A staple food , food staple , or simply staple , is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and generally forming a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well. For humans , a staple food of a specific society may be eaten as often as every day or every meal, and most people live on a diet based on just a small variety of food staples. Specific staples vary from place to place, but typically are inexpensive or readily available foods that supply one or more of the macronutrients and micronutrients needed for survival and health: carbohydrates , proteins , fats , minerals , and vitamins . Typical examples include grains ( cereals and legumes ), seeds , nuts and root vegetables ( tubers and roots ). Among them, cereals ( rice , wheat , oat , maize , etc.), legumes ( lentils and beans ) and tubers (e.g. potato , taro and yam ) account for about 90% of the world's food calorie intake.
27-420: Phaleria is flowering plant genus of about 25 species in the family Thymelaeaceae , which range from Sri Lanka to Malesia , Papuasia , northern and eastern Australia, and the tropical Pacific Islands. Some species, like the mahkota dewa are known to produce agarwood . Many others have long histories of use in traditional medicine like delal a kar (which translates to "the mother of medicines") which
54-1856: A molecular phylogeny of plants placed the flowering plants in their evolutionary context: Bryophytes [REDACTED] Lycophytes [REDACTED] Ferns [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The main groups of living angiosperms are: Amborellales [REDACTED] 1 sp. New Caledonia shrub Nymphaeales [REDACTED] c. 80 spp. water lilies & allies Austrobaileyales [REDACTED] c. 100 spp. woody plants Magnoliids [REDACTED] c. 10,000 spp. 3-part flowers, 1-pore pollen, usu. branch-veined leaves Chloranthales [REDACTED] 77 spp. Woody, apetalous Monocots [REDACTED] c. 70,000 spp. 3-part flowers, 1 cotyledon , 1-pore pollen, usu. parallel-veined leaves Ceratophyllales [REDACTED] c. 6 spp. aquatic plants Eudicots [REDACTED] c. 175,000 spp. 4- or 5-part flowers, 3-pore pollen, usu. branch-veined leaves Amborellales Melikyan, Bobrov & Zaytzeva 1999 Nymphaeales Salisbury ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 Austrobaileyales Takhtajan ex Reveal 1992 Chloranthales Mart. 1835 Canellales Cronquist 1957 Piperales von Berchtold & Presl 1820 Magnoliales de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 Laurales de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 Acorales Link 1835 Alismatales Brown ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 Petrosaviales Takhtajan 1997 Dioscoreales Brown 1835 Pandanales Brown ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 Liliales Perleb 1826 Asparagales Link 1829 Arecales Bromhead 1840 Poales Small 1903 Zingiberales Grisebach 1854 Commelinales de Mirbel ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 Staple food Early agricultural civilizations valued
81-610: A total of 64 angiosperm orders and 416 families. The diversity of flowering plants is not evenly distributed. Nearly all species belong to the eudicot (75%), monocot (23%), and magnoliid (2%) clades. The remaining five clades contain a little over 250 species in total; i.e. less than 0.1% of flowering plant diversity, divided among nine families. The 25 most species-rich of 443 families, containing over 166,000 species between them in their APG circumscriptions, are: The botanical term "angiosperm", from Greek words angeíon ( ἀγγεῖον 'bottle, vessel') and spérma ( σπέρμα 'seed'),
108-858: Is starting to impact plants and is likely to cause many species to become extinct by 2100. Angiosperms are terrestrial vascular plants; like the gymnosperms, they have roots , stems , leaves , and seeds . They differ from other seed plants in several ways. The largest angiosperms are Eucalyptus gum trees of Australia, and Shorea faguetiana , dipterocarp rainforest trees of Southeast Asia, both of which can reach almost 100 metres (330 ft) in height. The smallest are Wolffia duckweeds which float on freshwater, each plant less than 2 millimetres (0.08 in) across. Considering their method of obtaining energy, some 99% of flowering plants are photosynthetic autotrophs , deriving their energy from sunlight and using it to create molecules such as sugars . The remainder are parasitic , whether on fungi like
135-479: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Flowering plant Basal angiosperms Core angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits , and form the clade Angiospermae ( / ˌ æ n dʒ i ə ˈ s p ər m iː / ). The term 'angiosperm' is derived from the Greek words ἀγγεῖον / angeion ('container, vessel') and σπέρμα / sperma ('seed'), meaning that
162-465: Is growing. 2013 Rice is most commonly cooked and eaten as separate entire grains, but most other staple cereals are milled into a flour or meal that can be used to make bread , noodles , pasta , porridge and mushes like mealie pap (although both can be eaten either as grains or ground into flour). Root vegetables can be mashed and used to make porridge -like dishes such as poi and fufu . Pulses (such as chickpeas , from which gram flour
189-473: Is made) and starchy root vegetables (such as canna rhizomes) can also be made into flour. Consumed in isolation, staple foods do not provide the full range of essential nutrients . The nutrient-deficiency disease pellagra is associated with a diet consisting primarily of maize , while the disease beriberi is associated with a diet of refined white rice . Scurvy can result from a lack of vitamin C , also known as ascorbic acid. One author indicated that
