined his studio in 1747 and served his apprenticeship here, before leaving for Rome in 1762. Scheemakers brother, Henry Scheemakers, and his son, Thomas Scheemakers, were also sculptors. ”He is best known by his monument to Shakespeare, but as this work was designed by Kent the responsibility must not all be laid to Scheemakers account. In addition to these, there are the monuments to Admiral Sir Charles Wager, Vice-Admiral Watson, Lieut. -General Percy Kirk, George Lord Viscount Howe, General Monck, and Sir Henry Belasye. His busts of John Dryden and Dr. Richard Mead, also in the Abbey, are noted examples of his smaller works, another example of his work is the memorial to Topham Foote in the parish church of St John the Baptist, Windsor. This burial monument, which includes the young mans bust and the Foote family crest, greets visitors in the main High Street entrance, just 300 feet from the Henry VIII gate to Windsor Castle. In 1743, Mary Coghill erected the church of Clonturk, in memory of her brother Marmaduke Coghill. Between 1970 and 1993, an image of Scheemakerss Shakespeare statue appeared on the reverse of Series D £20 notes issued by the Bank of England, alongside the statue was an engraving of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet
11.
Calabria
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Calabria, known in antiquity as Bruttium and formerly as Italia, is a region in Southern Italy and forms the traditionally conceptualized toe of the Italian Peninsula which resembles a boot. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro and its most populated city, and the seat of the Regional Council of Calabria, is Reggio Calabria in the Province of Reggio Calabria. The region is bordered to the north by the Basilicata Region, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, the region covers 15,080 km2 and has a population of just under 2 million. The demonym of Calabria in English is Calabrian, in ancient times Calabria was referred to as Italy. The Romans later extended the name to cover Southern Italy and then the entire peninsula, the region is a long and narrow peninsula which stretches from north to south for 248 km, with a maximum width of 110 km. Some 42% of Calabrias area, corresponding to 15,080 km2, is mountainous, 49% is hilly and it is surrounded by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. It is separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina, where the narrowest point between Capo Peloro in Sicily and Punta Pezzo in Calabria is only 3.2 km, three mountain ranges are present, Pollino, La Sila and Aspromonte. All three mountain ranges are unique with their own flora and fauna, the Pollino Mountains in the north of the region are rugged and form a natural barrier separating Calabria from the rest of Italy. Parts of the area are heavily wooded, while others are vast and these mountains are home to a rare Bosnian Pine variety, and are included in the Pollino National Park. The highest point is Botte Donato, which reaches 1,928 metres, the area boasts numerous lakes and dense coniferous forests. La Sila also has some of the tallest trees in Italy which are called the Giants of the Sila, the Sila National Park is also known to have the purest air in Europe. The Aspromonte massif forms the southernmost tip of the Italian peninsula bordered by the sea on three sides and this unique mountainous structure reaches its highest point at Montalto, at 1,995 metres, and is full of wide, man-made terraces that slope down towards the sea. In general, most of the terrain in Calabria has been agricultural for centuries. The lowest slopes are rich in vineyards and citrus fruit orchards, the Diamante citron is one of the citrus fruits. Moving upwards, olives and chestnut trees appear while in the regions there are often dense forests of oak, pine, beech. Calabrias climate is influenced by the sea and mountains, mountain areas have a typical mountainous climate with frequent snow during winter. Erratic behavior of the Tyrrhenian Sea can bring heavy rainfall on the slopes of the region, while hot air from Africa makes the east coast of Calabria dry. The mountains that run along the region also influence the climate, the east coast is much warmer and has wider temperature ranges than the west coast
12.
