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Rediscovering the Lost Crops of the Incas

By WILLIAM K. STEVENS

Published: October 31, 1989

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/31/science/rediscovering-the-lost-crops-of-the-incas.html?pagewanted=all

HALF a millennium ago in the Andes, on the eve of the Spanish conquest, the Incas created an agricultural wonderland. On irrigated mountainside terraces along the spine of South America, they cultivated an estimated 70 species of crops, almost as many as the farmers of Europe and Asia combined.

And what crops: White, yellow and purple roots that taste like a blend of celery, cabbage and roast chestnuts. Beans that pop like popcorn. Cereal grains containing twice the protein of wheat, rice or corn. Yellow, pink, red and candy-striped tubers. Potatoes with a naturally buttery taste. Potatolike roots with the tartness of sour cream built in. And a whole array of exotic fruits, including one that tastes like papaya, pineapple and banana. Incan storehouses overflowed with three to seven years' supply of such bounty.

The conquistadors destroyed all that. To them the Incas were backward, and they forced the Andean natives to replace crops that had held a valued place for thousands of years with European species like wheat, barley and carrots. With two exceptions, the potato and the lima bean, the lush variety of Andean agriculture sank into obscurity and was lost to the wider world.

Now these ''lost crops of the Incas,'' as a new study by the National Research Council calls them, are being rediscovered and reintroduced around the globe as an exciting and nutritious addition to standard urban diets and a valuable source of agricultural income for the third world.

''This is a fantastic wealth of food crops that has been overlooked by the world for almost five centuries,'' said Noel D. Vietmeyer, the staff director of the study by the council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. ''Some of them can come quickly into wide-scale production,'' he said, and ''become foods on our dinner table.''

A few of the crops, particularly roots, grains and legumes, are thought to have the nutritional content, adaptability and capacity for mass production that could turn them into staple foods like the potato.

But in many cases, much scientific work lies ahead before their potential can be fully developed.

''I think they're fascinating, myself,'' said Dr. Norman Borlaug, the agricultural scientist who in 1970 won a Nobel Prize for developing the high-yield wheat that helped bring about the ''green revolution'' in the third world. ''Given reasonable research,'' he said, some of the Incan plants ''might turn up to have a lot of potential.''

It is ''asking a lot,'' he said, to expect them to compete quickly with established crops ''that have had a lot of research on breeding for 150 years or more.'' But ''we have to look at some of them, at least,'' said Dr. Borlaug, who teaches at Texas A & M University.

A handful of Incan crops are already becoming familiar to urban shoppers in a number of countries. Produce sections of supermarkets and specialty stores in several American cities carry Incan delicacies like the cherimoya, the sweet, juicy fruit with a creamy texture like custard and the papaya-pineapple-banana taste; the tamarillo, or tree tomato; several varieties of multi-colored Andean potatoes; the cape gooseberry, re-named goldenberry by the research council's panel of scientists; the protein-packed grain called quinoa (pronounced keen-WAH), the sacred ''mother grain'' of the Incas, and a small yellow-and-purple fruit, called the pepino, or pepino dulce, that tastes somthing like a honeydew melon.

A number of these items are now being grown in the Western United States, New Zealand and other countries, and are starting to find a market. In Japan, the research council study said, consumers have an ''insatiable appetite'' for pepinos and buy them at prices up to $18 a pound, which are among the highest paid for any fruit in the world. The Japanese offer them as desserts, gifts and individually wrapped, beribboned showpieces. Hot Item for Wholesaler

These developments delight Frieda Caplan, the owner of Frieda's Finest Produce Specialties Inc. of Los Angeles, perhaps the country's largest wholesaler of exotic produce. She was instrumental in introducing the kiwi fruit from New Zealand to America, and now she counts Incan specialties among her hottest products.

Exotic fruits and vegetables are exploding in popularity, she said, They're ''definitely on the ascendancy.'' In the last three years, she said, gross receipts of Frieda's Finest have grown from $11 million to $18 million, and Andean produce is a large part of the reason.

But ''we're just scratching the surface,'' Ms. Caplan said, and indeed, the research council's panel has identified 31 Incan crops that it believes can be successfully introduced around the world. If all were to catch on, scientists say, they would vastly increase the variety of human foods. Although there are at least 20,000 edible plants in the world, and at least 3,000 have been used as food at some time or other, ''only about 100 have been brought up to anything like their potential,'' said Dr. Vietmeyer, ''and only about 20 basically feed the planet.''

Developing Incan crops as staple foods would not only introduce variety, proponents say, but would also reduce the risk of crop failure among other staples. ''When a farmer is able to diversify,'' said Mark Dafforn, a staff associate with the study, ''it makes life safer.''

