Interspecific hybrids of plants and animals. The most unusual hybrids of vegetables. Examples of plant hybrids
To date, in State Register breeding achievements approved for use, almost two thirds of all zoned tomatoes and white cabbage, most peppers and carrots are hybrids. Thus, heterotic hybrids take the lead in the main vegetable crops.
A real "explosion" in the first generation
From the biology course, we recall that heterosis is a phenomenon that is observed in the first generation when plants are crossed various kinds, lines, varieties and is expressed in increased rates of life development and productivity of hybrids.
Compared to varieties F1 hybrids more productive, more resistant to adverse conditions, diseases, differ high quality fruits. Moreover, heterosis manifests itself in one or more ways. Often hybrids surpass parental plants in their qualities (modern hybrids not only vegetable crops, but also floral, for example, viola, jasmine, petunia and many others.
The first hybrids were obtained by gardener T. Fairchild in 1717 by crossing different types of carnations. Almost all the plants that grow in our garden are the work of modern breeders, which is why most plants propagate vegetatively so that they repeat in daughter plants.
hybrid properties
According to the laws of genetics, extraordinary hybrid properties are retained only in the first generation. If you try to collect seeds from plants of a hybrid of the first generation (F1), then in the next generation (F2) you will get a “bouquet” of various traits, and sometimes new ones appear that the “parents” did not have: plants can be completely fruitless or with different yields , a modified form of a bush, leaf, fruit, and most importantly, the effect of heterosis disappears. Such plants can only be propagated vegetatively.
Therefore, breeders each time get hybrid seeds anew by crossing two or more parental forms specially created for this purpose. And the original parental lines are usually kept secret.
Agronomists were the first to appreciate the advantages of hybrids - greenhouses: hybrids start bearing fruit earlier and get sick less. During the time that tomatoes grow in a greenhouse, the length of the stem can reach five to six meters, while it forms up to 25 ovaries with fruits of 100-115 g each.
Following the agronomists, amateur gardeners “saw through” the hybrids. And since the market turned to hybrids, breeders began to work mainly with hybrids.
Of course, hybrids have disadvantages: the price of seeds is higher than that of varieties (seeds of hybrids are much more expensive than seeds of varieties due to the imperfection of the crossing technique. After all, until recently, crossing had to be done manually;
the impossibility of obtaining them yourself;
high requirements of hybrids for agricultural technology and care.
But who among us can resist hybrids, despite all the difficulties, to enjoy the harvest? Undoubtedly, in the 21st century, heterotic hybrids will, if not drive out, then even more squeeze the seeds of varieties from the market.
Examples of vegetable hybrids
Tomato Bulat F1- a representative of a series of modern hybrids of a new generation, allowing you to get super-yields in open ground and film greenhouses.
Hybrid Bulat F1 is characterized by a combination of many convenient qualities that make it very convenient not only for growing on personal garden plots, but also in order to obtain an early marketable products for market sales. Ultra-early hybrid (from germination to the beginning of fruit ripening 80-85 days, the return of the crop is friendly and long. The fruits are round, red, dense, transportable, tasty. Fruit weight up to 200 g. The yield of this low hybrid reaches 15 kg per 1 sq. m. The brushes of the hybrid are strong, without creases, with five to seven even delicious fruits. Fruits are strong, easily transfer transportation. Recommended for cultivation in open field, and under film shelters.
Pepper hybrid F1 Flaming created specifically for winter-spring and extended rotations. Early ripe - from full shoots to technical maturity fruit passes 101 - 104 days. Standard plant. The fruit is prism-shaped, initially green, ripened - red, the peduncle is slightly pressed into the fruit, the apex is obtuse. The hybrid is resistant to tobacco mosaic virus. The value of the hybrid is in a stable yield over the years. And Flaming has very tasty fruits.
Hybrid white cabbage Sugar loaf F1- late maturing. The hybrid is included in the State Register for the Central, Volga-Vyatka, Central Black Earth regions. From full shoots to the beginning of technical ripeness 130 - 160 days. The leaf is medium in size, dark green with a waxy coating. Heads are round, dense, even, juicy, sweet, high in sugar, with good internal texture, weighing up to 3 kg. Taste qualities high. Used in fresh, culinary processing, late fermentation and winter storage. To accelerate seed germination, improve plant health, and improve fruit set, it is recommended to use specially designed plant growth and development stimulants.