Romanesco broccoli
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First documented in Italy, it is chartreuse in color. Romanesco has an appearance because its form is a natural approximation of a fractal. When compared to a cauliflower, its texture as a vegetable is far more crunchy. The Romanesco stems share the same toxic substances as rhubarb leaves, including oxalic acid and it has been grown in Italy since the 16th Century. Romanesco superficially resembles a cauliflower, but it is chartreuse in color, the inflorescence is self-similar in character, with the branched meristems making up a logarithmic spiral. In this sense the buds form approximates a natural fractal, each bud is composed of a series of smaller buds and this self-similar pattern continues at several smaller levels. The pattern is only an approximate fractal since the pattern eventually terminates when the feature size becomes sufficiently small, the number of spirals on the head of Romanesco broccoli is a Fibonacci number. Nutritionally, romanesco is rich in vitamin C, vitamin K, dietary fiber, and carotenoids
13.
Kale
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Kale or leaf cabbage refers to certain vegetable cultivars of the plant species Brassica oleracea. A kale plant has green or purple leaves and the leaves do not form a head. Kales are considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms of Brassica oleracea, Kale bears semblance to kail, a variant of cawul for various cabbages. Until the end of the Middle Ages, kale was one of the most common vegetables in Europe. Curly-leaved varieties of cabbage already existed along with flat-leaved varieties in Greece in the fourth century BC and these forms, which were referred to by the Romans as Sabellian kale, are considered to be the ancestors of modern kales. Russian kale was introduced into Canada, and then into the United States, during World War II, the cultivation of kale in the U. K. was encouraged by the Dig for Victory campaign. The vegetable was easy to grow and provided important nutrients missing from a diet because of rationing, some varieties can reach a height of six or seven feet, while others are compact, symmetrical and of good quality for eating. Many, however, are coarse and indigestible, most kales are annuals or biennials. Kale seeds resemble those of cabbage in size, form, one may differentiate between kale varieties according to the low, intermediate, or high length of the stem, along with the variety of leaf types. The leaf colours range from green to green, to dark green and violet-green. An extra-tall variety is known as Jersey kale or cow cabbage, kai-lan or Chinese kale is a cultivar often used in Chinese cuisine, but in English it is occasionally just called kale. In Portugal, the bumpy-leaved kale is mostly called couve galega, Kale is usually an annual plant grown from seed with a wide range of germination temperatures. It is hardy and thrives in wintertime, many varieties of kale and cabbage are grown mainly for ornamental leaves that are brilliant white, red, pink, lavender, blue or violet in the interior of the rosette. Ornamental kale is as edible as any variety, but potentially not as palatable. Kale leaves are used as an ingredient for vegetable bouquets. In a 100 gram serving, raw kale provides 49 calories, like collards, it is very high in vitamin K. It is also a source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate. Kale is a source of thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, vitamin E and several dietary minerals, including iron, calcium, potassium
14.
Collard greens
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Collard greens describes certain loose-leafed cultivars of Brassica oleracea, the same species as many common vegetables, including cabbage and broccoli. Collard greens are part of the Acephala Group of the species and they are in the same cultivar group owing to their genetic similarity. The name collard is a form of the word colewort. The cultivar group name Acephala refers to the fact that this variety of B. oleracea does not have the core of leaves like cabbage does. The plant is a biennial where winter frost occurs, and a perennial in colder regions and it is also moderately sensitive to salinity. It has a stalk, often growing up to two feet tall. The plant is similar to kale. Popular cultivars of collard greens include Georgia Southern, Morris Heading, Butter Collard, the plant is commercially cultivated for its thick, slightly bitter, edible leaves. They are available year-round, but are tastier and more nutritious in the cold months, for best texture, the leaves are picked before they reach their maximum size, at which stage they are thicker and are cooked differently from the new leaves. Flavor and texture also depend on the cultivar, the couve manteiga and couve tronchuda are especially appreciated in Brazil, fresh collard leaves can be stored for up to 10 days if refrigerated to just above freezing at high humidity. In domestic refrigerators, fresh leaves can be stored for about three days. Once cooked, they can be frozen and stored for greater lengths of time, like kale, collard greens are very high in vitamin K. They are excellent sources of vitamin A, vitamin C, and manganese, a 100 g serving of cooked collard greens provides 33 calories, is 90% water, 3% protein, 6% carbohydrates and less than 1% fat. Collard greens have been eaten for at least 2000 years, with evidence showing that the ancient Greeks cultivated several types of collard greens, Collard greens is a staple vegetable in Southern U. S. cuisine. They are often prepared with similar green leaf vegetables, such as kale, turnip greens, spinach. Typical seasonings when cooking collards are smoked and salted meats, diced onions, vinegar, salt, and black pepper, white pepper, or crushed red pepper, and some cooks add a small amount of sugar. Traditionally, collards are eaten on New Years Day, along with black-eyed peas or field peas and cornbread, cornbread is used to soak up the pot liquor, a nutrient-rich collard broth. Collard greens may also be sliced and fermented to make a collard sauerkraut that is often cooked with flat dumplings
15.
