Durian

Agriculture | Durian | Durian is the name of a tropical plant from Southeast Asia, as well as the name of its  edible fruit. The name durian is taken from the skin of fruit typical of the hard and sharp that squiggly-like spines. Widely known and revered in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits". Durian  is a controversial fruit. Although many like the fruit, others can not stand with its aroma.

Indeed, plants with the name of the durian is not a single species but a group of plants of the genus Durio. However, the meaning of durian (without affixes) usually is Durio zibethinus. The types of other edible durian and are sometimes found in markets in Southeast Asia include lai (D. kutejensis), kerantungan (D. oxleyanus), kekura or turtle durian (D. graveolens), and lahung (D . dulcis). Henceforth, the description below refers to the D. zibethinus.

The complex taxonomy of durian is the result of addition and subtraction of many species of the genus Durio and family Malvaceae. Previously, he was wrong in Annona muricata (soursop) and this particular fruit is also a thorny skin green as the durian. The soursop identified by Malaysia was identified by the name " Dutch durian" to highlight the similarity of the both fruits. Another mistaken identifying is known by the notes of Johann Anton Wienmann (1800), which classified the plant durian with Castaneae.

Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, are native to durian tree, but the Western countries has known the durian for over six centuries. Niccolo da Conti, a Venetian merchant who traveled to China and the countries of Western Asian in the 15 th century had mentioned durian fruit of its documents. Garcia de Orta, Portuguese doctor mentioned durian in his book called Coloquois dos simple e drogas da India, launched in 1563. The book, Herbarium Amboinense published in 1974 by Georg Eberhard Rumphius, a German botanist, also provides a detailed and well researched notes on durian.

The Portuguese introduced Durio ziebethuinus in Ceylon in the 16th century. Many new types were also introduced later. In late 1800, began the countries of South Asia that first became familiar with the plant to grow commercially in the 20th century. Edmund James Banfield, a  naturalist of Australian-origin, got one of the seeds of durian in 2000 a friend of his Singaporean and has planted the first in Queensland to introduce the durian to Australians. - AGRICULTURE

Durian

Avocado

Agriculture | Avocado | Avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to Mexico and Central America, classified in the family of flowering plants and laurel widely cultivated in subtropical regions for its large edible fruit. The name "avocado" is also the fruit of the tree which is characterized by. Oval or pear-shaped, with a rough skin or leather, and a large seed, and it is sometimes known as the avocado pear or alligator pear.

Rich in an assortment of vitamins, high in monounsaturated fat and potassium, and containing a unique fatty alcohol, avocadene, avocado fruits provide curative effects for a number of human ailments, from diarrhea to high blood pressure. However, their leaves are harmfully and even fatally poisonous, causing a number of illnesses in animals. Interestingly, those illnesses include gastrointestinal irritation, of which the fruit is known to help cure.

There is an important interdependency between avocados and people. The plant lacks a seed dispersal technique outside of humans. It is hypothesized that it originally co-evolved with large mammals that are now extinct, such as the giant ground sloth, with these ecological partners vital to seed dispersal. New mechanisms have not evolved, but the effectiveness of human intervention has allowed the plant to prosper. Of course, in exchange for this benefit, the avocado provides a nutritional and desirable fruit for people.

Avocados are part of the laurel family, Lauraceae, which comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The avocado, P. americana, is the best-known member of the genus Persea, which is comprised of about 150 species of evergreen trees. Members of Persea are typically medium-size trees, 15-30 meters tall at maturity, with leaves that are simple, lanceolate to broad lanceolate, and flowers arranged in short panicles, with six small greenish-yellow perianth segments 3-6 mm long, nine stamens, and an ovary with a single embryo.

The avocado, P. americana, grows to 20 meters (65 feet), with alternately arranged, evergreen leaves, 12–25 centimeters long. The greenish yellow flowers are an inconspicuous 5–10 millimeters wide. The pear-shaped fruit is botanically a berry. It typically measures 7 to 20 centimeters in length and weighs between 100 and 1000 grams. The avocado fruit also has one large central seed, 3 to 5 centimeters in diameter. The avocado is a climateric fruit, which means that it matures on the tree but ripens off the tree.