Yoshta, pluot, nashi, broccolini, purple potatoes, yellow watermelon and other good-tasting breeders' successes. Every year, more and more new hybrid fruits and vegetables appear in stores, although until recently, an ordinary banana was a real exotic for a Russian buyer. Hybrids (that is, fruits that were born as a result of interspecific crossing of plants, and not at all as a result of genetic experiments) are quite firmly entrenched on store shelves, and such hybrid fruits as nectarines and miniols, as it seems now, have always been. However, the assortment is, of course, not limited to these two fruits. Let's see the 10 most curious fruits and vegetables that came into being through selection.
Yellow watermelon, from 350 rubles per kg
Energy value: 38 kcal Useful elements: vitamins A, C Where to buy: Avesta Service It looks like an ordinary striped watermelon, only inside it is bright yellow. But in addition to the unusual coloring, this watermelon contains very few seeds compared to the usual one. Such a watermelon was born as a result of crossing a wild watermelon, which is just yellow color(although it is impossible to eat it), with the usual. And now round yellow watermelons are grown in the summer in Spain, and oval ones in the winter in Thailand. By the way, yellow watermelon is especially respected there, because according to Thai beliefs, yellow color attracts money. This watermelon is tender and juicy, though not as sweet as red. In Russia, there are also yellow watermelons, and they come from Astrakhan. For ten years, Sergey Sokolov, head of the melon breeding department of the All-Russian Research Institute of Irrigated Vegetable and Melon Growing, worked on breeding a new variety, until, finally, he was able to get a variety that he called “Lunny”. By the way, Russian variety- unlike foreign ones, it is very sweet and with an exotic aftertaste, about which opinions differ: whether it is a lemon, or a mango, or a pumpkin. It is worth saying that experiments on breeding yellow watermelon have been going on for a long time. For example, Ukrainian breeders were less fortunate than Russian ones. As a result of crossing, they got a hybrid called "kavbuz", which took only the flavor from the watermelon, and went to the rest of the pumpkin. It is best used for making porridge. Purple potatoes, £1.50 per 1.25kg pack
Energy value: 72 kcal Useful elements: B vitamins, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc Where to buy: Sainsbury's You will not surprise anyone with a potato with a yellow, pink or even purple skin. But here's a potato, purple inside - that's what we owe its appearance to scientists from Colorado State University, who worked for a long time on potatoes from the Andean highlands, until they got an outstanding purple. This rich color potatoes owe their high content of anthocyanins, which have antioxidant properties, which, by the way, persist after cooking. More than others, the Purple Majesty variety, which has been widely sold in England for about six months now (the potatoes went on sale on the eve of Halloween), suits the climate of Scotland, where they are now grown. The popularization of an unusual root crop among housewives was facilitated by the English culinary guru Jamie Oliver, who is not afraid to experiment. From such potatoes, an original puree of a rich purple-blue color is obtained; it looks good baked in the company of other vegetables, to say nothing of french fries. Taste purple potato no different from normal. Romanesco cabbage, from 230 rubles per kg
Energy value: 25 kcal Useful elements: carotene, mineral salts, vitamin C, zinc Where to buy: "Globus Gourmet" or "Producttorg" The alien-looking vegetable is a close relative of cauliflower and broccoli, only its pale green inflorescences are not round shape, but cone-shaped and are located on the head in a spiral. By the way, its shape serves as an occasion for jokes. They say that a head of Romanesco fell out of a flying saucer somewhere in Italy, where this cabbage comes from. True story The emergence of Romanesco is more prosaic: it appeared on the general market about 10 years ago, and Dutch breeders served as its popularization, who slightly improved the vegetable, familiar to Italian housewives since the 16th century. Lots of Romanesque useful substances and little fiber, due to which it is easily digested. An important fact for parents who want to force their child to eat cabbage: when preparing Romanesco, there is no characteristic smell of cabbage, which children do not like so much. In addition, the exotic look of the space vegetable will surely make you want to try it. Romanesco can be cooked like regular broccoli - boiled, stewed, added to salads and pasta. An unusual vegetable shines not only in the kitchen, but also in science. Mathematicians argue that the example of Romanesco can explain the geometric concept of "fractal". Pluot, from 942 rubles per kg