Kohlrabi
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Kohlrabi is a biennial vegetable, and is a low, stout cultivar of cabbage. Kohlrabi can be eaten raw as well as cooked, edible preparations are made with both the stem and the leaves. The name comes from the German Kohl plus Rübe ~ Rabi and it is also found in the Kashmir valley in north India and is there known as Monj-hakh, monj being the round part, and hakh being the leafy part. This vegetable is called Nol Khol in the north of India, the taste and texture of kohlrabi are similar to those of a broccoli stem or cabbage heart, but milder and sweeter, with a higher ratio of flesh to skin. The young stem in particular can be as crisp and juicy as an apple, the plant matures in 55–60 days after sowing and has good standing ability for up to 30 days after maturity. The approximate weight is 150 g, there are several varieties commonly available, including White Vienna, Purple Vienna, Grand Duke, Gigante, Purple Danube, and White Danube. Coloration of the types is superficial, the edible parts are all pale yellow. The leafy greens can also be eaten, one commonly used variety grows without a swollen stem, having just leaves and a very thin stem, and is called Haakh. Haakh and Monj are popular Kashmiri dishes made using this vegetable. In the second year, Kohlrabi also comes in three different colors, white, purple, and pale green. Kohlrabi stems are surrounded by two distinct layers that do not soften appreciably when cooked. These layers are peeled away prior to cooking or serving raw. The kohlrabi root is used raw in salad or slaws. It has a similar to that of a broccoli stem. Kohlrabi leaves are edible and can be used interchangeably with collard greens, Kohlrabi is an important part of the Kashmiri diet and one of the most commonly cooked foods. It is prepared with its leaves and served with a light soup, some varieties are grown as feed for cattle. PROTAbase on Brassica oleracea Horticultural information on the tasty kohlrabi From the Learn2Grow databases Kohlrabi and Brussels Sprouts Are European Texts on Wikisource, Kohl-rabi
16.
Brussels sprout
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The Brussels sprout is a member of the Gemmifera Group of cabbages, grown for its edible buds. The leafy green vegetables are typically 2. 5–4 cm in diameter, the Brussels sprout has long been popular in Brussels, Belgium, and may have originated and gained its name there. Forerunners to modern Brussels sprouts were likely cultivated in Ancient Rome, Brussels sprouts as they are now known were grown possibly as early as the 13th century in what is now Belgium. The first written reference dates to 1587, during the 16th century, they enjoyed a popularity in the Southern Netherlands that eventually spread throughout the cooler parts of Northern Europe. Brussels sprouts grow in temperature ranges of 7–24 °C, with highest yields at 15–18 °C, fields are ready for harvest 90 to 180 days after planting. The edible sprouts grow like buds in helical patterns along the side of long, thick stalks of about 60 to 120 cm in height, each stalk can produce 1.1 to 1.4 kg, although the commercial yield is about 900 g per stalk. Harvest season in temperate zones of the northern latitudes is September to March, in the home garden, harvest can be delayed as quality does not suffer from freezing. Sprouts are considered to be sweetest after a frost, Brussels sprouts are a cultivar group of the same species as cabbage, in the same family as collard greens, broccoli, kale, and kohlrabi, they are cruciferous. Many cultivars are available, some being purple in colour, such as Ruby Crunch or Red Bull, in Continental Europe, the largest producers are the Netherlands, at 82,000 metric tons, and Germany, at 10,000 tons. The United Kingdom has production comparable to that of the Netherlands, production of Brussels sprouts in the United States began in the 18th century, when French settlers brought them to Louisiana. The first plantings in Californias Central Coast began in the 1920s, the harvest season lasts from June through January. Total American production is approximately 32,000 tons, with a value of $27 million, about 80% to 85% of US production is for the frozen food market, with the remainder for fresh consumption. Once harvested, sprouts last three to five weeks under ideal near-freezing conditions before wilting and discolouring, and about half as long at refrigerator temperature, American varieties are generally 2. 