An average avocado tree produces about 120 avocados annually. Commercial orchards produce an average of seven metric tons per hectare each year, with some orchards achieving 20 ton per hectare (Whiley 2007). Biennial bearing can be a problem, with heavy crops in one year being followed by poor yields the next. The common names "avocado pear" or "alligator pear" for the fruit are due to its shape and rough green skin.

It is speculated that the avocado fruit's poisonous pit was once dispersed through the excretion of an animal with which it co-evolved. However, since the disappearance of its propagating partner, human cultivation seems to have unobliged further seed dispersal-driven evolution.

Previously, lawyers had a stigma for a long time as a sexual stimulant and is not purchased or consumed by anyone who wants to preserve an image of caste. Growers had to sponsor a public relations campaign to discredit the dubious distinction of avocado, before they finally became popular. The lawyers were known by the Aztecs as "plant fertility."- AGRICULTURE

Avocado

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adoration for alkemie...

have you found something that draws you in so deeply that you find yourself needing to know more? and then... as you learn more you become even further engrossed,impressed and in awe?


well that's what happened to me when i came across alkemie's collection of jewelry. 


it all started when i slipped this wolf ring on my finger. fierce & bold but with ladylike class. next thing you know, i had the sting ray cuff on my wrist, the bat cuff on the other, layered with a couple of their necklaces, walking laps around the store, feeling overly adorned but not wanting to give any of it back.


i raced home to find out more so that i could share this amazing find with all of you and what i ended up finding out  just blew.me.away.


things like:
a) the l.a. based company was founded by a husband and wife team
b) they use mother nature and all her wonder as inspiration for their line
c) their entire collection is forged from 100% reclaimed metals
d) they give back. 5% of each sale goes towards one of the charity organizations that they support.
e) the motive for their responsible actions is to exemplify responsibility to their daughters and be an example for future generations


amazing, right? talk about intention...selflessness...the greater good...environmental awareness...  


and on top of it all, their jewelry is hand-crafted, well made, and incredibly beautiful.

i am beyond impressed and hope you will be too.

Papaya

Papaya | Agriculture | Papaya is a palm-like tree stem soft evergreen, Carica papaya, is native to tropical America but now grown in tropical and warm semi-tropical areas around the world. Papaya is also the name of the big, juicy, melon-like, edible fruit of this tree, which has black seeds in the center and usually varies in color from yellow to a yellow tint.

The papaya fruit is both delicious and nutritious. It provides several vitamins and minerals in significant amounts, is low in calories, and has an enzyme that is useful in tenderizing meat and for treatment of indigestion (Herbst 2001; Prior 2007). The succulent fruit with its unique flavor, texture, shape, and color adds to the sensual joy of humans. Beyond these nutritional, commercial, and aesthetic values for people, the trees and fruits also offer ecological values, providing food and habitat for insects, birds, and other animals. Thus, while the fruit and flowers of the papaya tree provide for the species individual purpose of reproduction, they also offer larger values for the ecosystem and for people.

The papaya also is known as fruta bomba (Cuba and parts of Caribbean), lechosa (Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic), mamão, papaw (Sri Lankan English), papol\guslabu (tree melon in Sinhalese), and tree melon, as well as 木瓜 (tree melon) in Chinese and đu đủ in Vietnamese. It also is sometimes called the pawpaw (sometimes spelled papaw), although this common term more accurately applies to the small trees with large fruit of the genus Asimina.

Carica, the genus to which the papaya belongs, is a taxa of flowering plants in the family Caricaceae. Formerly treated as including about 20-25 species of short-lived evergreen shrubs or small trees—growing to 5-10 meters tall and native to tropical Central and South America—recent genetic evidence has resulted in the genus being restricted to the single species Carica papaya (papaya; syn. C. peltata, C. posoposa). Most of the other species have been transferred to the genus Vasconcellea, with a few to the genera Jacaratia and Jarilla.