Energy value: 57 kcal Useful elements: vitamin C, fiber Where to buy: Azbuka Vkusa (available in late summer) A hybrid of plum and apricot, pluot is named after the first and last syllable of two English words: plum (plum) and apricot (apricot). The rogue, who still went down the drain, has brother- Aprium, which, on the contrary, looks more like an apricot. Outside, pluot can be pink, green, burgundy and purple, and inside - from white to rich plum. The authors of this fruit charge a royalty of about $2 per seedling. It was bred in 1989 at the California nursery Dave Wilson Nursery, where they first grew seedlings of common fruit trees for sale, and then started creating their own varieties. To date, there are eleven varieties of pluot, two varieties of Aprium, one variety of Nectaplam (a hybrid of nectarine and plum), and one variety of Pichplama (a hybrid of peach and plum) in the world today. Pluot is said to make excellent juice, desserts, homemade preparations, and even wine. And when fresh, this is a real delicacy, because pluot is much sweeter than both plums and apricots. Watermelon radish, from $2.97 per bag of seeds
Energy value: 20 kcal Useful elements: vitamin C, folic acid Where to buy: Amazon.com, farmers' markets in the US, UK Watermelon radish seems to have turned inside out - it is not raspberry outside, but inside. From above, it is covered with a white-green skin, which makes it look like a watermelon. In shape and size, this radish is similar to a medium-sized turnip or radish, and its diameter is 7-8 cm. Outside, the radish, as expected, is bitter, and closer to the core it becomes sweetish. However, it is not as crisp and juicy as the regular variety, and is much firmer. Watermelon radish is recommended to be baked, mashed, added to vegetables for frying or salad. Slices of watermelon radish sprinkled with black sesame seeds or black salt look very impressive. In California, this dish is a restaurant hit. For bunches of the best watermelon radishes, buyers go to farmers' markets. In Russia, this vegetable is easy to grow in the country. Yoshta, £9.95 per seedling
Energy value: 40 kcal Useful elements: vitamins C, P, anthocyanins with antioxidant properties Where to buy: GardeningExpress.co.uk , farmers markets in Russia, USA, Germany german words johannisbeere (currant) and stachelbeere (gooseberry). Yoshta berries are almost black in color, the size of a cherry, have a sweet and sour taste, a little knit and pleasantly reek of currants. Michurin dreamed of creating a currant the size of a gooseberry, but without thorns. He managed to bring out a dark purple gooseberry, which was called "Black Moor". Around the same time, Paul Lorenz was working on the creation of a hybrid in Berlin. By 1939, he had grown 1,000 seedlings, from which he intended to choose the best, but the Second World War. And only by 1970, the German scientist Rudolf Bauer managed to create the perfect hybrid. Now there are two varieties of yoshta: "Black" and "Red", brown-burgundy and faded red, respectively. A yoshta bush brings 7-10 kg of berries per season, which are used in desserts, homemade preparations, and even for flavoring soda. Yoshtu is advised to eat with gastrointestinal diseases, to improve blood circulation and remove radioactive substances and heavy metals from the body. Yoshta, like currants, is a rare guest on store shelves, and you can buy it only at farmers' markets. Or collect from a bush grown in your own country house. Broccolini, $2.29 per bunch
Energy value: 43 kcal Useful elements: vitamins A, C, calcium, iron, folic acid, fiber Where to buy: FreshDirect It's hard to believe that Brussels sprouts, Savoy sprouts, broccoli and kohlrabi are related. Recently, an addition happened in the cabbage row. Crossing common broccoli with gailan (Chinese broccoli) resulted in an asparagus-like plant with a head of broccoli on top. Broccolini does not have a sharp cabbage spirit, a little sweet, with a hint of pepper, delicate in taste, reminiscent of broccoli and asparagus at the same time. new vegetable contains a lot of useful substances and is low in calories. In the USA, Spain, Brazil, Asian countries, broccolini is a common side dish. It is usually either lightly fried in oil or served fresh, drizzled with oil. Broccolini feels great in oriental and Italian dishes. For true broccolini aficionados, there is a great job at a farm in Stanthorpe, Australia. For an hour of weeding, picking and tying broccolini into bouquets, the employer offers $17. Nashi, from 119 rubles per kg
