When we talk about evolution, we think that everything in nature has been formed by it. And although it is completely true, we must also recognize that man has had an impact on the way in which beings develop, not only animals such as dogs, but also vegetables and fruits. Through artificial selection, little by little the fruits have been changing to such a degree that those natural foods that we buy are not at all what they were a few thousand years ago. This is how the evolution of fruits has occurred and promoted by man.
From artificial selection to agriculture
Throughout history, man has left small footprints in his environment that have ended up making big changes. He found a way to meet his feeding needs that we continue to use to feed ourselves today; the Agriculture. And after all, this is not just about sowing and seeds without a specific organization, because that is precisely what it is about, a system that seeks the best food of all.
Through trial and error, humanity little by little transformed fruits and vegetables. In search of those juiciest and meatiest specimens, without knowing it he developed artificial selection and with it, genetic modification. Of course, initially the harvest volumes were not compared in any sense to those produced today. However, everything changed when the industrialized world and the culture of immediacy flooded societies.
The incessant need to meet the food demands of large volumes of the population is based on rapid mass production and also uses genetic modification to put quantity over quality in a cost/profit relationship. It is for this reason that in recent centuries the most changes have been seen in natural foods such as fruits and vegetables.
The before and after of fruits and vegetables
Cobs, for example, have been cultivated for millennia and in fact, about 9,000 years ago, an ear of corn did not exceed 19 millimeters and looked more grayish in color. Today an average ear can reach up to 20 centimeters and artificial selection has given us many varieties, more than 200 of them that are grown around the world, far from their native America.
But it has not been the only species that has experienced a forced evolution due to artificial selection, watermelons, avocados, peaches, bananas and even wheat, although we have them in a concept of 100% natural foods, the reality is that this is not the case. All of them have undergone changes under the hands of man and research shows us how they have changed over the millennia and perhaps their true appearance will surprise you more than you imagine.