The papaya, Carica papaya, is a small tree, with the single stem growing from 5 to 10 meters in height. It is considered a horticultural wonder in that it grows from a seed to a seven meter (20 foot), fruit-bearing tree in less than 18 months (Herbst, 2001). The tree is usually unbranched if unlopped.

The papaya has spirally arranged leaves confined to the top of the trunk. The leaves are large, 50-70 centimeters (cm) diameter, deeply palmately lobed with 7 lobes. The lower trunk is conspicuously scarred where leaves and fruit were borne. The flowers are similar in shape to the flowers of the Plumeria but are much smaller and wax-like. They appear on the axils of the leaves, maturing into the fruit.

Papaya tends to be large, being about 15-45 cm long (6 to 17 inches) in diameter and 10-30 cm (4-12 inches). Variety grown only in Hawaii and Florida, and especially popular in the United States is a pear-shaped, golden yellow variety that reaches about 16 centimeters (6 inches) and 1 to 2 kilos in weight (Herbst, 2001). The fruit has a large area that is full of shiny, grayish-black seeds, which are also edible, but generally not eaten (Herbst, 2001). The papaya fruit is ripe when it feels soft (like a ripe avocado or a bit soft) and his skin has taken on an amber orange. The result is vaguely similar to pineapple and peach, although much milder without the acidity and creamy texture and a slightly more mature melon. - AGRICULTURE

Papaya

falling for fall...

check out that rainbow... soft, subtle, yet invitingly colorful.  that's what fall's going to be all about.


cozy neutrals with pops of soft warm color...more muted than the bright and bubbly colors walking the streets this spring & summer, yet colorful enough to give you a lift on the grey-est of winter days.


i love fall and now i've got reason to love it even more... i'm so excited to see how everyone looks dressed in this palette of perfection, moving like little dots of color against the cold gloomy skyline or crisp white snow.


i'm on the hunt for a pair of skinny jeans in emberglow...and a few chunky, cozy, poncho-ey sweaters in nougat & orchard hush.


what are you fancy-ing??

Pineapple

Pineapple | Agriculture | Pineapple is the common name for low-growing, fruit-bearing, tropical plants of the species Ananas comosus (also known as Ananas sativus) in the bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae). It is also the name for the large, edible, multiple fruit of this plant. Ananas comosus has long, swordlike leaves and the fleshy fruit has a tuft of leaves on one end as well. It is native to Central and South America, but has been introduced elsewhere, including Hawaii, which now is a main commercial producer of the fruit (Herbst, 2001).

In addition to serving as food, with its natural sweetness, the pineapple has served in history as a symbol and an artistic motif. According to Levins (2004), the rarity, reputation, expense, and visual attractiveness of the pineapple made it an item of celebrity and the "ultimate exotic fruit." The pineapple was so coveted and uncommon that in the 1600s King Charles II of England posed receiving a pineapple as a gift in an official portrait. In colonial America, the pineapple became a symbol of hospitality, and served as the pinnacle of an entertaining household's feast, even being rented to households during the day for display on the table and then sold to more affluent clients who actually ate it (Levins, 2004). As a symbol of hospitality and friendship, the pineapple became a favorite motif of architects, artisans, and craftsman in the American colonies, and would be seen on the main gate posts of mansions, in the weather vanes of public buildings, and on walls, canvas mats, tablecloths, napkins, the backs of chairs, in china, and so forth (Levins, 2004).

Pineapple can be consumed fresh, canned or juiced and can be used in a variety of ways. It is popularly used in desserts, salads (usually tropical fruit salads, but it can vary), jams, yogurts, ice creams, various candies, as a complement to meat dishes and in fruit cocktail. The popularity of the pineapple is due to its sweet-sour taste. The core of the pineapple is continuous with the stem supporting the fruit and with the crown, a feature unique among cultivated fruits.

In addition to the hospitality and friendship symbolism of a bygone era, the pineapple reflects the harmony in nature, as it provides food for hummingbirds and in turn is pollinated by the birds.