Unlike other fruits and vegetables from tropical latitudes, the Incan crops, since they flourish at high altitudes, can be grown in cool temperate zones. They are especially promising as potential export crops in mountainous regions not only of South America but also of Asia and Africa, said Dr. Vietmeyer. They can also be grown in industrialized countries ''where the horticultural establishment of the world is concentrated,'' he said. Limitations on Growing

That may prove important, since some of the crops have limitations that must be overcome before they can be successfully introduced outside the Andes. Some, for instance, will not now mature properly in the sunlight of anywhere but the tropics, where day and night are roughly equal.

The council study has outlined the specific research needed to make each crop productive outside the Andes, and scientists believe that bioengineering will enable them to create new and more productive strains of Incan crops that will adapt more readily to other parts of the world. Biotechnology, including transfers of genetic information, ''makes rummaging through nature's pantry become much more profitable,'' said Hugh Popenoe, a scientist at the University of Florida's International Program in Agriculture, who headed the panel of scientists.

Besides Dr. Popenoe, the members of the panel were Steven R. King of the Nature Conservancy in Rosslyn, Va.; Jorge Leon, a Costa Rican plant geneticist, and Luis Sumar Kalinowski, a Peruvian agricultural scientist.

The greatest Andean agricultural success up to now has been the colonization of the planet by the potato. Today it is the world's fourth largest crop after wheat, rice and corn. The conquistadors exempted it from their prohibition because they found it useful fodder for slaves in the silver mines and for sailors on galleons. The galleons took it to Europe, where it suffered all manner of calumny and indignity before becoming established.

Europeans, the study said, considered the potato ''dark, dirty and highly sinister.'' It was said to cause leprosy, syphilis and scrofula, the swelling of lymphatic glands, and peasants would starve rather than submit to the orders of kings to cultivate it. But late in the 1700's, it took hold and revolutionized eating habits across Europe.

Lima beans date back at least 7,500 years in Peru. Exactly how they left the Americas is unknown, but they, too, have become distributed around the world. An Exotic Shopping List

Besides the cherimoya, pepino, goldenberry, tamarillo and quinoa, the study found a number of other ''lost'' Incan crops to be particularly important, promising or interesting. These are a few of them:

Arracacha - A smooth-skinned root that looks somewhat like a white carrot, it delicately combines the tastes of celery, cabbage and roast chestnuts. It is already established in Brazilian city markets and can be produced at half the cost of potatoes. It should be tested in highlands of Africa, India, Southeast Asia and similar regions, the panel said, and is likely to become commonplace in North America, Europe, Japan and other temperate regions.

Ulluco (pronounced oo-YOU-co) - This brightly colored root comes in yellow, pink, red, purple and candy stripes. Its waxy skin is so shiny, the report said, that it seems ''like botanical jewels or plastic fakes.'' Its flesh, which varies from white to lemon-yellow, has a smooth, silky texture and a nutty taste. The future for this crop seems particularly bright. It could be grown in many upland regions of the third world and has already done well in Sri Lanka. It will probably be popular wherever it becomes available, the study said, not least because it looks so beautiful in the market.

Oca - This tuber looks like a stubby wrinkled carrot. Most varieties have a slightly acid taste, leading to their description as ''potatoes that don't need sour cream.'' Oca has become popular in the last 20 years in New Zealand, where it is sold as the ''New Zealand yam.'' New Zealanders serve it with their native dish, roast lamb. It seems especially promising for the highlands of Central America, Asia and Africa, and seems poised to become a commercial crop in warm-temperate areas of Australia, North America, Japan and Europe. Its products could include ''oca chips'' and ''oca fries.'' Naranjilla (pronounced nah-rahn-HEE-ya) - Sometimes called ''the golden fruit of the Andes,'' it is similar to the tomato, but with an orange-yellow color on the outside and green pulp inside. Naranjilla juice is considered the best in the Andes and is preferred by some to orange juice. The fruit can be cooked in pies or made into jellies, jams and preserves. The narajilla has become established as a small-scale crop in Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala. It could become the basis for a new fruit drink flavor in North America, the study said, but needs intensive research on how best to cultivate it.

Nunas or popping beans - The bean counterpart of popcorn. Dropped into hot oil, nunas burst out of their seed coatings. They do not fly into the air like popcorn, but rather ''open like small butterflies spreading their wings,'' the study said. They come in many striking colors and patterns, including white, red and black spotted, and taste somewhat like roasted peanuts. Toasting them requires far less fuel than boiling other beans, making them particularly attractive in third world areas where use of wood for fuel has already made deforestation a problem, and kerosene is expensive. In industrialized countries, they would become a nutritious snack food, with high protein and low starch.