Energy value: 46 kcal Useful elements: antioxidants, calcium, phosphorus, fiber Where to buy: Nashi's "Fruit Mail" is a hybrid of an apple and a pear, cultivated for many centuries in Asia. It is also called Asian, sand, water or Japanese pear. A round apple tastes like a juicy, crunchy pear. The color of the fruit is from pale green to orange. An apple pear has an advantage over a regular pear: it is harder, so it better tolerates transportation and storage. It is better to use the fruit solo or in salads, because nashi contains a lot of water, which is not very good for heat treatment. In addition, nashi are served as an appetizer for wine along with grapes and cheese. There are about 10 particularly popular commercial nashes grown in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, France and Cyprus. Yuzu, $1.99 each
Energy value: 30 kcal Useful elements: vitamin C Where to buy: Nijiya Market Yuzu, or Japanese lemon, is a hybrid of mandarin and Ichang papeda (decorative citrus). A yellow or green fruit with a bumpy skin the size of a tangerine has a bright aroma and a sour taste. It has been used by the Japanese since the 7th century, when Buddhist monks brought it to the islands from the mainland. The fruit is also popular in Korean and Chinese cuisine. Yuzu is used in most cases for fragrance. It has an amazing aroma - citrus, with notes of pine needles and floral undertones. Yuzu zest is one of the most popular Japanese spices. It is used for meat and fish dishes, added to miso soup, noodles. Based on the zest, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, jams, syrups, and desserts are made. Sour, flavorful, and not as straight-forward as lemon juice, yuzu juice is used as a vinegar, and it also serves as the base for the popular ponzu sauce. Yuzu is not only used in cooking. This fruit is a member of the Japanese holiday winter solstice which is celebrated on December 22. On this day, adults and children take baths with yuzu fruits, symbolizing the sun. AT hot water the fruit smells even stronger and, according to legend, drives away evil forces. It is believed that after a bath with yuzu, a person will not get a cold for a year, especially if after water procedures have a bite of pumpkin, another symbol of the sun. Domestic animals are also dipped into the yuzu bath, and plants are watered with the remaining water. Yellow beets, $3.49 per bunch
Energy value: 50 kcal Useful elements: folic acid, vitamin A, potassium, fiber Where to buy: FreshDirect It is unlikely that yellow, or, as it is also called, golden beet, will receive recognition at Russian market. Mind incomprehensible yellow borscht, beetroot, vinaigrette, herring under a yellow fur coat. But the Americans, far from Russian kitchen traditions, on the contrary, do not get enough of the yellow beets - they do not get dirty when cooked. To taste, this vegetable practically does not differ from the usual one. The same sweet, fragrant, ready to make friends with any product - from cheese and smoked meats to citrus fruits, it is good in baked form and even in chips. Yellow beet leaves can be used fresh in salads. The twentieth century has given rise to a host of new hybrids: in poultry farming, fish farming and cattle breeding. And there is no end in sight...
From time immemorial, man has been creating hybrids of plants and animals. The most ancient in the practice of animal husbandry are hybrids of a horse with a donkey (mule, hinny) and a zebra (zebroid), a one-humped camel with a two-humped (nar), a yak and a zebu with a large cattle. In pig breeding, hybridization of domestic pigs with wild boar is practiced to improve adaptability to local conditions. And then there are ligers and tigers.
Snail or plant?
A few years ago, a message appeared about the found hybrid of a plant with an animal. It was about a sea snail, whose length is three centimeters, living on the Atlantic coast of North America. This miracle organism was discovered by a group of scientists from US universities and South Korea and named Elysia chlorotica. These sea snails live off solar energy: They eat plants and have the ability to photosynthesize.
Found a hybrid of a kind of gelatinous green plant. It looks like a piece of wood and has some of its potential thanks to the algae genes it consumes. Not only does the snail receive chloroplasts - intracellular organelles plant cell where photosynthesis takes place, allowing plants to convert sunlight into energy, it still stores them in its cells located along the intestines. The genomes obtained along with the chloroplasts are integrated into the sea slug's own DNA, allowing the animal to produce the proteins the "stolen" chloroplasts need to keep going.