Pineapple is used for many other things aside from consumption. In the Philippines, pineapple leaves are used as the source of a textile fiber called piña. This fiber can used in a variety of ways such as a wall paper and a component of furnishings.

Ananas comosus is an herbaceous perennial plant, 1–1.5 meters tall, with 30 or more trough-shaped and pointed leaves, 30–100 cm long, surrounding a thick stem. Among common cultivars, the leaves of the Smooth Cayenne cultivar mostly lack spines except at the leaf tip, but the Spanish and Queen cultivars have large spines along the leaf margins.

Pineapples are the only bromeliad fruit in widespread cultivation. The pineapple is a multiple fruit, meaning it is formed from a cluster of flowers (called an inflorescence) growing on a catkin, with each flower on the catkin producing a fruit and the entire cluster maturing into a single mass—the pineapple. The fruitlets of a pineapple are arranged in two interlocking spirals, eight spirals in one direction, thirteen in the other; each being a Fibonacci number. This is one of many examples of Fibonacci numbers appearing in nature.

The natural pollinator of the pineapple is the hummingbird. Pollination is required for seed formation; the presence of seeds negatively affects the quality of the fruit. In Hawaii, where pineapple is cultivated on an agricultural scale, importation of hummingbirds is prohibited for this reason.

Certain bat-pollinated wild pineapples do the exact opposite of most flowers by opening their flowers at night and closing them during the day; this protects them from weevils, which are most active during daylight hours. - AGRICULTURE

Pineapple

hanging out...

W O W. could you imagine tucking yourself into this beddy-bye every night?


it is a bit intense and yes...i'm pretty sure your friends and family might look at you and wonder weird things about you if you had this hanging in your bedroom...


BUT


...imagine it hanging from a big, sturdy tree. then picture you and your mc'dreamy cuddled up watching dusk turn into a starlit night...


... music playing softly somewhere in the background


... a warm breeze gently swaying the two of you back and forth, side to side, as you lay... counting shooting stars together & growing closer with each passing moment.


pretty nice, right? 


...talk about rock-a-bye baby!

summer simplicity...

the other day a friend of mine told me that she and her boyfriend were headed to the park to grill corn.


when i asked her, "are you going to grill anything else?" there was a slight pause and then she said, "nope. just corn."


i loved the innocence & simplicity of it...


a boy. 
a girl. 
a grill. 
and a boatload of corn... 
chatting, laughing, basking in the sunshine, winding down the weekend by grilling up some corn on the cob (with lime + cayenne + spices), and spending the last moments of the weekend... together... with corn all up in their grillz.


i hope you're enjoying your weekend and soaking up a simple summer  evening with someone you love.

Orange

AGRICULTURE | Orange | Orange is a hybrid of ancient cultivated origin, possibly between pomelo (Citrus maxima) and mandarin (Citrus reticulata). It is an evergreen flowering tree generally growing to 9–10 m in height (although very old speciments have reached 15 m). The leaves are arranged alternately, are ovate in shape with crenulate margins and are 4–10 cm long. The orange fruit is a hesperidium, a type of berry.

An orange, specifically the sweet orange, is the citrus Citrus × ​sinensis (Citrus Sinensis (L.) Osbeck) and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world.

Orange trees are widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical climates for the delicious sweet fruit, which is peeled or cut (to avoid the bitter rind) and eaten whole, or processed to extract orange juice, and also for the fragrant peel. In 2008, 68.5 million tons of oranges were grown worldwide, primarily in Brazil and the state of Florida in the US.

Oranges probably originated in Southeast Asia and were cultivated in China by 2500 BC. The fruit of Citrus sinensis is called sweet orange to distinguish it from Citrus aurantium, the bitter orange. The name is thought to derive ultimately from the Sanskrit for the orange tree, with its final form developing after passing through numerous intermediate languages.

Bitter Orange, Citrus aurantium

In a number of languages, it is known as a "Chinese apple" (e.g. Dutch Sinaasappel, "China's apple", or northern German Apfelsine). (In English, however, "Chinese apple" generally refers to the pomegranate).

