Hybridization or crossbreeding of plants is one of the main methods of plant breeding to create man made vegetables. The method’s main component is mating two plants from distinct genera, species, or varieties.
For example, few people know that such crops as plums or garden strawberries do not exist in nature. Crossing thorns and cherry plums obtained the plum, and the garden strawberry, or as it is incorrectly called, strawberries, is the result of crossing wild species of strawberries – Virginia and Chile.
Nowadays, markets and stores sell a wide variety of fruits and man-made vegetables and fruits for all tastes. Surprisingly, many of them are hybrids, which means they have been bred through the work of breeders. The crossing process can take months or even a year, but people get new hybrids of man-made fruits or vegetables that taste great and are good for their health.
The history of breeding dates back to the Neolithic Age, when humans had to select the best seeds for further sowing. However, in those days, no one even suspected that this simple method could change the plant world in a beneficial way for humans. On the contrary, selected seeds yielded bigger and better crops every time, and until the sixteenth century, people were content with this achievement without thinking about anything more.
How does crossbreeding work?
Crossbreeding technology involves the artificial or natural transfer of pollen from a plant of one variety or species to another, carried out under careful control.
Breeders collect pollen from the plant selected as the parental organism. The anthers are removed from the buds and dried on paper. After they decompose, the pollen is collected and placed in clean glass vials the following year. At the same time, from the mother plant, anthers are collected.
Buds are covered with gauze to prevent bees from pollinating the flowers. The resulting pollen is attached to the stigma of the pistil. If fertilization is successful, the fruit soon overgrows with hybrid seeds. In autumn, they are planted in the ground, and if successful, hybrid seedlings are formed that contain characteristics of both parental organisms the following year.
Crossing algorithm:
- Select two plants of different varieties or species.
- On the mother plant, choose the most conveniently located flowers.
- Carefully open the unbloomed (one day before blooming) buds.
- Use tweezers to carefully remove all the stamens with pollen.
- Wrap the flowers with the removed stamens in a white, thin cloth to prevent accidental pollination.
- The day before removing the stamens from one plant, collect pollen from the second plant (the father plant) from the buds about to bloom in a glass jar.
- Cover the jar with gauze or a light transparent cloth and put it in a dry place.
Founders of the crossbreeding method
In 1694, the German biologist Camerarius publicly expressed the idea of artificial crossbreeding of different plant species. In 23 years, the English horticulturist Fairchild realized the scientist’s dream, having received hybrid carnations.
The Russian scientist I.V. Michurin is credited with being one of the pioneers of artificial plant selection and hybridization. It is not for nothing that he is called the father of the scientific branch in agriculture because, without Michurin’s experiments, the middle belt of Russia could hardly boast of such an abundance of fruit trees.
By crossing local plants with their geographically distant species, the scientist bred several hundred new varieties of fruit crops, which not only perfectly adapted to the local climate but also were not inferior in quality to their foreign counterparts from hot countries.
We must make use of nature’s blessings rather than wait for them to come to us. So the guiding principle guided the renowned scientist’s life and career.
Some of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables we eat today are artificially created hybrids. They result from selection, a process whereby only plants with favorable traits are planted. In rare cases, insects were responsible for creating hybrid plants because of cross-pollination. However, insects would not have been able to cross-pollinate plants if humans had not planted at least one in the area. Therefore, most of the plants on this list will surprise you because many of them are fruits, nuts, and man made vegetables whose origins we consider natural.
People are always trying to change nature – to make something better or to create something new. It is our human nature. This topic is a selection of fruits and vegetables of unusual shape, modified by man (only some of them have forms created by nature). See for yourself – there are fascinating specimens in the selection.
White cabbage and Kale
Examples of man made vegetables are white cabbage and Kale, kohlrabi, and several closely related vegetables from the same plant species. Its wild form is known as wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and still exists today. About 2,500 years ago, wild mustard grew only in parts of Europe and the Mediterranean.
Its flavor varied greatly depending on the region where it grew. The Greeks and ancient Romans soon realized that it was edible. They began breeding specimens with large leaves. The result was the vegetables we call Kale and leafy cabbage.
