Food Plants

Food Plants — page 3 — 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

Food Plants — page 4 — 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

Food Plants — page 5 — S EA R C H LIG H T Plantains are a bananas that aren’t sweet b yellow bananas c mushy brown bananas

Food Plants — page 6 — BANANAS F ruitofGold A banana plant may grow to a height of 20 feet or more but it is considered to be an herb rather than a tree Instead of a trunk it has a stalk made up of leaves rolled tightly around each other From the stalk grows a big bunch of 50 to 200 individual bananas Only one bunch grows on each plant The bunch is made up of several clusters Each cluster has 10 to 20 bananas After harvesting the plant is cut down A new one then grows from an underground stem Bananas grow only where it is warm and wet all the time which is why people in cold countries may never see a banana plant They love to eat the bananas though That’s why banana farms called plantations are a big business in South Asia Africa Central and South America and the islands of the Caribbean Sea But Asia is where bananas originally came from Farmworker on a banana plantation in Oman in the Middle East Christine Osborne Corbis Most everyone knows what happens to a banana that has sat around too long It gets brown and mushy So bananas have to be picked while they’re still hard and bright green They may have a long trip ahead of them usually thousands of miles from the plantation to the grocery store Refrigerated ships keep the bananas from ripening too soon and then special heat and moisture treatments help them to ripen on schedule Bananas are used in making delicious cream pies cakes breads and fruit salads Many people’s favorite banana dessert is the banana split ice-cream treat But not all bananas are eaten as fruit Some varieties never get sweet These bananas called plantains are cooked and served as a vegetable DID YOU KNOW The largest banana split ever made was reported to be a little over four and a half miles long LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES JACKFRUIT MANGOES PALM Bunches of bananas hang on a plant before being harvested and exported from the Caribbean island of Grenada in the West Indies Dave G Houser Corbis Answer a bananas that aren’t sweet 9

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