History and origin of apples

Its primary wild ancestor is Malus sieversii whose range is centered at the border between western China and the former Soviet Union originated 4000 to 10000 years ago. This species is diverse and wild trees bearing the full range of forms, colors, and tastes are found in Kazakhstan and other independent countries of Central Asia formed from the breakup of the Soviet Union.

The cultivated apple then underwent hybridization with its wild relatives during its spread from the Tian Shan Mountains westward along the Silk Route.

Apples were certainly one of the earliest fruits to be gathered by people, and their domestication was probably preceded by a long period of unintentional planting via garbage disposal.

Based on combined archaeological and molecular data, it seems likely that, in the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age, travelers on the great trade routes that ran from central China to the Danube, carried the seed of the Central Asian wild apple west, either in saddle bags or horses’guts.

It was known to the Greeks and Romans and mentioned by Theophrastus in the third century BC. It is difficult to determine exactly when the apple was first domesticated, but the Greeks and Romans were growing apples at least 2,500 years ago. They actively selected superior seedlings and were budding and grafting 2,000 years ago.

Grafting is a practice that is thought to have begun about 3800 years ago based on a cuneiform description of budwood importation for grape in Mesopotamia. Indirect evidence has been obtained for the cultivation of apples 3000 years ago in Mesopotamia.

The Romans probably learned apple grafting, cultivation, harvesting, and storage from the Greeks, and brought the production chain technology to the rest of their empire.

The Romans brought the whole package to Western Europe and, for the last 2000 years, the domesticated apple has diversified and flourished worldwide. It was dispersed to the New World by European settlers during the sixteenth century.

During the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, M. domestica cultivars found or bred in Europe, Russia, North America, New Zealand, Japan, and Australia were introduced throughout the world and form the basis for most current commercial apple production.
History and origin of apples

Ancient history of pomegranate fruit

Pomegranate are originated from central Asia. Pomegranate has an important place in the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean countries. It was cultivated in ancient Egypt and in early Greece and Italy. The fruit which was described by the Greek botanist Theophrastus about 2350 years before the present (BP) and is mentioned in many Greek and Turkish myths.

Edible pomegranates were firstly reported to be cultivated in Iran during 3000 BC. It was recorded that pomegranate cultivation in about 2200 B.C comes from the ancient civilization of Sumer, located in the lower Tigris and Euphrates valley, approximately the area of present-day Basra, Iraq. It is believed that the pomegranate was brought into the area by people who were migrating from the Zagros Mountains— on the present-day Iran and Iraq border.

Phoenicians established Mediterranean Sea colonies in North Africa and brought pomegranates to Tunisia and Egypt by 2000 BC. The Phoenicians were great traders who sent many ships to ports in the Mediterranean Basin.

During that time, pomegranates also naturalized around the world and reached China by 100 BC over the Silk Road.

It was probably introduced into Greece and the areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, as far west as Spain and Portugal by ancient sailors and traders.

Ancient traders in Central Asia and the Middle East referred to the pomegranate as the “fruit of paradise.” Arabian caravans carried the fruit with other trade goods and spices, as well as the water and food they transported to provision the travelers.

Cultivation of the pomegranates in the Roman Empire and Spain is estimated to be in 800s. It was introduced in the Indian Peninsula from Iran during the 1st century AD and was found growing in Indonesia in 1416 AD.

The Spanish sailors brought pomegranates to the New World and some missionaries introduced pomegranate in Mexico and California. The first clear evidence that the pomegranate was in the area to become the United States was in the early 1700s, when they were grown in Spanish Florida and English Georgia.
Ancient history of pomegranate fruit

Wheat history in ancient Greece

Wheat as a staple food was cultivated in ancient Greece in prehistoric times. Cultivation of wheat began to spread beyond the Fertile Crescent after about 8000 BC. Jared Diamond in his excellent book, “Guns Germs and Steel”, traces the spread of cultivated emmer wheat starting in the “Fertile Crescent” about 8500 BC, reaching Greece by 6500 BC, Egypt shortly thereafter, followed by introductions in Germany and Spain by 5000 BC.

Cereals, vine, and oil were the basic agricultural products in ancient Greece like in the entire Mediterranean region. The choice to cultivate depended first on environmental conditions. Wheat was one of the main cereal crops in ancient Greek agriculture.

