The story of melons

Question 1

How would you determine the place of domestication of a crop?

Answer 1

Find the wild population that most closely resembles the domesticate (morphology, genetics, linguistics)

Question 2

What mandarin Chinese suffix is used to refer to most melons?

Answer 2

“gua”

Question 3

Besides as a food source, what other reasons are there to cultivate bitter melon?

Answer 3

It’s a source of MAP30, an anti-HIV protein. It’s also thought to be antidiabetic

Question 4

How was bitter melon domesticated for human use?

Answer 4

Selected for reduced bitterness, increased fruit size

Question 5

How is bitter melon processed for human consumption?

Answer 5

soaked in salt water then roasted or pounded. Want to maintain some bitterness for “cooling” effect

Question 6

How is the loofah melon consumed?

Answer 6

Only the young fruit is consumed, the mature fruit develops a “vegetable sponge” which makes it unpalatable

Question 7

What are the compounds in the bitter melon which are thought to be the “bitterest naturally occurring compounds”?

Answer 7

Cucurbitacins and alkaloids

Question 8

How was the loofah domesticated for human use?

Answer 8

Selection for loss of bitterness, earlier flowering, increased fruit size, hermaphrodite restoration

Question 9

What are some characteristics of the wax gourd? What role has it played in the creation myths of early people?

Answer 9

Can be huge but kinda bland, many different varieties (more varieties in one region means closer to domestic origin). Yao people had a Noah’s Ark-like story which involved these melons and a flood