# Produce (fruits & veggies) question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863 "2021-12-29T17:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/1 "2021-12-29T17:21:03Z")
What fruit or veggie that I might find in my local grocer’s produce section most closely resembles its pre-cultivated/ unaltered-by-humans state? (Hope that makes sense) ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/2 "2021-12-29T18:26:22Z")
Do you mean what fruit or vegetable currently available at your local store is most like the native variety it was derived from? My WAG would be a mushroom. I don’t think most are very different from the wild varieties they came from… but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/3 "2021-12-29T18:30:31Z")
Another option might be cactus. > **[Nopal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nopal)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Nopal (from the Nahuatl word nohpalli \[noʔˈpalːi\] for the pads of the plant) is a common name in Spanish for Opuntia cacti (commonly referred to in English as prickly pear), as well as for its pads. > There are about 114 known species in Mexico, where it is a common ingredient in numerous Mexican cuisine dishes. The nopal pads can be eaten raw or cooked, used in marmalades, soups, stews and salads, as well as being used for traditional medicine or ... ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/4 "2021-12-29T19:04:03Z")
I’ve seen wild asparagus, and it looks the same as what you’d find in the store. I’m not positive whether there’s a flavor difference between cultivated and wild, but I don’t _ **think** _ so…? [![](https://boulderlocavore.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC_1730-1.jpg) ](https://boulderlocavore.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC_1730-1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/5 "2021-12-29T19:08:38Z")
Coconut? ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/6 "2021-12-29T19:13:01Z")
Here is a video on how certain fruits and vegetables have changed over the years. [Common Foods In Their Originally Undomesticated Forms - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOfM2_saOdU) ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/7 "2021-12-29T19:16:56Z")
I am guessing figs. Also missing Colibri, who would have probably known the answer ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/8 "2021-12-29T19:47:05Z")
Brazil nuts must be up there (assuming we’re allowing nuts). > In 2019, global production of Brazil nuts (in shells) was 78,256 tonnes, most of which derive from wild harvests in tropical forests, especially the Amazon regions of Brazil and Bolivia which produced 91% of the world total. > **[Brazil nut | Production](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_nut#Production)** > > In 2020, global production of Brazil nuts (in shells) was 69,658 tonnes, most of which derive from wild harvests in tropical forests, especially the Amazon regions of Brazil and Bolivia which produced 92% of the world total (table). j ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/9 "2021-12-29T20:20:03Z")
Since this is the Dope, I shall nitpick, and point out that a mushroom is neither a fruit nor a vegetable! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/10 "2021-12-29T20:28:00Z")
Though it is sold in the produce section, at least in my supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/11 "2021-12-29T20:32:11Z")
Further pedantic nitpick: “If they sold your grandmother in the produce section of your supermarket, would that maker her a fruit or vegetable?” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/12 "2021-12-29T20:32:37Z")
Have you met my grandmother? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/13 "2021-12-29T20:36:05Z")
Unless she’s been in prison or alcohol/drug rehab, probably not. I have GOT to get out more . . . The local wild raspberries and strawberries are pretty similar to the cultivated ones in shape and taste, they’re just smaller ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/14 "2021-12-29T20:38:22Z")
Another possibility, edible seaweed, though that’s algae (and also not sold in the produce section where I live). It’s an interesting question, as many or most produce items are _very_ different from their wild origins. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/15 "2021-12-29T20:48:17Z")
That’s true. It’s a fungus, but since I buy my mushrooms in a grocery store as opposed to a fungus store I thought it still counted. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/16 "2021-12-29T20:51:44Z")
I have, on occasion, seen dandelion greens in the grocery store (though usually only either in the hippie co-op grocery store, or special ordered). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/17 "2021-12-29T22:51:44Z")
The Incas and Aztecs were apparently eating something (in appearance, anyway) similar to today’s cherry tomatoes as long ago as 700 AD. Swiss physician and botanist Gaspard Bauhin in his magnum opus “Pinax Theatri Botanici” in 1623 described a tomato with fruit like cherries, so they date back quite a ways, no matter what the Israelis claim. There’s also a variety you can currently grow called Matt’s Wild Cherry, a wild-collected tomato from Mexico. Whether it’s a genuine wild tomato or an escape from a cultivated variety, I don’t know. > **[Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Saving the Past for the Future](https://www.southernexposure.com/products/matt-s-wild-cherry-tomato/)** ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/18 "2021-12-29T22:59:21Z")
I’ll bite - what do the Israelis claim? Dan ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/19 "2021-12-29T23:02:38Z")
Given that uncontrolled volunteer tomatoes usually yield cherry-sized fruit, I would have guessed that that was what the wild type was like. Were cherry tomatoes supposedly invented in Israel? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863/20 "2021-12-29T23:17:32Z")
I know only that the Hebrew word for “tomato” is from the same root as “buttocks.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/produce-fruits-veggies-question/956863.md?page=2)