5–5 cm in diameter. Brussels sprouts, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contain sulforaphane, although boiling reduces the level of sulforaphane, steaming and stir frying do not result in significant loss. Consuming Brussels sprouts in excess may not be suitable for patients taking anticoagulants such as warfarin since they contain vitamin K, in one reported incident, eating too many Brussels sprouts precipitated hospitalization for an individual on blood-thinning therapy. The most common method of preparing Brussels sprouts for cooking begins with cutting the buds off the stalk, any surplus stem is cut away, and any loose surface leaves are peeled and discarded. Once cut and cleaned, the buds are typically cooked by boiling, steaming, stir frying, grilling, to ensure even cooking throughout, buds of a similar size are usually chosen. Some cooks will make a cut or a cross in the center of the stem to aid the penetration of heat
17.
Gai lan
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Gai lan is the Chinese name for a vegetable that is also known as Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale. It is a leaf vegetable featuring thick, flat, glossy leaves with thick stems with flower heads, similar to. Broccoli and gai lan belong to the same species Brassica oleracea and its flavor is very similar to that of broccoli, but slightly more bitter. Broccolini is a hybrid between broccoli and gai lan, produced by Mann Packing Company, Inc, gai lan can be sown in late summer for early-winter harvesting. Seedlings planted in autumn will last all winter, gai lan is eaten widely in Chinese cuisine, Common preparations include gai lan stir-fried with ginger and garlic, and boiled or steamed and served with oyster sauce. It is also common in Vietnamese, Burmese and Thai cuisine, bok choy Choy sum Kale Rapeseed Rapini Chinese Kale. Media related to Kai-lan at Wikimedia Commons
18.
Rapini
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Rapini is a green cruciferous vegetable. The edible parts are the leaves, buds, and stems, the buds somewhat resemble broccoli, but do not form a large head. Rapini is known for its bitter taste and is particularly associated with Italian, Galician. Within the Italian tradition, the plant is associated especially with southern Italian cuisines such as those of Ciociaria, Rome, Naples, Campania, and Apulia. In Italy, broccoli rabe is known by different names, in Naples it is known as friarielli, in Rome broccoletti, in Puglia and it is also known as i broccoli friarelli and sometimes broccoli di rape, rapi, or rapini. In Portugal and Spain they are called grelos, the plant is a member of the tribe Brassiceae of the Brassicaceae. The young leaves of plants as used in cooking are either the same as or the South European equivalent of turnip tops or turnip greens. Rapini has many spiked leaves that surround clusters of buds that resemble small heads of broccoli. Small, edible yellow flowers may be blooming among the buds, the flavor of rapini has been described as nutty, bitter, and pungent. The flavour is reminiscent of mustard greens. Rapini is a source of vitamins A, C, and K, as well as potassium, calcium, the cultivated vegetable probably descends from a wild herb related to the turnip that grew either in China or the Mediterranean region. Rapini is similar in shape to the Chinese Brassica oleracea cultivar called kai-lan, rapini is now grown throughout the world. Rapini is available all year long, but its peak season is fall to spring, in Europe, it is widely used in southern Italian cuisine, in Roman cuisine and in northern Portuguese cuisine and in that of Galicia in Spain. In southern Lazio, Frosinone, Ciociaria, it is sauteed with garlic and chili pepper. In the Central Italy regions, rapini sautéed with garlic, chili pepper and guanciale can be a dish for porchetta, grilled pork ribs, sausages. In Apulia, its most famous use is in orecchiette e cime di rapa and it is best blanched in salted boiling water before sautéeing in olive oil with garlic and chili pepper. Kai-lan Chinese cabbage Collard greens Mustard greens Rutabaga Turnip Brassica rapa Wang X, Wang H, Wang J, the genome of the mesopolyploid crop species Brassica rapa. Osborn TC, Kole C, Parkin IA, et al, comparison of flowering time genes in Brassica rapa, B. napus and Arabidopsis thaliana
19.