The most curious thing is that if the snail feeds on algae for the first time (two weeks), then for the rest of its life (on average, its duration does not exceed a year), it may not consume food. So far, scientists have not been able to reveal all the secrets of this strange creature. Nevertheless, they published a number of observations and conclusions in the journals of the American Academy of Sciences.
Two in one
The discovery of a hybrid of a plant with an animal caused a sensation in the scientific world, but the idea of crossing animals with animals of similar species dawned on mankind many years ago. A classic example of hybridization is the mule, a hybrid of a mare and a donkey.
This is a strong, hardy animal that is used in much more difficult conditions than parental forms. The mule owes this to a phenomenon called heterosis by scientists and observed both in domestic animals and in plants: during interbreeding or interspecific crosses, hybrids of the first generation experience a particularly powerful development and increase in viability.
Domestic dogs may mate with other species indiscriminately. A significant part of the resulting hybrid animals - wolfdogs - has well-marked signs of tolerance, that is, tolerance for humans. In addition, all wolfdogs are emotionally very restrained. They have much more physical endurance than dogs. They quickly master the area with obstacles, shots and explosions do not frighten them. When trained, they very quickly understand and learn what is required of them, and, in addition, they undoubtedly have an excellent instinct. So, the speed of detecting a conditional offender in caches during a search of an object does not exceed one minute for them, while for dogs it is 1.5-4 minutes with a standard of up to 6 minutes.
Of course, wolf-dogs are not as impressive as ligers and tigers, but they bring more benefits to humanity.
Raised in captivity
From numerous experiments, scientists have concluded that hybrids almost always appear in captivity as a result of unnatural living conditions or artificial insemination. An example of this is the majestic liger - a hybrid of a male lion and a female tiger. The liger is the largest member of the cat family. And the tigrolev (a cross between a male tiger and a female lion), or a tigro, on the contrary, has a tendency to dwarfism and is usually smaller in size than its parents. Male ligers and tigers are sterile, while females can sometimes bear offspring. One tiger lived from 1978 to 1998 in India, the other died at the age of 24 in 2003 at the Beijing Zoo. At the American Institute for Protected and rare species in Miami, there lives a liger named Hercules, whose height at the withers is 3 m. The first ligren appeared in the Novosibirsk Zoo in 2004, and then two more ligers were born.
A leopard is the result of crossing a male leopard with a female lion. His head is like his mother's, and his body is like his father's. But there are also hybrids of hybrids - these are crossbreeds between a male tiger and a female liger, a tiger or a male lion and a female liger, a tiger. Such second-level hybrids are extremely rare and are mostly privately owned.
Development of interest
The beginning of the big cat breeding process dates back to the days when zookeepers wanted to get as many strange creatures as possible to attract the public. Hybridization has its origins in the 1800s, when zoos were roving menageries designed to make a profit, not to conserve animal species.
In India, for example, interbreeding was first recorded in 1837, when a princess of the Indian state of Jamnagar presented a big cat hybrid to Queen Victoria. Despite the fact that all these giant feline hybrids invariably attract zoo visitors, many scientists believe that this way of hybridization is hopeless and even harmful. In any case, there is no practical benefit from such hybrids, while they themselves are prone to disease and early death.
And what to expect from a strange snail, science and life will show.
More and more often, more and more new types of fruits and vegetables appear on store shelves, striking with their exotic look and taste variety. We present to your attention what the miracles of selection are capable of! As well as unusual varieties vegetables and fruits that you probably have not seen yet!
Watermelon radish, from $2.97 per bag of seeds
Watermelon radish seemed to turn inside out - it is not raspberry outside, but inside. From above, it is covered with a white-green skin, which makes it look like a watermelon. In shape and size, this radish is similar to a medium-sized turnip or radish, and its diameter is 7-8 cm. Outside, the radish, as expected, is bitter, and closer to the core it becomes sweetish. However, it is not as crisp and juicy as the regular variety, and is much firmer.