All citrus trees are of the single genus, Citrus, and remain almost entirely interfertile; that is, there is only one "superspecies" which includes grapefruits, lemons, limes, oranges, and numerous other types and hybrids.

Nevertheless, names have been given to the various members of the genus. The name "orange" applies primarily to the sweet orange, Citrus sinensis, which accounts for about 70% of world citrus production. This article is limited to Citrus sinensis and its hybrids.

Other citrus species known as oranges include:

1. The bitter orange, Citrus aurantium, also known as Seville orange, sour orange (especially when used as rootstock for a sweet orange tree), bigarade orange, and marmalade orange.

2. The bergamot orange, Citrus bergamia Risso, which is grown primarily in Italy and used primarily for the peel, which flavours Earl Grey tea.

3. The mandarin orange Citrus reticulata, which itself has an enormous number of cultivars (most notably the satsuma (C. unshiu), tangerine (Citrus × tangerina) and clementine (C. clementina). In some cultivars the mandarin resembles the sweet orange and is difficult to distinguish from it, but it is generally smaller and/or oblate rather than round in shape, easier to peel, and less acid.

4. The trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata) is sometimes included in the genus and classified as an orange (Citrus trifoliata). It is often used as rootstock for sweet orange trees, especially as a hybrid with other Citrus cultivars. The trifoliate orange is a thorny shrub or small tree grown primarily for its foliage and flowers, or as a barrier hedge; however, it bears a downy fruit resembling a small citrus fruit, from which marmalade is sometimes made. It is native to northern China and Korea, and is also known as "hardy orange" (because it can withstand sub-freezing temperatures) or "Chinese bitter orange".

Mandarin Orange, Citrus reticulate

Taxonomy of the orange (and citrus in general) presents difficulties; the interfertility of citrus has resulted in numerous hybrids, bud unions, and cultivars; taxonomy is often controversial, confusing, or inconsistent.

The fruit of a member of the genus Citrus is considered a hesperidium, a kind of modified berry, because it has numerous seeds, is fleshy and soft, derives from a single ovary, and is covered by a rind created by a leathery thickening of the ovary wall. An orange seed is called a "pip". The white thread-like material attached to the inside of the peel is called pith.

Bergamot Orange, Citrus bergamia Risso

Although the sweet orange will grow to different sizes and colours according to local conditions, it most commonly has ten carpels, or segments, inside. Unripe fruit is green. The pebbled exterior of ripe fruit can be bright orange to yellow-orange, but often retains a considerable amount of the green colour of unripe fruit.

Trifoliate orange, Poncirus trifoliata

Orange trees are generally grafted; the bottom part of the tree, including the roots and trunk, is called the rootstock, while the fruit-producing top part of the tree is called budwood (when talking about the process of grafting) or scion (when talking about the variety of orange).

Sweet Orange, Citrus Sinensis

Citrus Sinensis (L.) Osbeck is broken down into four groups with distinct characteristics: Common oranges, blood oranges, navels, and acidless oranges. - AGRICULTURE

Wheat

Agriculture | Wheat | Wheat is a grass, originally from the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize (784 million tons) and rice (651 million tons). Wheat includes any agricultural cereal grass of the genus Triticum in the grass family Poaceae. Wheat is one of the top three cereal crops in terms of global production, along with maize and rice; together wheat, maize, and rice provide over half of the global requirement of calories and protein (Biodiversity International, 2007). Wheat can grow in a wide range of climates; though, it grows most favorably in temperate climates and is susceptible to disease in very hot and humid zones.

Reflecting human creativity, there are over fifty thousand cultivars of wheat currently in existence. Three important species of wheat are Triticum aestivum (common wheat), Triticum durum, and T. compactum; T. aestivum is used to make bread, T. durum is used to make pasta, and T. compactum is used to make softer cakes, crackers, cookies, and pastries.

Wheat provides other values to human beings as well. It is used for fermentation to make biofuel, beer (Palmer, 2001), and vodka (Neill, 2002). Wheat is planted to a limited extent as a forage crop for livestock and the straw can be used as fodder for livestock or as a construction material for roofing thatch (A. Smith, 1995).