Brassica rapa
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Brassica rapa L. is a plant consisting of various widely cultivated subspecies including the turnip, napa cabbage, bomdong, bok choy, and cime di rapa, and. The oil made from the seed is also called canola, which is one reason why it is sometimes confused with rapeseed oil. The oilseeds known as canola are sometimes particular varieties of Brassica rapa but usually the related species Brassica napus, in the 18th century the turnip and the oilseed-producing variants were seen as being different species by Carl Linnaeus who named them B. rapa and B. campestris. 20th-century taxonomists found that the plants were cross fertile and thus belonged to the same species, since the turnip had been named first by Linnaeus, the name Brassica rapa was adopted. Many butterflies, including the small white pollinate the B. rapa flowers, media related to Brassica rapa at Wikimedia Commons Multilingual taxonomic information. PROTA database record on Brassica rapa L. Brassica rapa, Brassica rapa L. Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture
20.
Broccolini
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Broccolini is a green vegetable similar to broccoli but with smaller florets and longer, thin stalks. It is a hybrid of broccoli and kai-lan, both cultivar groups of Brassica oleracea. Broccolini was originally developed over eight years by the Sakata Seed Company of Yokohama, Japan in Salinas, California and it was developed as a natural hybrid rather than being genetically modified. Sakata partnered with Sanbon Incorporated in 1994 to begin growing commercially in Mexico under the title Asparation, after becoming first available in US Markets in 1996, a 1998 partnership with the Mann Packing Company and Sakata marketed it as Broccollini. In 1999, Broccolini as a trademark in Australia was granted to Perfection Fresh Australia by Sakata. Broccolini has a structure to sprouting type broccoli. It grows to 80 centimetres, with an elongated stem that is 15–30 centimetres long. It is annual or biennial, herbaceous and glabrous and its flavor is sweet, with notes of both broccoli and asparagus, and it is directly related to the latter. Common cooking methods include sauteeing, steaming, boiling, and stir frying, according to a 2005 Horticulture Australia study, in Australia 78% of people steam broccolini, 53% stir fry it, and 3% eat it raw or in a salad. It is usually steamed in Japan, where it is highly popular as a spring vegetable. Broccolini is high in vitamin C and also contains vitamin A, calcium, Vitamin E, folate, Iron and it has 35 calories per serving. Broccolini grows in climates, and is intolerant to extreme climates. However, it is sensitive to cold temperatures than broccoli. It is grown near the central California coast during the spring, summer and it takes 50–60 days to grow after being transplanted. It is sold throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the International Federation for Produce Standards assigns it the price look-up code 3277, baby broccoli. It is also known as asparation, asparations, bimi, broccoletti, broccolette Italian Sprouting broccoli, in the United Kingdom and Ireland it is referred to as tenderstem broccoli. In Brazil, the form of the word broccoli refers to broccolini
21.
Glucoraphanin
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Glucoraphanin is a glucosinolate found in broccoli, cauliflower, and mustard in particular in the young sprouts. Preliminary research also suggests that glucoraphanin may slow and prevent arthritis, a variety of broccoli has been bred to reliably contain 2-3 times more glucoraphanin than standard broccoli. Consumption of large amounts of glucoraphanin may produce negative effects due to increased creation of reactive oxygen species, however, this is based on studies on rats fed pure glucoraphanin at a dose equivalent to a human consuming approximately 250 portions of broccoli per day. Other studies have shown glucoraphanin to be safe, even at far higher than would be obtained through eating broccoli
22.
