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+--- Thread: Ancient pumpkins were nothing like the fall fruit we know today (/thread-9106.html)
Ancient pumpkins were nothing like the fall fruit we know today - C C - Sep 18, 2020
Without us, pumpkins may have gone extinct
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/11/without-us-pumpkins-may-have-gone-extinct
EXCERPT: What would have happened to pumpkins, gourds, and squash without human intervention? A genetic analysis of 91 Cucurbita species paints a dark picture. [...] there were many more ancient varieties around until about 10,000 years ago. So what changed? Those giant mammals that ate the bitter Cucurbita fruit and dispersed their seeds all went extinct. The smaller mammals that took over in the Americas are thought to be far more sensitive to bitter-tasting plants, since they carry more genes for bitter taste receptor proteins compared to the extinct giants. Without the seed dispersal service of giant mammal poop, those plants got crowded out of the landscape. Many went extinct and the rest are almost gone. As reported ... in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pumpkin, squash, and gourds would likely have gone the way of the dodo were it not for humans domesticating them... (MORE - details)
Ancient pumpkins were nothing like the fall fruit we know today
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/ancient-pumpkins-were-nothing-like-the-fall-fruit-we-know-today
EXCERPT: Cucurbita are native to North and Central America, with heavy representation throughout Mexico. The differences between those growing in the wild and those grown on farms are quite clear. Unlike our sometimes-massive, warty and colorful farmed pumpkins, says Heather Rose Kates, the wild versions are about the size of a baseball, light yellow and smooth. They’re also inedible. Wild Cucurbita hold high levels of a shockingly-bitter chemical that wards off pests and make the flesh not just unpalatable, but potentially nausea-inducing.
Even though the earliest consumers had to avoid these toxic innards, there are other reasons that people found themselves plucking pumpkins. The seeds in wild versions are edible and highly nutritious, and the rind held value, too. Archaeologists theorize that ancient peoples might have used bits of the rind to keep fishing nets afloat, for example.
It’s also possible ancient North and Central American peoples domesticated the plant because they were, well, there. Wild varieties are almost like weeds, Kates says. The seeds grow easily in soil that’s been dug up and mixed around, and they can tolerate drought. Scattered remains of one pumpkin can easily sprout into more gourds. “Whatever people’s intention was, the wild cucurbits didn’t leave you alone once you interacted with them,” Kates says. Harvest a few from the wild, throw the remains in a garbage heap, and not long after, new vines would crop up. A convenient local pumpkin source might encourage people to pluck their favorite ones over and over again - building preferred genetic profiles of the plants.
Over time, the crops we know today started to take shape. The vines also lost their tendency to wind up trees or other structures. Now, they snake across the land. And the bitter chemical that prevented people from eating pumpkin in the past migrated to the leaves. Stems became easier to pick as spiky protrusions started fading away, a disappearing act today’s breeders would like to complete... (MORE - details)