Pluot, from 942 rubles per kg
A hybrid of plum and apricot, pluot is named after the first and last syllable of two English words: plum (plum) and apricot (apricot). The pluot, who still went into the plum more, has a sibling - the aprium, which, on the contrary, looks more like an apricot. Outside, the pluot can be pink, green, burgundy and purple, and inside - from white to rich plum. They say that a pluot makes excellent juice, desserts, homemade preparations, and even wine. And when fresh, this is a real delicacy, because pluot is much sweeter than both plums and apricots.
Romanesco cabbage, from 230 rubles per kg
The alien-looking vegetable is a close relative of cauliflower and broccoli, only its pale green inflorescences are not round, but cone-shaped and arranged in a spiral on the head. Romanesco has a lot of useful substances and little fiber, due to which it is easily digested. An important fact for parents who want to force their child to eat cabbage: when preparing Romanesco, there is no characteristic smell of cabbage, which children do not like so much. An unusual vegetable shines not only in the kitchen, but also in science. Mathematicians argue that the example of Romanesco can explain the geometric concept of "fractal".
Purple potatoes, £1.50 per 1.25kg pack
You will not surprise anyone with potatoes with yellow, pink or even purple skins. But here's a potato, purple inside - that's something new. We owe its appearance to scientists from Colorado State University, who worked for a long time on potatoes from the Andean highlands until they got an outstanding purple color. Potatoes owe this rich color to the high content of anthocyanins, which have antioxidant properties, which, by the way, remain after cooking. From such potatoes, an original puree of a rich purple-blue color is obtained, it looks good baked in the company of other vegetables, let alone french fries. The taste of purple potatoes is no different from the usual.
Yellow watermelon, from 350 rubles per kg
It looks like an ordinary striped watermelon, only inside it is bright yellow. But in addition to the unusual coloring, this watermelon contains very few seeds compared to the usual one. Such a watermelon was born as a result of crossing a wild watermelon, which is just yellow (although it is impossible to eat it), with an ordinary one. This watermelon is tender and juicy, though not as sweet as red. There are also yellow watermelons in Russia, and they come from Astrakhan. By the way, the Russian variety - unlike foreign ones - is very sweet and with an exotic flavor, about which opinions differ : whether it's a lemon, or a mango, or a pumpkin.
Yoshta, £9.95 per seedling
To give the name to the love fruit of currant and gooseberry, joste, two German words johannisbeere (currant) and stachelbeere (gooseberry) were combined. Yoshta berries are almost black in color, the size of a cherry, have a sweet and sour taste, a little knit and pleasantly reek of currants. There are two varieties of yoshta: “Black” and “Red”, brown-burgundy and faded red, respectively. A yoshta bush brings 7-10 kg of berries per season, which are used in desserts, homemade preparations, and even for flavoring soda. Yoshtu is advised to eat with gastrointestinal diseases, to improve blood circulation and remove radioactive substances and heavy metals from the body.
Broccolini, $2.29 per bunch
It's hard to believe that Brussels sprouts, Savoy sprouts, broccoli and kohlrabi are related. Recently, an addition happened in the cabbage row. Crossing common broccoli with gailan (Chinese broccoli) resulted in an asparagus-like plant with a head of broccoli on top. Broccolini does not have a sharp cabbage spirit, a little sweet, with a hint of pepper, delicate in taste, reminiscent of broccoli and asparagus at the same time. The new vegetable contains a lot of useful substances and is low in calories.
Nashi, from 119 rubles per kg
Neshi is a hybrid of apple and pear, cultivated for many centuries in Asia. It is also called Asian, sand, water or Japanese pear. A round apple tastes like a juicy, crunchy pear. The color of the fruit is from pale green to orange. An apple pear has an advantage over a regular pear: it is harder, so it better tolerates transportation and storage.
Yuzu, $1.99 each
Yuzu, or Japanese lemon, is a hybrid of mandarin and Ichang papeda (decorative citrus). A yellow or green fruit with a bumpy skin the size of a tangerine has a bright aroma and a sour taste. Yuzu is used in most cases for fragrance. It has an amazing aroma - citrus, with notes of pine needles and floral undertones. Yuzu zest is one of the most popular Japanese spices. It is used for meat and fish dishes, added to miso soup, noodles. Based on the zest, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, jams, syrups, and desserts are made. Sour, flavorful, and not as straight-forward as lemon juice, yuzu juice is used as a vinegar, and it also serves as the base for the popular ponzu sauce.