Brassica
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Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family, the. The members of the genus are known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages. Crops from this genus are sometimes called cole crops—derived from the Latin caulis, the genus Brassica is known for its important agricultural and horticultural crops and includes a number of weeds, both of wild taxa and escapees from cultivation. Brassica species and varieties used for food include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, choy sum, rutabaga, turnip and some seeds used in the production of canola oil. Over 30 wild species and hybrids are in cultivation, plus numerous cultivars, most are seasonal plants, but some are small shrubs. Brassica plants have been the subject of scientific interest for their agricultural importance. Six particular species evolved by the combining of chromosomes from three species, as described by the Triangle of U theory. The genus is native to Western Europe, the Mediterranean and temperate regions of Asia, many wild species grow as weeds, especially in North America, South America, and Australia. Almost all parts of species or other have been developed for food, including the root, stems, leaves, flowers, buds. Some forms with white or purple foliage or flowerheads are also grown for ornament. Brassica species are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species—see List of Lepidoptera that feed on Brassica. Brassica vegetables are highly regarded for their nutritional value and they provide high amounts of vitamin C and soluble fiber and contain nutrients with anticancer properties,3, 3-diindolylmethane, sulforaphane and selenium. Boiling reduces the level of anticancer compounds, but steaming, microwaving, steaming these vegetable for three to four minutes is recommended to maximize sulforaphane. Brassica vegetables are rich in indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells in vitro and they are also a good source of carotenoids, with broccoli having especially high levels. However, it also is an antiandrogen but is known to be only in hormone-sensitive prostate cancer cells. These vegetables also contain goitrogens, some of which suppress thyroid function, goitrogens can induce hypothyroidism and goiter in the absence of normal iodine intake. There is some disagreement among botanists on the classification and status of Brassica species and subspecies, the following is an abbreviated list, with an emphasis on economically important species. The B. rapa genome was sequenced by the Multinational Brassica Genome Project in 2011 and this also represents the A genome component of the amphidiploid crop species B. napus and B. juncea
23.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
24.
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
25.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
26.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
27.
Mexico
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Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic in the southern half of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States, to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometers, Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area, Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city. Other metropolises include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first contact with Europeans. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Three centuries later, this territory became Mexico following recognition in 1821 after the colonys Mexican War of Independence. The tumultuous post-independence period was characterized by instability and many political changes. The Mexican–American War led to the cession of the extensive northern borderlands, one-third of its territory. The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, the dictatorship was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the countrys current political system. Mexico has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity, the Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, especially the United States. Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and it is classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country by several analysts. By 2050, Mexico could become the fifth or seventh largest economy. The country is considered both a power and middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power. Due to its culture and history, Mexico ranks first in the Americas. Mexico is a country, ranking fourth in the world by biodiversity. In 2015 it was the 9th most visited country in the world, Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8+5, the G20, the Uniting for Consensus and the Pacific Alliance. Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica and this became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result. After New Spain won independence from Spain, representatives decided to name the new country after its capital and this was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
28.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
29.