Globally, wheat is the leading source of vegetable protein in human food, having a higher protein content than either maize (corn) or rice, the other major cereals. In terms of total production tonnages used for food, it is currently second to rice as the main human food crop, and ahead of maize, after allowing for maize's more extensive use in animal feeds.

Wheat was a key factor enabling the emergence of city-based societies at the start of civilization because it was one of the first crops that could be easily cultivated on a large scale, and had the additional advantage of yielding a harvest that provides long-term storage of food. Wheat is a factor in contributing to city-states in the Fertile Crescent including the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. Wheat grain is a staple food used to make flour for leavened, flat and steamed breads, biscuits, cookies, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, noodles, couscous and for fermentation to make beer, other alcoholic beverages, or biofuel.

Wheat is planted to a limited extent as a forage crop for livestock, and its straw can be used as a construction material for roofing thatch. The whole grain can be milled to leave just the endosperm for white flour. The products of this are bran and germ. The whole grain is a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals, and protein, while the refined grain is mostly starch.

Wheat is a member of the grass family, Poaceae, one of the largest and most important plant families, which also includes rice and sugar cane. There are about 600 genera and perhaps ten thousand species of grasses.

Grasses, like orchids and palms, are monocotyledons. Monocotyledons are one of two major groups of flowering plants (angiosperms), the other being dicotyledons. Monocotyledons have only one cotyledon, or embryo leaf, rather than the two found in Dicotyledons. The largest family in the monocotyledon group (and in the flowering plants) is the orchids. However, the most economically important family in this group is the grasses, which include the true grains (rice, wheat, maize, barley, etc.). Unlike dicotyledons, the true grasses are specialized for wind pollination and produce smaller flowers.

Wheat is any of the cereal grasses of the Triticum genus. It has an inflorescence (group of cluster of flowers on a branch) that is a spike, an unbranched, indeterminate inflorescence with sessile flowers arranged along an axis. Each spikelet may have several florets with grains that may be hard or soft, white, red, or purple. The grain includes the embryo and a largely starch endosperm covered by layers. It is an annual plant.

Wheat is one of the first cereals known to have been domesticated, and wheat's ability to self-pollinate greatly facilitated the selection of many distinct domesticated varieties. The archaeological record suggests that this first occurred in the regions known as the Fertile Crescent, and the Nile Delta. These include southeastern parts of Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, the Levant, Israel, and Egypt. Recent findings narrow the first domestication of wheat down to a small region of southeastern Turkey, and domesticated Einkorn wheat at Nevalı Çori—40 miles (64 km) northwest of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey—has been dated to 9,000 B.C. However evidence for the exploitation of wild barley has been dated to 23,000 B.C. and some say this is also true of pre-domesticated wheat. - AGRICULTURE

Wheat

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three.

meet my favorite number. it has been since i was about eight and had a massive crush on then super stud dodger 2nd baseman, steve sax... ah, steve. 

i like how 3 looks... i like how 3 sounds... i like how t-h-r-e-e is spelled... it's just a super awesome number, the open end welcoming in all things and the double bumps/half open circles holding in all that is good. 

and i love it when my dearest friends know me so well to send me things that, in her words, i need to have... and of course she's right... 

i do need. this. ring. but first i need the $$$ to buy it. 

once i have it i will wear it in a stack and keep wishing on that three... for three.

wrist wrap...

i sure am glad that bangles and bobbles, wrap bracelets & friendship bracelets, lucky charms & chunky chains have all made their way out of the drawers and onto our wrists...together. 


i love a wrist stacked with goods can switch from a bohemian air to rock n' roll swagger based on the accessories you choose.


i saw this look today and loved the preppy classic vibe of the watch and bandanna combo. it's neatly put together and clean looking. 


... perfect for the polo fields, a day sailing the seas, or for one of those office day jobs where they make you dress professionally.

