12th IFDC 2017 Special issue – Foods from Latin America and their nutritional contribution: A global perspective

Abstract

Before the Spaniards conquered America in 1492, several ancient cultures and empires – the Aztec, Maya, Inca, and Mapuche, among them – already inhabited the two continents and had made important advances in the arts and sciences as well as in architecture, astronomy, agriculture and the domestication of crops. These peoples lived according to their own rules and in harmony with their magnificent natural setting. More than 500 years have passed, and Latin America still hosts significant biodiversity reserves in terms of world flora and fauna. This natural storehouse represents a great value and enormous wealth for future generations. Different kinds of fruits, roots, tubers, seeds and spices assured not only good health and survival for the ancient civilizations, they were also foods with symbolic importance for the people who consumed and cultivated them, and this biodiversity has been maintained over the centuries until the present day. Today many of these indigenous and symbolic foods that originated in Latin America are more widely produced and consumed on other continents than in their land of origin. This is the case for the 21 foods and one spice presented in this Keynote Address: beans, cacao, cashew, corn, peanuts, quinoa, sunflowers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava or yuca, avocados, chili peppers, pumpkins, tomatoes, cherimoya, guava, nopal, papaw, passion fruit, pineapple, strawberries and vanilla. These foods have contributed significantly not only to modifying traditional meals in other countries, but have improved nutrition and health worldwide through their natural macro- and micronutrients and bioactive compounds.