Genetically modified foods are a big source of debate these days. Some don’t want anything to do with modern GMOs, while others are all for them. However, a lot of people don’t realize that many of today’s fruits and vegetables wouldn’t exist without careful selective breeding. In fact, the original versions of these popular plants might be downright unrecognizable to the modern public.
10. Carrots
The carrot’s original appearance was small and white. It also had more of a forked appearance like a plant root.
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It’s thought that the carrot’s transformation into the orange, sweet, less bitter descendant so popular today took many centuries to breed.
7. Bananas
The fleshy yellow fruit found in so many kids’ lunchboxes was first cultivated in Papua New Guinea between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago.
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Thousands of years ago, banana cultivators discovered that cross-pollinating these two plants sometimes produced a sweet, yellow, seedless fruit that was also rich in nutrients. As this variety is seedless, these bananas must be produced by human-assisted asexual propagation (otherwise known as cloning).
5. Corn
It’s hard to imagine a world without this most essential staple crop. Corn was one of the first food plants cultivated at the start of human agriculture some 10,000 years ago in the area that is modern-day Mexico. At one time, ears of corn were very small and gradually became bigger over time thanks to artificial selection.
[Editor’s note: To view the full list, click the link below]
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: 10 Foods That Have Been Genetically Modified Beyond Recognition
