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New World crops are those crops, food and otherwise, that are native to the New World (mostly the Americas) and were not found in the Old World before 1492 AD. Many of these crops are now grown around the world and have often become an integral part of the cuisine of various cultures in the Old World .
The Columbian exchange of crop plants, livestock, and diseases in both directions between the Old World and the New World. In 1972, Alfred W. Crosby, an American historian at the University of Texas at Austin, published the book The Columbian Exchange, [2] thus coining the term. [1]
For a list of food plants and other crops which were only introduced to Old World cultures as a result of the Columbian Exchange touched off by the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, see New World crops. [1]
Its production worldwide is over 800 million tons, and is the primary ingredient in animal feed, human food, artificial sweeteners, and even gasoline. For example, maize is still the basis of much of Mexican cuisine. [3] Countless other New World crops were spread among other countries thanks to Christopher Columbus.
Maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes and manioc were the key crops that spread from the New World to the Old, while varieties of wheat, barley, rice and turnips traveled from the Old World to the New. There had been few livestock species in the New World, with horses, cattle, sheep and goats being completely unknown before their arrival with Old ...
The earliest cultivated plant in North America is the bottle gourd, remains of which have been excavated at Little Salt Spring, Florida dating to 8000 BCE. [7] Squash (Cucurbita pepo var. ozarkana) is considered to be one of the first domesticated plants in the Eastern Woodlands, having been found in the region about 5000 BCE, though possibly not domesticated in the region until about 1000 BCE.
The most important crop was maize, usually planted along with beans and squash, including pumpkins. Minor crops such as sunflowers, goosefoot, tobacco, [1] gourds, and plums, little barley (Hordeum pusillum) and marsh elder were also grown. Maize agriculture began on the Great Plains about 900 AD.
The crops whose origin can be traced to the Americas - the New World. Crops indigenous to, but not exclusive to North or South America, are not included here . See also: New World crops and Columbian exchange