Breeding continued into the 1600s as people bred wild mustard with larger leaves. The result was a new vegetable covered with more leaves. It was the first cabbage. The wild mustard that was culled for its larger shoots became kohlrabi, the one with small inflorescences became Brussels sprouts, and the one with larger inflorescences became broccoli and cauliflower.
The hybridization of wild mustard and its derivatives continued until the 20th century. Then, in 1928, Russian biologist Georgiy Dmitriyevich Karpechenko crossed radish with cabbage. This hybrid seemed impossible because radish has nothing to do with cabbage.
However, the plant never took root because it could not become either radish or cabbage. In 1993, a Japanese company crossed broccoli with Kai-lan cabbage, obtaining broccolini. Kai-lan is not very popular in the United States. It is a derivative of wild mustard and the Chinese version of broccoli.
Cauliflower
Of course, cauliflower is a man made vegetable. It is a plant with all edible parts, including leaves and stems. However, this vegetable is mainly grown for its large flowering head, which is used in a variety of dishes. So, not surprisingly, cauliflower has not always been what it is today.
The only explanation for its existence is selection. Even in the old days, farmers favored plants with more generous yields, tasty fruit, fewer seeds, pulp suitable for eating, and more. The result of this was a process of artificial selection, which resulted in certain variants of certain traits of existing plants or completely new plants.
This selection method is not limited to plants; on the contrary, this process was also introduced among animals. More specifically, breeding parents with special characteristics produce a cub with the same characteristics. Fortunately, cauliflower came into being through human ingenuity. Had it not been for breeding, cauliflower would not exist as we know it.
Broccoli
Broccoli was not always the plant we all know and love today. In fact, it was created by humans through a long process. Broccoli was originally grown in Italy and sent to America and England in the early 1700s and then to the rest of the world.
Now that you know that people created broccoli 2,000 years before you and me, you’re probably wondering how they accomplished this with very little means. But the answer is not what you think. Indeed, humans created broccoli, but it was not obtained in a laboratory by genetically modifying an existing plant but through a process called selective breeding.
Selective breeding, or artificial selection, is when we focus on a particular type of plant that stands out for its larger, more palatable qualities or greater yields. Then, the selection process attempts to propagate that plant to produce a better crop of plants in the future.
Carrots
Another example is carrots – which were not always orange. Probably inedible, natural carrots were either white or purple. There are reports that white carrots were eaten in the Roman Empire, but historians believe it could be parsnips, white carrots, or both. The orange carrot is a hybrid of the yellow carrot, which is a hybrid of the white carrot.
The earliest known ancestor of the modern carrot originated in Persia in the 10th century. Some records say that that carrot was white, while others indicate it was purple. Unlike modern carrots, this vegetable had many smaller root vegetables of varying sizes. The Persians selected the carrots with the largest root to get even larger ones, and eventually, one large root vegetable was produced.
As selection continued, carrots mutated from white or purple to yellow and finally orange. The selection of carrots has continued to the present day to improve their taste and color.
Cucumbers
Today’s cucumbers are markedly different from what they originally were. The original product’s name is Cucumis hystrix, and it lived in India. It has a unique, thorn-like appearance.
Cucumis hystrix was brought to Europe by the Romans. The Romans, French, Spanish, and English bred the plant until it became the variety of cucumbers favored by many people today. But this vegetable’s final, modern version did not appear until the 19th century.
Potatoes
Indeed, the potato is man-made. Many people think potatoes are a naturally occurring vegetable, but they are the product of cloning. Humans created the first potato through cloning, which is the process of creating an identical copy of something by replicating its DNA.
However, contrary to what many people think, cloned potatoes are not created in a laboratory. Instead, most potatoes are genetically identical to each other, and the bulk of potatoes have come from several varieties. This process began when European researchers brought small samples of native potatoes from South America and planted them in Europe.
Then these plants multiplied with each other, creating new generations of genetically identical tubers, which has happened throughout history as breeders have selected varieties with desired traits such as size, taste, and texture to create new crops.