Tonne
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The SI symbol for the tonne is t, adopted at the same time as the unit itself in 1879. Its use is also official, for the metric ton, within the United States, having been adopted by the US National Institute of Standards and it is a symbol, not an abbreviation, and should not be followed by a period. Informal and non-approved symbols or abbreviations include T, mT, MT, in French and all English-speaking countries that are predominantly metric, tonne is the correct spelling. Before metrication in the UK the unit used for most purposes was the Imperial ton of 2,240 pounds avoirdupois, equivalent to 1,016 kg, differing by just 1. 6% from the tonne. Ton and tonne are both derived from a Germanic word in use in the North Sea area since the Middle Ages to designate a large cask. A full tun, standing about a high, could easily weigh a tonne. An English tun of wine weighs roughly a tonne,954 kg if full of water, in the United States, the unit was originally referred to using the French words millier or tonneau, but these terms are now obsolete. The Imperial and US customary units comparable to the tonne are both spelled ton in English, though they differ in mass, one tonne is equivalent to, Metric/SI,1 megagram. Equal to 1000000 grams or 1000 kilograms, megagram, Mg, is the official SI unit. Mg is distinct from mg, milligram, pounds, Exactly 1000/0. 453 592 37 lb, or approximately 2204.622622 lb. US/Short tons, Exactly 1/0. 907 184 74 short tons, or approximately 1.102311311 ST. One short ton is exactly 0.90718474 t, imperial/Long tons, Exactly 1/1. 016 046 9088 long tons, or approximately 0.9842065276 LT. One long ton is exactly 1.0160469088 t, for multiples of the tonne, it is more usual to speak of thousands or millions of tonnes. Kilotonne, megatonne, and gigatonne are more used for the energy of nuclear explosions and other events. When used in context, there is little need to distinguish between metric and other tons, and the unit is spelt either as ton or tonne with the relevant prefix attached. *The equivalent units columns use the short scale large-number naming system used in most English-language countries. †Values in the equivalent short and long tons columns are rounded to five significant figures, ǂThough non-standard, the symbol kt is also sometimes used for knot, a unit of speed for sea-going vessels, and should not be confused with kilotonne. A metric ton unit can mean 10 kilograms within metal trading and it traditionally referred to a metric ton of ore containing 1% of metal. In the case of uranium, the acronym MTU is sometimes considered to be metric ton of uranium, in the petroleum industry the tonne of oil equivalent is a unit of energy, the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil, approximately 42 GJ
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United States Department of Agriculture
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Approximately 80% of USDAs $140 billion budget goes to the Food and Nutrition Service program. The largest component of the FNS budget is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, after the resignation of Thomas Vilsack on January 13,2017 and the departure of President Barack Obama from office on January 20,2017, the acting Secretary of Agriculture is Michael Young. Activities in this include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides healthy food to over 40 million low-income. The USDA also is concerned with assisting farmers and food producers with the sale of crops and it plays a role in overseas aid programs by providing surplus foods to developing countries. This aid can go through USAID, foreign governments, international bodies such as World Food Program, the Agricultural Act of 1949, section 416 and Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, also known as Food for Peace, provides the legal basis of such actions. The USDA is a partner of the World Cocoa Foundation, early in its history, the economy of the United States was largely agrarian. Officials in the government had long sought new and improved varieties of seeds, plants. In 1837 Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, a Yale-educated attorney interested in improving agriculture, became Commissioner of Patents and he began collecting and distributing new varieties of seeds and plants through members of the Congress and agricultural societies. In 1839, Congress established the Agricultural Division within the Patent Office and allotted $1,000 for the collection of agricultural statistics, Ellsworth was called the Father of the Department of Agriculture. In 1849, the Patent Office was transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior, in the ensuing years, agitation for a separate bureau of agriculture within the department or a separate department devoted to agriculture kept recurring. Lincoln called it the peoples department, in the 1880s, varied advocacy groups were lobbying for Cabinet representation. Business interests sought a Department of Commerce and Industry, and farmers tried to raise the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet rank, finally, on February 9,1889, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law elevating the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet level. In 1887, the Hatch Act provided for the funding of agricultural experiment stations in each state. The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 then funded cooperative extension services in each state to teach agriculture, home economics, with these and similar provisions, the USDA reached out to every county of every state. During the Great Depression, farming remained a way of life for millions of Americans. The Department of Agricultures Bureau of Home Economics, established in 1923, published shopping advice and recipes to stretch family budgets and make food go farther. USDA helped ensure that continued to be produced and distributed to those who needed it, assisted with loans for small landowners. The Department of Agriculture was authorized a budget for Fiscal Year 2015 of $139.7 billion, the Washington Post reports that he said There are days when I have literally nothing to do, he recalled thinking as he weighed his decision to quit
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California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
32.