The coastal lowlands were very attractive for ancient people thus most of the human settlements had been established in such areas. Mild winters and hot summers are the characteristics of the coastal lowlands of the Greece. This type of climate is very advantageous for some annual crops like wheat and for some perennial crops like olive.

Bread made from wheat was eaten, and flour was sold in the markets of Athens and elsewhere. Grain from the Greek colonies in southern Italy was shipped to Athens through the port of Piraeus and ground into particularly soft white flour. In ancient Greece, a keen rivalry existed between cities as to which produce the best bread.

The Greeks planted “naked wheat,” an evolved variety whose grain could be easily separated from the hulls when threshed. Until the Greeks arrived, the Egyptians used only Triticum turgidum of the dicoccum variety, which require more labor to arrive at the same result.
Wheat history in ancient Greece

Origin of saffron

Saffron (Crocus sativus) has an ancient origin and is well known as a cultivated crop. Crocus sativus was probably selected and domesticated in Crete during the Late Bronze. However latest studies suggested that saffron may have originated in Mesopotamian (Alavi-Kia 2008).

In ancient Greece, the people of Minoan and Cretan origin painted beautiful paintings of saffron collectors on their walls. Santorini, excavations, going back to the Bronze Age, - more than 5000 years ago have extremely well defined frescoes of saffron collectors, wearing their native garb.

From Crete, it spread to India, China and the Middle Eastern countries. Saffron is cultivated mostly in Iran, Spain and India. The word saffron probably comes from the Persian sahafaran that derives from asfar, meaning yellow.

Cultivation of saffron in Iran dates back to before Christ. It is believed that this plant has been cultivated in Palestine during the prophet Solomon and during Jesus they took it from Jerusalem to England.

In some Assyrian medicinal books going back to 7th century BC, 90 illness were supposed to be cured with the use of saffron.

The Romans praised the saffron of Cilicia, which they preferred to that grown in Italy. Asia Minor, Persia and Kashmir have been for a long time the courtiers which export the most.
Origin of saffron

Grape Juice and Wine

Grape Juice and Wine
Ancient Egyptian inscription indicate that the grape was grown there in 2375 B.C. Murals to Egyptian tombs carry depictions of grape vines, grape harvesting, and trampling to obtain the juice.

By way of classical Greece and later Rome, the grape vine expanded into all the lands of Europe and North Africa where it will grow.

The Greeks cultivated the grape vine wherever they went; Italy, north Africa, southern France and southern Spain, including the best known wine regions of the world, Bordeaux and Burgundy. The Greeks called Italy the Land of Vines.

Romans grew different varieties and appreciated their diversity. Grapes were grown on trees and trellises, preferentially on terraced hills and banks surrounding river valleys. Romans aged wine in barrels, which they invented. Before then it had been kept in earthenware amphorae.

Grape juice changes naturally into wine when sugar fermenting yeast is present. When grapes are crushed with the skins, yeast comes in contact with the juice. It grows in the juice, using the sugar as its source of energy, and in process transforms the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Alcohol in high concentrations is toxic, and when it reaches a certain level (between 12 and 14 percent), most strains of yeasts cannot grow any more. The wine is now ready. It is young wine and tastes very much likes grape juice alcohol. When the first fermentation is completed (sometimes even before), and especially if the wine is in a warm palace and exposed to the air, special bacteria start growing on the alcohol and transforming it into acetic acid. The wine spoils and turns to vinegar.

Since remotest antiquity, the principal problem was not to make wine but to keep it from spoiling. In classical Greece wines were drunk young and most were probably vinegary. To counter the acid taste a variety of methods were employed. Greeks learned that air speeds up the spoiling process. Amphorae had narrow necks to reduce the contact of wine with air, and they were kept tightly stoppered.

Because air could penetrate earthenware surfaces, the Greeks line their amphorae with resin. This preserved wine for use in commerce. The Romans took a step forward when they invented wooden barrels. They could be stoppered better than amphorae, and the oak imparted flavor from the wine. Some Roman wines apparently kept very well. There are reports of vintages that lasted to a hundred years.
Grape Juice and Wine