216-740: Is used as a panacea by Palauans . 25 species are accepted. Phylogenetic analysis shows that Phaleria' s closest related genus is Dais , both of which are members of the Thymelaeoideae subfamily of the Thymelaeaceae family which contains 941 species in 48 different genera according to the Catalogue of Life . The next closest related genera is a clade containing Gnidia , Stephanodaphne , Dirca , Ovidia , Peddiea , Pimelea , Struthiola , Lachnaea , Passerina , and Passerina . This Thymelaeaceae article
243-491: The Alismatales grow in marine environments, spreading with rhizomes that grow through the mud in sheltered coastal waters. Some specialised angiosperms are able to flourish in extremely acid or alkaline habitats. The sundews , many of which live in nutrient-poor acid bogs , are carnivorous plants , able to derive nutrients such as nitrate from the bodies of trapped insects. Other flowers such as Gentiana verna ,
270-533: The Andes —were also staples centuries ago. Oca tubers, ulluku tubers and grain amaranth are other foods that may have been historical Andean staples. Pemmican made from dried meat and fat was a staple of the Plains Indians of North America . Most staple foods are currently produced using modern, conventional farming practices. However, the production of staple food using organic farming methods
297-663: The Prairies where the Sioux herded bison , and the Arctic , where the Sami people herd reindeer . The dominant staple foods in different parts of the world are a function of weather patterns, local terrain, farming constraints, acquired tastes and ecosystems . For example, the main energy source staples in the average African diet are cereals (46 percent), roots and tubers (20 percent) and animal products (7 percent). In Western Europe
SECTION 10
#1732791604080324-1130: The crop foods that they established as staples because, in addition to providing necessary nutrition , they generally are suitable for storage over long periods of time without decay. Such nonperishable foods are the only possible staples during seasons of shortage, such as dry seasons or cold temperate winters, against which times harvests have been stored. During seasons of surplus, wider choices of foods may be available. Staple foods are derived from either plant or animal products that are digestible by humans and can be supplied in substantial quantities. Common plant-based staples include cereals (e.g. rice , wheat , maize , millet , barley , oats , rye , spelt , emmer , triticale and sorghum ), starchy tubers (e.g. potato , sweet potato , yam and taro ) or root vegetables (e.g. cassava , turnip , carrot , rutabagas ), and dried legumes ( lentils and beans ). Animal-based staples include various types of meat (typically livestock and poultry ), fish , eggs , milk and dairy products (e.g. cheese ). Other staple foods include sago (derived from
351-625: The developing world , accounting for roughly 40 percent of the food eaten by half the population of sub-Saharan Africa . Roots and tubers are high in carbohydrates , calcium , and vitamin C , but low in protein . Cassava root , for example, is a major food staple in the developing world, a basic food source for around 500 million people. With economic development and free trade, many countries have shifted away from low- nutrient-density staple foods to higher-nutrient-density staples, as well as towards greater meat consumption . Some foods like quinoa —a pseudocereal grain that originally came from
378-460: The orchids for part or all of their life-cycle, or on other plants , either wholly like the broomrapes, Orobanche , or partially like the witchweeds, Striga . In terms of their environment, flowering plants are cosmopolitan, occupying a wide range of habitats on land, in fresh water and in the sea. On land, they are the dominant plant group in every habitat except for frigid moss-lichen tundra and coniferous forest . The seagrasses in
405-647: The pith of the sago palm tree ), and large, fleshy fruits (e.g. breadfruit , breadnut , coconut and plantains ). Staple foods may also include processed food products (depending on the region) such as olive oil , coconut oil , and sugar . Generally, staple foods are those eaten in bulk that supply energy to humans, predominantly in the form of sugars and carbohydrates , and so are mainly plant-based, as meats and eggs are predominantly protein and fat , though dairy products provide all these. However, not all places are suitable for agriculture , and so pastoralism can be favoured instead, as it has
432-481: The seeds are enclosed within a fruit. The group was formerly called Magnoliophyta . Angiosperms are by far the most diverse group of land plants with 64 orders , 416 families , approximately 13,000 known genera and 300,000 known species . They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem ), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of broad-leaved trees , shrubs and vines , and most aquatic plants . Angiosperms are distinguished from
