Development of New World Crops by Indigenous Americans

Abstract

Advanced agricultural and horticultural systems are a feature of pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas. Practically all of the crops that originated in the New World were domesticated before European incursions. Thus, the New World crops currently grown in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania should be considered as a contribution of indigenous cultures of the Americas to humanity. The history of these indigenous crops can be found in the written post-Columbian record of explorers, correspondents, travelers, and botanists. It can also be traced in the iconographic record derived from pre-Columbian artifacts, illustrated manuscripts, herbals, paintings, and sculpture. This information is particularly useful for such fields as taxonomy, genetics, crop domestication, crop evolution, and genetic diversity. Major New World crops to be reviewed include grains and pseudograins (amaranth, maize, quinoa), legumes (common bean, lima beans, peanut), cucurbits (chayote, pumpkins, squash), solanaceous fruits (capsicum peppers, husk tomato, pepino, tomato), starchy roots and tubers (cassava, potato, sweetpotato), fruit and nuts (blueberry, brambles, cactus pear, cashew, papaya, pineapple, strawberry), beverage crops (cacao, mate), ornamentals (dahlia, fuchsia, sunflower), and industrial crops (cotton, Pará rubber, tobacco).