NWCoastIndigenousPlantFoods&FunctionalFoods

Question 1

Common Camas

Answer 1

• Camassia quamash, lily family, Liliaceae
• Roots are bulbs
• Staple starch of coastal people
• Starch contains sugar inulin, long chain polymer of fructose
• Meadow’s were semi-cultivated

Question 2

How was Camas cultivated?

Answer 2

• Monitored to remove death camas by avoiding and pruning

Question 3

How was Camas cooked?

Answer 3

• Needs long cooking time (days) to break down and make digestible
• Sweet when cooked
• Sometimes cooked in large quantities, up to 50kg, in steam pit

Question 4

Springbank Clover

Answer 4

• Trifolium wormskiodii, Fabaceae, legume family
• Fleshy white rhizomes harvested
• Pea-like taste
• Patches owned by families, transplanted to ‘gardens’
• Usually co-harvested with silverweed

Question 5

Silverweed

Answer 5

• Potentilla anserina, rose family, Rosaceae

- Curly lateral and long tap roots (chiefs got the long roots)

Question 6

Northern Rice Root

Answer 6

• Fritillaria camschatcensis, lily family, liliaceae
• Black lily, Indian rice, Eskimo potato
• Bulbs with bunches of bulblets
• Steamed or broiled

Question 7

Chocolate Lily

Answer 7

• Fritillaria lanceolata
• Like Northern rice root
• Bulbs with bunches of bulblets that were steamed or broiled
• Found on S Van. Isle, Victoria
• Quite rare

Question 8

Why is there interest in alternate foods?

Answer 8

• Environmental and sustainability reasons

- Functional nutritional values

Question 9

What are the environmental and sustainability reasons for alternate foods?

Answer 9

• 3 grain crops (rice, corn, wheat) provide 50% plant calories in human diet
• Agri land area 37.6% of total land area, 66% is cereal cropland
• Food and protein deficiency still prevalent

Question 10

UN world food program statistics for nourishment

Answer 10

• 1 in 9 people don’t have enough food for healthy active life (795 million people, 2/3 of which are in Asia)
• 12.9% of people in developing countries undernourished
• Sub-Saharan Africa 1/4 of population mal-nourished

Question 11

What are some tributes of new crops like ancient grains?

Answer 11

• Diversification of crops
• Primary nutritional value (protein)
• May increase agricultural land use

Question 12

Why have alternative crops not increased in a global sense?

Answer 12

• Wealthy countries do not have a ‘need’ for higher protein crops
• Increase in wealth = decrease in subsistence starch diet, increase in animal protein
• Food production ultimately linked to cultural dietary habits

Question 13

Food production ultimately linked to what?

Answer 13

• cultural dietary habits

Question 14

Functional food

Answer 14

• Foods that have biologically-active components that provide potential health benefit in addition to basic nutrition

Question 15

Superfood

Answer 15

• Nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being

Question 16

How are functional foods and superfood definitions made?

Answer 16

• In EU, nutrition and health claims on food labels have to be clear, accurate, and based on scientific evidence as overseen by European Commission

Question 17

What are some functional foods?

Answer 17

• Ancient grains

- Quinoa, Amaranth, Chia, Buckwheat

Question 18

What are some superfruits?

Answer 18

• Blueberries

- Acai

Question 19

Ancient, specialty grains

Answer 19

• Quinoa, amaranth, chia
• All 3 long time historic food crops in new world
• All 3 are Non-grass grains that have not been domesticated as major cereal grains

Question 20

What are grains and cereals

Answer 20

• Grains = seeds or seed-like fruits

- Cereals = grains from annual grasses, Poaceae

Question 21

Quinoa

Answer 21

• Chenopodium quinoa, Amaranthaceae, Amaranth family
• Food crop in high Andes
• 120 known varieties
• 12-18% protein (high)
• High in amino acids lysine and methionine

Question 22

What is the protein content of quinoa vs. the 3 major grain crops?

Answer 22

• High in protein (12-18%)

- Wheat flour is only 10-13%, rice 6-9%, corn 7-10%

Question 23

When was the UN year of the quinoa? What did this result in?

Answer 23

• 2013
• Cultivation has increased in Peru, Bolivia, to meet world demand
• Good export income, but reduces availability to locals

Question 24

Amaranth

Answer 24

• Amaranthus spp. Amaranthaceae family
• Several species cultivated, some are weeds
• Indigenous food staple in Aztec empire
• Seeds minuscule, easy to digest after cooking
• Can grow in dry, saline, land

Question 25

Chia

Answer 25

• Salvia hispanica, Lamiaceae, mint family
• Grown by Aztecs, recorded to be eaten before battle
• Marketed as energy superfood
• 25-30% unsaturated oil

Question 26

Buckwheat

Answer 26

• A non-grass grain domesticated in SE Asia
• Fagopyrum esculentum, Polygonaceae, Knotweed family
• Grows well in temperate climates

Question 27

What 2 major plants are part of the Polygonaceae, Knotweed family?

Answer 27

• Buckwheate

- Rhubarb

Question 28

Superfruits are high in what?

Answer 28

• Antioxidants

- Peak in popularity 2008-2011

Question 29

Blueberries

Answer 29

• Very good food

- High but not exceptional antioxidant content

Question 30

Acai Berry

Answer 30

• Euterpe oleracea, Arecaceae, palm family
• One time rage in superfood
• Native to Brazil, N SA, wet habitat
• Staple food for some indigenous populations on the Amazon
• Fruit in panicles w/ hundreds of berries
• Pulp often processes into juice

Question 31

What is our local superberry?

Answer 31

• Salal, Gautheria shallon, Ericaceae, Heather Family

Question 32

What is a major question about the bioavailability of functional ingredients?

Answer 32

• Is it affected by cooking and drying?
• What is the metabolic fate (How much is absorbed, is it chemically altered in body)
• Interaction with gut microbiome?

Question 33

Functional ingredients and the interaction with gut microbiome

Answer 33

• Bacteria can alter or help digest compounds

- Composition of gut microflora very changeable (affected by diet, illness, weight change, medication)

Question 34

What is an example of a functional food’s impact on gut microbiome?

Answer 34

• Blueberries extract was shown to increase Bifidobacteria, one of the most beneficial probiotic gut microbes

Question 35

What can we generalize about functional foods?

Answer 35

• Do contain healthy components such as antioxidants and unsaturated oils
• Actual concentrations are variable from varieties, methods of processing
• Natural variation come from place of origin, habitat, growth conditions
• Good foods but none have been shown to scientifically have significantly exceptional nutritional health benefits