New World crops

The phrase "New World Crops" is usually used to describe crops that were native to North and South America before 1492 and not found anywhere else in the world at that time. Many of these crops have since come to be grown around the world and have often become an integral part of various cultures' cuisines.

Examples

Table of Ancient New World Crops^[1]

Cereals	Maize (corn), maygrass, little barley, wild rice
Pseudocereals	amaranth, goosefoot (quinoa), knotweed, sunflower
Pulses	Common bean, tepary bean, scarlet runner bean, lima bean, and peanut
Fiber	yucca and agave
Roots and Tubers	Jicama, manioc (cassava), potato, sweet potato, oca, mashua, ulluco, arrowroot, yacon, Camas root, leren, and peanuts
Fruits	Tomato, pepper, avocado, blueberries, cranberries, huckleberries, cherimoya, papaya, pawpaw, passionfruit, tomatillo, pineapple
Melons	Squashes
Meat and poultry	turkey, bison, coypu, muscovy duck, guinea pig, llama
Nuts	hickory, black walnuts, pecans, shagbark hickory
Other	Chocolate, canna, tobacco, chicle (key ingredient in chewing gum), rubber, maple syrup, vanilla

Agriculture

The new world developed agriculture much later than the fertile crescent. The following tables illustrate the crops that were grown and the chronology of domestication.

Timeline of New World Crop Cultivation^[2]

Date	Crops	Location
7000BC	Maize	Central America
5000BC	Cotton	Mexico
4800BC	Squash Peppers Avocados Amaranth	Mexico
4000BC	Maize Common Bean	Central America
4000BC	Peanut	South America
3000BC	Potato	Peru
2000BC	Sunflowers Beans

See also

• Columbian Exchange
• Agriculture
• First agricultural revolution
• Fertile Crescent
• Neolithic founder crops
• Timeline of agriculture and food technology

References

1. ^ Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs and Steel, W. W. Norton & Company, 1999, p. 126.
2. ^ Gardening History Timeline: From Ancient Times to the 20th Century