Garlic
Humanity made garlic what it is today. Farmers in ancient India cultivated Allium longicuspis over 6,000 years ago.
The people of India immediately realized this plant had medicinal properties, so they tried to create a simpler version. Eventually, garlic emerged.
Cultivated garlic, however, is sterile. Therefore, scientists and farmers must propagate it by hand to obtain new varieties.
Soybeans
Dating back to 7,000 B.C. in China, they are probably from the glycine soybean.
Most scientists agree that farmers in China used glycine soybean seeds to create soybeans.
This process probably began in 2000 or 1000 B.C. Fermentation of soybeans from these beans began in the third century. Farmers throughout Asia, for example, made tofu and soy milk from these ingredients. In modern times, however, more genetic modifications have appeared in these foods. According to science, more than 82 percent of soybeans in the United States come from genetic modifications.
Celery
Celery is an exceptional example of the human conversion of plants. Close to parsley, carrots, dill, and parsnips, celery grows wild in moist, salty soils in Western Asia and Europe.
The seeds of celery do not come from the celery plant we eat. The progenitor of celery is a plant called “malag” or “wild celery.” It is still grown in Asia, where a stronger flavor is preferred. Two descendants evolved from the small-leaved celery with the help of man.
It was first cultivated around the Mediterranean Sea, and the Greeks and Romans used it medicinally. It did not come into use as a food crop until the 1600s. It is not known conclusively when celery first began to be cultivated in the United States. However, at least four celery varieties were discovered in the United States in 1806.
Celery seeds are made from the seeds of wild celery. It tastes very similar to celery but has a tangy, earthy, slightly bitter flavor.
Corn
Scientists have established that corn began to be harvested by the people of Mexico, who bred it from a wild species of plant called teosinte or zea.
The fruit of this plant was quite different from the corn we all know. It did not have the bright yellow grains that we see in corn today. In fact, theosinte had small grains scattered apart rather than arranged side by side.
Subsequently, corn was changed by breeding, eventually growing larger and larger and greatly changing its structure. Thousands of years later, corn continued to grow steadily in size.
To this day, scientists are still trying to find ways to modify corn so that it can withstand phenomena such as drought.
During the colonization of Europe, people especially liked corn and brought it with them to breed in different parts of Europe. On European farms, corn became a staple due to the fact that it benefited other vegetables that were growing on the farm at the same time.
For example, corn stalks supported bean vines and provided shade for zucchini and other vegetables that needed protection from the sun to stay moist.
Because of its fluffy husks, which were not too appetizing to hungry creatures, it also helped keep animals away from the fields.
After the corn was introduced to Europe, it spread rapidly and was spread to China, Indonesia, and North Africa.
Although corn in its present form is the result of selective human selection over many generations, a large number of hybrid varieties have been obtained in laboratories by genetically modifying its structure.
The goal of these genetic modifications has been to achieve yields that produce more fruit and plants that are more resistant to drought, pests, and herbicides. Thus, many of the corn varieties used in human and animal consumption products are genetically modified.
Corn varieties
There are several different types of corn and approximately 12,000 species and hybrids. The following four groups are the most commonly cultivated:
- Field corn.
- Sweet corn.
- Popcorn.
- Ornamental corn.
The most popular type of corn grown several centuries ago was field corn, which was mostly made for bread and tortillas, ground for use as flour, or dried for winter storage. Field corn was also a popular livestock feed.
Sweet corn is one of the most popular varieties of corn found today. Its sweetness and juiciness distinguish it.
Popcorn is a variety of corn with a hard shell that contains hard starch, making it indispensable for creating one of the world’s most popular snacks.
Cross-pollination resulted in corn kernels of different shapes and colors, making them ideal for decoration, hence the name ornamental corn.
What is baby corn?
According to many people, baby corn is genetically engineered corn that has been scientifically engineered to look like this. However, baby corn is actually regular corn harvested before ripening.
In most cases, when harvesting baby corn, farmers need to manually pluck and peel each specimen of corn.
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