Some domesticated lower plants in South-east Asian food technology

This chapter discusses particular aspects of South-east Asian food technology. The philosophy underlying the subject of the domestication of lower plants has come under close scrutiny as part of the rapid expansion of research in years into various novel methods of satisfying man&s;s requirement for food in the face of a rapidly increasing world population. The constructive role of micro-organisms under domestication is almost as diverse as that of the higher plants of agriculture. The paddy-straw mushroom can be regarded as a truly "domesticated" plant, although it appeared originally as a growth on the threshing and milling trash of the rice mill. The "plant" is of great antiquity as applied to the micro-organisms of Western food technologies. In a tropical and sub-tropical environment the food preservation methods of chilling and drying are less freely available. For the food technologies and the micro-organisms associated with them the documentation and research is less complete than for the higher plant and animals.

Archaeology · Biology · China · Domestication · East Asia · Geography · Ecology · Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies · Food Science and Nutritional Studies · Heavy Metals in Plants