Soybean

AGRICULTURE | Soybean | The soybean (American) or soya bean (British) (Glycine max) is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses. The soybean plant is an annual plant native to Southeast Asia. It has oblong pods that contain 2 to 4 seeds or beans. Soybeans are legumes, a member of the pea family, and are a source of high-quality protein. They are processed to make many foods and food additives.

The Soybean plant is classed as an oilseed rather than a pulse. Fat-free (defatted) soybean meal is a primary, low-cost, source of protein for animal feeds and most prepackaged meals; soy vegetable oil is another product of processing the soybean crop. For example, soybean products such as textured vegetable protein (TVP) are ingredients in many meat and dairy analogues. Soybeans produce significantly more protein per acre than most other uses of land.

Traditional nonfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, and from the latter tofu and tofu skin. Fermented foods include soy sauce, fermented bean paste, natto, and tempeh, among others. The Soybean oil is used in many industrial applications. The main producers of soy are the United States (35%), Brazil (27%), Argentina (19%), China (6%) and India (4%). The beans contain significant amounts of phytic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, and the isoflavones genistein and daidzein.

The soybean plant is sometimes referred to as greater bean . Both immature soybean and its dish are called edamame in Japan, but in English, edamame refers only to a specific dish.

The English word "soy" is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of shōyu, the Japanese word for soya sauce; "soya" comes from the Dutch adaptation of the same word.

The genus name of soybean, Glycine was originally introduced by Carl Linnaeus (1737) in his first edition of Genera Plantarum. The word glycine is derived from the Greek - glykys (sweet) and likely refers to the sweetness of the pear-shaped (apios in Greek) edible tubers produced by the native North American twining or climbing herbaceous legume, Glycine apios, now known as Apios americana. The cultivated soybean first appeared in Species Plantarum, by Linnaeus, under the name Phaseolus max L. The combination Glycine max (L.) Merr., as proposed by Merrill in 1917, has become the valid name for this useful plant.

The genus Glycine Willd. is divided into two subgenera, Glycine and Soja. The subgenus Soja (Moench) F.J. Herm. includes the cultivated soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr., and the wild soybean, Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc. Both species are annuals. Glycine soja is the wild ancestor of Glycine max, and grows wild in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Russia. The subgenus Glycine consists of at least 16 wild perennial species: for example, Glycine canescens F.J. Herm. and G. tomentella Hayata, both found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Like some other crops of long domestication, the relationship of the modern soybean to wild-growing species can no longer be traced with any degree of certainty. It is a cultural variety with a very large number of cultivars.

Soybean varies in growth and habit. The height of the plant varies from below 20 cm (7.9 in) up to 2 metres (6.6 ft).

The pods, stems, and leaves are covered with fine brown or gray hairs. The leaves are trifoliolate, having three to four leaflets per leaf, and the leaflets are 6–15 cm (2.4–5.9 in) long and 2–7 cm (0.79–2.8 in) broad. The leaves fall before the seeds are mature. The inconspicuous, self-fertile flowers are borne in the axil of the leaf and are white, pink or purple.

The fruit is a hairy pod that grows in clusters of three to five, each pod is 3–8 cm long (1–3 in) and usually contains two to four (rarely more) seeds 5–11 mm in diameter.

Soybeans occur in various sizes, and in many hull or seed coat colors, including black, brown, blue, yellow, green and mottled. The hull of the mature bean is hard, water resistant, and protects the cotyledon and hypocotyl (or "germ") from damage. If the seed coat is cracked, the seed will not germinate. The scar, visible on the seed coat, is called the hilum (colors include black, brown, buff, gray and yellow) and at one end of the hilum is the micropyle, or small opening in the seed coat which can allow the absorption of water for sprouting.

Remarkably, seeds such as soy beans contain high levels of proteins undergo desiccation, and yet survive and revive after water absorption. A. Carl Leopold, son of Aldo Leopold, began studying this capability at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University in the mid-1980s. He found soybeans and corn for a range of soluble carbohydrates protecting the seed cell viability. Patent has been assigned to the early 1990s on techniques for protecting "biological membranes" and proteins in the dry state. Compare to tardigrades. - AGRICULTURE

Soybean

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