Yellow beets, $3.49 per bunch
It is unlikely that yellow, or, as it is also called, golden beets, will be recognized on the Russian market. Mind incomprehensible yellow borscht, beetroot, vinaigrette, herring under a yellow fur coat. But the Americans, far from Russian kitchen traditions, on the contrary, do not get enough of the yellow beet - it does not get dirty when cooked. This vegetable practically does not differ in taste from the usual one. The same sweet, fragrant, ready to make friends with any product - from cheese and smoked meats to citrus fruits, it is good in baked form and even in chips. Yellow beet leaves can be used fresh in salads.
Mangosteen, 456 rubles per kg
Mangosteen fruits are the size of a small apple topped with a crown of leaves. The thick, dark brown rind is firm to the touch and swells slightly when pressed if the fruit is sufficiently ripe. Sometimes, like outer surface the fruit, and inside it there are secretions of yellow-green color. Inside the fruit there are 6-8 snow-white, less often orange slices with very sweet, jelly-like, fragrant, melt-in-your-mouth pulp. Each lobule contains a seed.
Mangosteen is mainly used fresh as a dessert.
Kivano, 161 rubles. a piece
Kiwano is called as soon as - and horned melon, and African cucumber, and English tomato. This creeping plant is native to Africa and belongs to the melon and cucumber family. Kiwano is also cultivated in California and New Zealand. The plant is famous for its unusually beautiful fruits. The fruits are yellow in shape slightly reminiscent of a melon, but dotted with conical, pointed growths. The flesh is intense green, strewn with edible seeds.
Kiwano has a sweet and sour taste, reminiscent of either cucumber, or melon, or passionflower, or lime or banana. It cannot be called characteristic or pleasant, but there are many ways to use the kiwano - not only in cooking, but also as a decorative element.
Akki, $15 per 1 kg
Akki is the national fruit of Jamaica. He was brought from West Africa, and now it is well grown in Jamaica and brings large yields. Quite a large beautiful evergreen tree, whose dimensions can be easily limited by regular cropping. It can bear fruit twice a year, especially abundantly in summer. When fully ripe, the fruit splits open to reveal a juicy, creamy, nut-like core attached to large glossy black seeds. The fruit is poisonous until it naturally opens.
They are the final result of crossing different types of flora. In the process of crossing animal species proceeds without human intervention, while plants are hybridized by scientists who want to achieve a certain goal. So, thanks to hybrid varieties, vegetables give increased and are able to quickly adapt to various climatic conditions. In addition, hybrid plants are more resistant to changes in weather conditions.
Today, hybrid products are grown almost everywhere, and most varieties of peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes are grown by hybridization.
However, this method has its own. Hybrid plants are either sterile, or their seeds will not produce the same improved fruits, which is directly related to the splitting of characters. However, anyone can independently breed a hybrid plant that can be useful on the farm and, perhaps, become a new sensational agricultural species.
How to breed a hybrid
Cross-pollination is well tolerated by zucchini, pumpkin and squash. Therefore, in order to get a new hybrid variety should plant a few different types any of these vegetables in close proximity to each other. Insects will pollinate them, transferring pollen from one plant to another - and the result is likely to be a previously unseen squash or squash.
Hybrid plants do not always take from their "parents" the most best qualities- often they give a small and nondescript crop in all respects.
You can also breed a hybrid variety of strawberries, but here you will already need to seriously put your hands on it. It is necessary to pluck fully mature inflorescences of hybridizing plants, collect pollen from them with a soft brush and carefully place it on the stigmas of experimental plants. Each pollinated flower must be placed in a transparent individual bag and tied with a string.
To get a strawberry hybrid, you need to wait until the berries are fully ripe, pick them and dry them to get seeds. For sowing, only small strawberry seeds are taken, which usually crunch on the teeth and get stuck in them when eating strawberries or strawberry jam. They are sown as seedlings to obtain a hybrid variety of this delicious wild berry.