Centers of origin for some vegetables

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Initially, vegetables were gathered from the wild by hunter-gatherers and entered cultivation in several areas of the world, probably during 10,000 BC – 7,000 BC, when a new agricultural way of life advanced.

The center of origin is a geographical area where a particular group of organisms originated on earth.

Nikolai Vavilov published his results in 1926 and developed a theory about cultivated plants’ centres of origin. He proposed 8 centres of crop plant origin.

The map below created by Gregory E. Welbaum, scientist of the University of California, and published in his in a research paper “Vegetable Production and Practices“.

1. South Mexican and Central American Center

Includes the southern sections of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica.

• Grains and Legumes: maize, common bean, lima bean, tepary bean, jack bean, grain amaranth.
• Melon Plants: malabar gourd, winter pumpkin, chayote.
• Fibre Plants: upland cotton, bourbon cotton, henequen (sisal).
• Miscellaneous: sweet potato, arrowroot, pepper, papaya, guava, cashew, wild black cherry, chochenial, cherry tomato, cacao.

2. South American Center

62 plants listed; three sub centers.

(2A) Peruvian, Ecuadorean, Bolivian Center:

• Root Tubers: Andean potato, other endemic cultivated potato species. Fourteen or more species with chromosome numbers varying from 24 to 60, Edible nasturtium.
• Grains and Legumes: starchy maize, lima bean, common bean.
• Root Tubers: edible canna, potato.
• Vegetable Crops: pepino, tomato, ground cherry, pumpkin, pepper.
• Fibre Plants: Egyptian cotton.
• Fruit and Miscellaneous: cocoa, passion flower, guava, heilborn, quinine tree, tobacco, cherimoya, coca.

(2B) Chiloe Center (Island near the coast of southern Chile)

• Common potato (48 chromosomes), Chilean strawberry.

(2C) Brazilian-Paraguayan Center

• manioc, peanut, rubber tree, pineapple, Brazil nut, cashew, Erva-mate, purple granadilla.

3. Mediterranean Center

Includes the borders of the Mediterranean Sea. 84 listed plants.

• Cereals and Legumes: durum wheat, emmer, Polish wheat, spelt, Mediterranean oats, sand oats, canarygrass, grass pea, pea, lupine.
• Forage Plants: Egyptian clover, white clover, crimson clover, serradella.
• Oil and Fibre Plants: flax, rape, black mustard, olive.
• Vegetables: garden beet, cabbage, turnip, lettuce, asparagus, celery, chicory, parsnip, rhubarb.
• Ethereal Oil and Spice Plants: caraway, anise, thyme, peppermint, sage, hop.

4. Middle East

Includes the interior of Asia Minor, all of Transcaucasia, Iran, and the highlands of Turkmenistan. 83 species.

• Grains and Legumes: einkorn wheat, durum wheat, poulard wheat, common wheat, oriental wheat, Persian wheat, two-row barley, rye, Mediterranean oats, common oats, lentil, lupine.
• Forage Plants: alfalfa, Persian clover, fenugreek, vetch, hairy vetch.
• Fruits: fig, pomegranate, apple, pear, quince, cherry, hawthorn.

5. Abyssinian Center

Includes Ethiopia, Eritrea, and part of Somalia. 38 species listed; rich in wheat and barley.

• Grains and Legumes: Abyssinian hard wheat, poulard wheat, emmer, Polish wheat, barley, grain sorghum, pearl millet, African millet, cowpea, flax, teff.
• Miscellaneous: sesame, castor bean, garden cress, coffee, okra, myrrh, indigo, enset.

6. Central Asiatic Center

Includes Northwest India (Punjab, Northwest Frontier Provinces and Kashmir), Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and western Tian-Shan. 43 plants.

• Grains and Legumes: common wheat, club wheat, shot wheat, peas, lentil, horse bean, chickpea, mung bean, mustard, flax, sesame.
• Fiber Plants: hemp, cotton.
• Vegetables: onion, garlic, spinach, carrot.
• Fruits: pistacio, pear, almond, grape, apple.

7. Indian Center

Two sub centers.

(7A) Indo-Burma: Main Center (India): Includes Assam, Bangladesh and Burma, but not Northwest India, Punjab, nor Northwest Frontier Provinces, 117 plants.

• Cereals and Legumes: chickpea, pigeon pea, urd bean, mung bean, rice bean, cowpea.
• Vegetables and Tubers: eggplant, cucumber, radish, taro, yam Fruits: mango, tangerine, citron, tamarind Sugar.
• Oil and Fibre Plants: sugar cane, coconut palm, sesame, safflower, tree cotton, oriental cotton, jute, crotalaria, kenaf Spices, Stimulants, Dyes.
• Miscellaneous: hemp, black pepper, gum arabic, sandalwood, indigo, cinnamon tree, croton, bamboo, turmeric.

(7B) Siam-Malaya-Java: Indo-Malayan Center: Includes Indo-China and the Malay Archipelago, 55 plants.

• Cereals and Legumes: Job’s tears, velvet bean fruits: pummelo, banana, breadfruit, mangosteen.
• Oil, Sugar, Spice, and Fibre Plants: candlenut, coconut palm, sugarcane, clove, nutmeg, black pepper, manila hemp.

8. Chinese Center

A total of 136 endemic plants are listed in the largest independent center.

• Cereals and Legumes: genus rice broomcorn millet, Italian millet, Japanese barnyard millet, sorghum, buckwheat, hull-less barley, soybean, Adzuki bean, velvet bean.
• Roots, Tubers, and Vegetables: genus Chinese yam, radish, Chinese cabbage, onion, cucumber.
• Fruits and nuts: genus pear, Chinese apple, peach, apricot, cherry, walnut, litchi, orange Sugar, Drug.
• Fibre Plants: genus sugar cane, opium poppy, ginseng camphor, hemp.