459-892: The "Big Five" extinction events in Earth's history, only the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event had occurred while angiosperms dominated plant life on the planet. Today, the Holocene extinction affects all kingdoms of complex life on Earth, and conservation measures are necessary to protect plants in their habitats in the wild ( in situ ), or failing that, ex situ in seed banks or artificial habitats like botanic gardens . Otherwise, around 40% of plant species may become extinct due to human actions such as habitat destruction , introduction of invasive species , unsustainable logging , land clearing and overharvesting of medicinal or ornamental plants . Further, climate change
486-499: The advantage that animals can live off of land unsuitable for agricultural crops and consume the local plant matter that is otherwise inedible to humans and convert that into foods - meat , offal , fat , eggs and milk - that humans can eat. Animals can therefore provide staples to human diets in inhospitable ecosystems such as deserts , steppe , taiga , tundra , and mountainous terrains . Specific examples include herding in regions such as Mongolia where sheep are herded,
513-818: The dominant group of plants across the planet. Agriculture is almost entirely dependent on angiosperms, and a small number of flowering plant families supply nearly all plant-based food and livestock feed. Rice , maize and wheat provide half of the world's staple calorie intake, and all three plants are cereals from the Poaceae family (colloquially known as grasses). Other families provide important industrial plant products such as wood , paper and cotton , and supply numerous ingredients for beverages , sugar production , traditional medicine and modern pharmaceuticals . Flowering plants are also commonly grown for decorative purposes , with certain flowers playing significant cultural roles in many societies. Out of
540-659: The flowering plants as an unranked clade without a formal Latin name (angiosperms). A formal classification was published alongside the 2009 revision in which the flowering plants rank as the subclass Magnoliidae. From 1998, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) has reclassified the angiosperms, with updates in the APG II system in 2003, the APG III system in 2009, and the APG IV system in 2016. In 2019,
567-437: The main staples in the average diet are animal products (33 percent), cereals (26 percent), and roots and tubers (4 percent). Most of the human population lives on a diet based on one or more of the following staples: cereals ( rice , wheat , maize (corn), millet , and sorghum ), roots and tubers ( potatoes , cassava , yams and taro ), and animal products such as meat, milk, eggs, cheese and fish. Regional staples include
SECTION 20
#1732791604080594-518: The manner of vines or lianas . The number of species of flowering plants is estimated to be in the range of 250,000 to 400,000. This compares to around 12,000 species of moss and 11,000 species of pteridophytes . The APG system seeks to determine the number of families , mostly by molecular phylogenetics . In the 2009 APG III there were 415 families. The 2016 APG IV added five new orders (Boraginales, Dilleniales, Icacinales, Metteniusales and Vahliales), along with some new families, for
621-461: The nutritional value of some staple foods are negatively affected by higher levels of carbon dioxide , as occurs in climate change . The following table shows the nutrient content of 10 major staple vegetable foods in raw form on a dry weight basis to account for their different water contents. Raw grains are not edible and cannot be digested, so they must be cooked, sprouted, or otherwise prepared for human consumption. In sprouted and cooked form,
648-567: The other major seed plant clade, the gymnosperms , by having flowers , xylem consisting of vessel elements instead of tracheids , endosperm within their seeds, and fruits that completely envelop the seeds. The ancestors of flowering plants diverged from the common ancestor of all living gymnosperms before the end of the Carboniferous , over 300 million years ago. In the Cretaceous , angiosperms diversified explosively , becoming
675-433: The plants rye , soybeans , barley , oats , and teff . Just 15 plant crops provide 90 percent of the world's food energy intake (exclusive of meat), with rice , maize , and wheat comprising 2/3 of human food consumption. These three are the staples of about 80 percent of the world population, and rice feeds almost half of humanity. Roots and tubers, meanwhile, are important staples for over one billion people in
702-568: The spring gentian, are adapted to the alkaline conditions found on calcium -rich chalk and limestone , which give rise to often dry topographies such as limestone pavement . As for their growth habit , the flowering plants range from small, soft herbaceous plants , often living as annuals or biennials that set seed and die after one growing season, to large perennial woody trees that may live for many centuries and grow to many metres in height. Some species grow tall without being self-supporting like trees by climbing on other plants in
729-483: Was coined in the form "Angiospermae" by Paul Hermann in 1690, including only flowering plants whose seeds were enclosed in capsules. The term angiosperm fundamentally changed in meaning in 1827 with Robert Brown , when angiosperm came to mean a seed plant with enclosed ovules. In 1851, with Wilhelm Hofmeister 's work on embryo-sacs, Angiosperm came to have its modern meaning of all the flowering plants including Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons. The APG system treats
#79920