Groves of olive trees cover the hills near the city of Jaén in southern Spain Michael Busselle Corbis
Food Plants TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Apples Fruit Tree Royalty 6 Bananas Fruit of Gold 8 Cabbage The Head of a Vegetable Family 10 Figs Poor Man’s Food 12 Grapes Fruit of the Vine 14 Jackfruit The Largest Tree-Borne Fruit 16 Lemons Sweet but Oh So Sour 18 Mangoes The Regal Tropical Fruit 20 Oranges The Drinkable Fruit 22 Strawberries Luscious Dessert Fruit 24 Tomatoes Vegetables or Fruit 26 Yams Tasty Tubers 28 GRAINS Barley A Versatile Cereal 30 Corn Grain of the Americas 32 Rice Food from Water-Grown Grasses 34 Wheat The Bread of Life 36 SWEETS DRINKS AND OTHER TASTY TREATS Cacao The Chocolate Tree 38 Cactus Don’t Touch 40 Coffee The World’s Favorite Cup 42 Maple Spectacular Leaves Sensational Syrup 44 Nuts The Original Fast Food 46 Olive Plant of Peace and Plenty 48 Palm The Prince of Plants 50 Peanuts When Is a Nut Not a Nut 52 Peppers Hot and Spicy 54 Seaweed Wild Plants of the Ocean 56 Sugarcane A Sweet and Syrupy Plant 58 Tea The Cup That Cheers 60 GLOSSARY 62 INDEX 63 Brit a nnic a LEARNING LIBRARY
is D I D YO U K N O W The French term for potato pomme de terre w h i c h m e a n s a p p l e of the earth This may be because apples and potatoes have a simi texture feel size and shape lar
APPLES F ruit TreeRoyalt y The apple tree is a hardy plant that is grown in more parts of the world than any other fruit tree That’s why the apple has often been called the king of fruits Even though it is five-sixths water the apple has vitamins minerals and carbohydrates Before the science of nutrition told us how to eat LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES BANANAS GRAPES MAPLE Apples must be handled carefully to avoid bruising Here a worker gently picks apples ready for harvesting Royalty-Free Corbis trees are grown in more places than any other fruit tree Answer The apple is called the king of fruits because apple 7 healthily people already knew that an apple a day keeps the doctor away Apples are grown for eating cooking and juicing Eating apples are crisp and juicy with a tangy smell They may be red green greenish yellow pink or orange Cooking apples are firm Juicing apples are used to make apple juice and cider Apples are also preserved as jams jellies apple butter and chutneys And applesauce made by stewing Colorful apple varieties Royalty-Free Corbis and often sweetening apples is popular in many places If you plant the seeds of a good-tasting apple you will probably be disappointed by the fruit that the new tree produces Branches as well as seeds have to be used to produce the best apples The process is called grafting Apple trees need well-drained soil to grow They also need a period of cool winter weather to rest before the fruit-growing season There are many signs that humans discovered the apple a long time ago There are pictures of apples carved on stone by Stone Age people Apples are mentioned in the Bible Although some kinds of apples grow wild in North America the apples Americans eat come from varieties that were brought from Europe John Chapman an early American planter better known as Johnny Appleseed helped to spread these varieties far and wide Apple pie in fact is a symbol of America S EA R C H LIG H T Why is the apple called the king of fruits