Pieris rapae
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Pieris rapae, the small white, is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is also known as the cabbage white and in New Zealand. The names cabbage butterfly and cabbage white can refer to the large white. The butterfly can be distinguished by the color with small black dots on its wings. They are distinguished from the size and lack of the black band at the tip of their forewings. It is widespread and populations are found across Europe, North Africa, Asia, South America and it has also been accidentally introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand. The caterpillar of this species is seen as a pest for commercial agriculture, often referred to as the imported cabbageworm they are a serious pest to cabbage and other mustard family crops. In appearance it looks like a version of the large white. The upperside is white with black tips on the forewings. Females also have two spots in the center of the forewings. Its underwings are yellowish with black speckles and it is sometimes mistaken for a moth due to its plain appearance. The wingspan of adults is roughly 32–47 mm, the species has a natural range across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It was accidentally introduced to Quebec, Canada around 1860 and spread rapidly throughout North America, the species has spread to all of North American life zones from Lower Austral/Lower Sonoran to Canada. Estimates show that a female of this species might be the progenitor in a few generations of millions. It is absent or scarce in desert and semidesert regions and it is not found north of Canadian life zone, nor on Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. By 1898, the small white had spread to Hawaii, by 1929, it had reached New Zealand, the species can be found in any open area with diverse plant association. It can be usually in towns, but also in natural habitats. Although an affinity towards open areas is shown, the white is found to have entered even small forest clearings in recent years
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Food energy
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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, with the water substance produced being in the liquid phase. 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
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Carbohydrate
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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
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Sugar
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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
36.
Dietary fiber
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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
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Fat
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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
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Protein (nutrient)
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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
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Vitamin
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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
40.
Vitamin A
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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
41.
Lutein
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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
42.
Zeaxanthin
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Zeaxanthin is one of the most common carotenoid alcohols found in nature. It is important in the xanthophyll cycle, synthesized in plants and some micro-organisms, it is the pigment that gives paprika, corn, saffron, wolfberries, and many other plants and microbes their characteristic color. The name is derived from Zea mays, plus xanthos, the Greek word for yellow, animals derive zeaxanthin from a plant diet. Zeaxanthin is one of the two primary xanthophyll carotenoids contained within the retina of the eye, within the central macula, zeaxanthin is the dominant component, whereas in the peripheral retina, lutein predominates. Zeaxanthin supplements are typically taken on the supposition of supporting eye health, as a food additive, zeaxanthin is a food dye with E number E161h. Lutein and zeaxanthin have identical chemical formulas and are isomers, the only difference between them is in the location of the double bond in one of the end rings. This difference gives lutein three chiral centers whereas zeaxanthin has two, because of symmetry, the and stereoisomers of zeaxanthin are identical. Therefore, zeaxanthin has only three stereoisomeric forms, the principal natural form of zeaxanthin is -zeaxanthin. The macula mainly contains the - and meso-zeaxanthin forms, but it contains much smaller amounts of the third form. Evidence exists that a specific zeaxanthin-binding protein recruits circulating zeaxanthin and lutein for uptake within the macula, zeaxanthin biosynthesis therefore proceeds from beta-carotene to zeaxanthin via beta-cryptoxanthin. Although functionally identical, several distinct beta-carotene hydroxylase proteins are known, due to the nature of zeaxanthin, relative to astaxanthin beta-carotene hydroxylase proteins have been studied extensively. Because foods high in one of these tend to be high in the other. Three subsequent meta-analyses of dietary lutein and zeaxanthin all conclude that these lower the risk of progression from early stage AMD to late stage AMD. The reports did not separate zeaxanthin effect from lutein effect, there is only one published clinical intervention trial testing for an effect of lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation on cataracts. The AREDS2 trial enrolled subjects at risk for progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration, overall, the group getting lutein and zeaxanthin were NOT less likely to progress to needed cataract surgery. The authors speculated that there may be a cataract prevention benefit for people with low dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin, although more convincing evidence has accrued, no company had reapplied for a label health claim. In Europe, as recently as 2014, the European Food Safety Authority reviewed and rejected claims that lutein or lutein plus zeaxanthin improved vision, zeaxanthin is the pigment that gives paprika, corn, saffron, wolfberries, and many other plants their characteristic color. Spirulina is also a source and can serve as a dietary supplement
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