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Welcome to an overview of what Economic Botany has to offer.

It will be a distance learning course this spring 2000, so below are highlights of what I plan

to be doing in the TopClass format

 

LECTURE 11 HIGHLIGHTS FOR BIOLOGY 03074, ECONOMIC BOTANY: BEVERAGE PLANTS

Text for both editions: Chs. 16, 23

web site: http://sol.brunel.ac.uk/~richards/wine/ukvines.htm

(history, grapes, and winemaking in England and Wales)

Caffeine: alkaloid stimulant (a methylxanthine, related to theobromine in chocolate and theophylline in asthma treatment). A central nervous system stimulant and a mild diuretic.

COFFEE: COFFEA ARABICA

Rubiaceae, the madder family: Trees, herbs, and shrubs with opposite leaves and large stipules (paired appendages at leaf/petiole base). Rubia, madder; Cinchona, source of quinine; Coffea, coffee.

Coffee is native to Ethiopia. The plant is a small tree/shrub, which produces a"berry" or"coffee cherry" containing the seeds. Depulping of the seeed is the first step, followed by roasting (light vs. dark), with the lighter the bean the milder and sweeter the coffee. C. arabica makes choicest coffees.  Roasting of seeds and drinking of coffee, began in 13th century Yemen, and from there, spread throughut Arab world. Social aspects of coffee houses, with concerns about political discussions then (and now, for that matter). Dutch introduced tree to East Indies and Sri Lanka, with Java becoming a major supplier to Western Europe. Cuttings made it to South America, where Brazil and Colombia are now the world's largest producers. Coffee rust, Hemileia vastatrix, has a major impact on coffee cultivation. From 1870s to 1890s, it wiped out coffee in Sri Lanka. As you can imagine, Latin America growers are worried about this fungus, and have strict quarantines (given monoculture practices and small amount of genetic diversity, they should be worried!).

TEA: CAMELLIA SINENSIS

Theaceae, the tea and camellia family: Tropical/subtropical trees and shrubs. Se-5, Pe-5, St-many, Ca-2 to 10, fused. Camellia sinensis, tea; C. japonica, camellia.

Tea plants are small evergreens grown for their leaves, native to the Tibet/China/India/Myanmar region. Teas grow best at higher elevations, plentiful rainfall, and no frost. Only a few leaves are picked at one time, with new ones coming every 1-2 weeks. The beverage is made from dried tip leaves. Tea became popular in 1600s, especially in England. British East India Company official import company to the US, but the colonists preferred cheaper smuggled tea, hence, Boston Tea Party.

CHOCOLATE (COCOA): THEOBROMA CACAO

Sterculiaceae, the cacao and cola nut family: Tropical evergreen trees and shrubs that produce large schizocarp fruits. Sterculia, cacao; Cola, cola nut.

The cacao tree in Central and South America is a small understory tree that makes football-shaped pods from flowers borne directly on the trunk. The seeds within the pods are removed and allowed to ferment. Roasting of the beans and further production then make cocoa butter. Aztecs drinked chocolatl, which was spicy and bitter. Adding sugar made the drink more palatable for Europeans.

Ethanol: beverage alcohol, CH3CH2OH. It is both fat- and water-soluble, so that it crosses biological membranes easily. Rapidly absorbed from the GI tract, it can easily pass the blood-brain barrier. Ethanol is a nonselective central nervous system depressant. Alcohol is a fermentation byproduct produced by yeast, a single-celled ascomycete (fungus).

WINE GRAPE: VITIS VITIFERA

Vitaceae, the grape family: Climbing shrubs with tendril-bearing stems. Fruit a berry. Vitis, wine grape; Parthenocissus, Virginia creeper.

Wine is fermented fruit juice, typically from grapes. Wine is an ancient beverage, produced by Egyptians, Greeks, Romans. Louis Pasteur made his name initially in enology, so use of pasteurization. Grapes concentrate high levels of sugars, which the yeast can ferment. White wine: juice only; red wine: skins also in fermentation vats.

HOPS: HUMULUS LUPULUS

Cannabaceae, the hemp family: Herbs with unisexual flowers. Cannabis sativa, hemp (see Lecture 13); Humulus lupulus, hops; H. japonica, Japanese hops (ornamental)

Hops are a climbing vine that produce clusters of female flowers, or hops, for beer flavoring. Originally, beer made from fermented, germinated grains (malt) only. Hops add a distinct taste from the volatile oils from the bract glands.

 


|main page| |background| |03028: Physiology| |03048: Anatomy|

|03050: Invertebrate Zoology| |03051: Vertebrate Zoology| |03074: Economic Botany|

 


Please send comments and questions to: cronewil@hvcc.edu

 

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Copyright 1999 by Wilson Crone

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This page updated on October 4, 1999