Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 24, 1994                   TAG: 9403010189
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Joseph R. Hunnings
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

INCAS DEVELOPED MANY FOODS; OTHERS NEARLY LOST TO HISTORY

When Columbus discovered the New World, Europeans had never heard of the potato. They lived on soups, mushes, and gruels made from wheat, rye, barley, peas, and cabbage. Not until the early 1500s did the Spanish conquistadors report seeing potato tubers in the southern Andes, where they had been domesticated by the Indians thousands of years earlier.

In the mid-1500s the potato reached Spain, where it was planted as an oddity in a monastery garden in Seville. Europeans enthusiastically accepted the potato in the late 1700s.

Although the tomato is native to South America, it apparently was not domesticated by the Incas. The tomato reached Europe in 1523, where it remained an intellectual curiosity for another century. Tomatoes didn't become an important crop until the 1920s.

Lima beans also were unknown to Europeans before Columbus. The modern, large-seeded lima beans trace back to Peru and probably were named for the city where the Spanish discovered them. Large lima beans were well known to the Incas and their predecessors, who may have grown them as early as 6000-5000 B.C.

It's not known how lima beans left the Americas, but since the time of Columbus, they've been widely distributed, particularly in the tropics. Small-seeded limas already had been spread from Mexico and Central America to New England by the time Europeans arrived. Large-seeded types from Peru are known to have come by ship to grow as a novelty on a farm in New York state in 1824.

The cultivated strawberries we enjoy today originated from a hybridization of a species from North America and another from South America that were brought independently to Europe. The first hybrid seems to have been an accident, arising in a garden near Amsterdam around 1750.

A French naval captain, Andre Frezier, brought big-berried Chilean strawberries home from a trip to South America in 1712. However, not being a horticulturist, he had selected only female plants, which bloomed profusely for 30 years but bore no fruit. Later, by chance, some plants of a Virginia variety were added to the planting, providing pollen to the female plants and resulting in an accidental hybrid strawberry.

Some of the crops imported to Europe from South America were eventually accepted throughout the world. However, after the Spanish conquest, the Spanish government in the region pressured the conquered Incan population to grow crops imported from Europe. As a consequence, many of the important crops of the Incas no longer are grown, and some are nearly extinct.

Today, there is renewed interest in these "lost crops of the Incas." The recently released book "Lost Crops of Incas - Little-known Crops of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation," from National Academy Press, examines how several ancient Incan crops became major world food crops. The book also evaluates the economic potential of about 30 vegetable, fruit, and grain crops still virtually unknown outside the region.

For example, the nua, a variety of the common bean, is the bean counterpart of popcorn. When dropped into hot oil, nuas burst out of their seed coats. The popped beans have a delightful flavor not unlike that of roasted peanuts.

Pacay is among the most unusual of all fruit trees. The trees produce long pods filled with soft, white pulp so sweet the pods have been called ice-cream beans.

Cherimoya is a premium fruit borne on small, spreading trees. Mark Twain called the fruit "deliciousness itself." Inside the thin, greenish skin is a delicious, sweet and juicy flesh with a creamy, mustard-like texture. Its unique taste resembles a subtle blend of papaya, pineapple, and banana.

The book is written in non-technical language and is easy to read. A detailed description of the botany, history, and culture of each crop is included. It also contains extensive reference lists for readers who want to know more.

The book can be obtained from Agribookstore, 1611 North Kent St., Arlington, Va. 22209. (703) 525-9455.

Joe Hunnings is the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service agent for agriculture in Christiansburg. If you have questions, call the Montgomery County extension office at 382-5790.