Kiwifruit is a perennial vine of the kiwifruit family, in different regions at home and abroad there are yang peach, sheep peach, hairy peach, vine pear, hair pear, kiwi fruit, kiwi fruit and many other nicknames, "Book of Poetry" and "Erya" recorded in the "CangChu" and "Chondrium" refers to kiwifruit.
China is the world's recognized center of origin of kiwi plants, according to archaeological findings at least more than 20 million years ago in China has appeared kiwi plants (found in 1977 in Tiandong County, Guangxi 2000), human use of kiwi fruit feeding time is very early, there is archaeological evidence that at least 38,000 years ago in the Paleolithic Age has begun to eat wild kiwi fruit (Gui'an New District Gaofeng Town Yankong Village Zhaoguo Cave).
Yichang Kiwi in Hubei Province
Kiwi fruit plant species are extremely rich, the current common commercial kiwi varieties in our market are mainly derived from the Chinese kiwi fruit plant species.
Ripe kiwi fruit is soft and sticky and sweet, because it is rich in vitamin C and a variety of nutrients and trace elements needed by the human body, it is deeply loved by consumers at home and abroad, and has been crowned as the "king of fruits".
Although the time of artificial commercial cultivation of kiwifruit is less than 100 years, it began to be commercially planted in the early 20th century, and the industry was formed in the middle of the 20th century, but the industrialization development is extremely rapid, and after entering the 21st century, kiwifruit has become a veritable mass fruit in terms of planting scale and commercial value.
Jiapei Sunshine Golden Fruit
China, as the country of origin of kiwifruit, is not the first country to commercially grow kiwifruit, although it has the largest planting scale in the world at this stage, but the status of commercial fruits in the international market is not high.
The first country in the world to commercialize kiwifruit is New Zealand, and the best development of the kiwifruit industry at this stage is also New Zealand.
According to jiapei (new Zealand kiwi marketing company) 2021 financial report, the company's total global fruit sales revenue in 2020 reached NZ$3.58 billion, about 16.659 billion yuan.
Wild kiwifruit
Kiwifruit is originally a plant native to China, but it was preemptively planted by New Zealand for tens of billions of industries, which can't help but make a problem arise in many people's minds (it must be a lot of people, I was recently asked this question before writing this article):
Why didn't the ancients in our country grow kiwifruit on a large scale?
If, like peaches and lychees, they have been domesticated since ancient times, and after a long period of artificial domestication, domestic kiwifruit should not lead the world, then there is a market of tens of billions in New Zealand.
Although so, but in fact, the ancients did not plant kiwi fruit is "bitter", today Inong will give you an objective analysis of why the ancients did not grow kiwifruit.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > soft kiwi ancients may not have liked it</h1>
At this stage, kiwi fruit has conquered the hearts of many consumers at home and abroad with its soft sticky and sweet taste.
But at present, the kiwi fruit we eat is artificially bred to meet the taste of consumers, and in ancient times it was just a small wild fruit born in the mountains with a sour taste.
You think I'm going to say that it's because wild fruits taste bad that ancient people didn't grow kiwifruit?
No, imagine which commodity fruit is not domesticated from wild fruit, from "unpalatable" to "delicious".
However, the ancients did not grow kiwi fruit is indeed related to the taste, because the ancients did not like the "soft glutinous" of kiwifruit, saying this is not out of thin air, I will give you a scrutiny.
Kiwi fruit is a berry, and is a typical breath-on-more deformed fruit, when unripe, "Bang Bang hard" taste is very poor, after ripening " soft glutinous" taste is acceptable but not resistant to storage, will soon spoil and deteriorate.
These characteristics make kiwifruit, as a wild fruit, not advantageous over fruits that are more resistant to storage, such as peaches, pears, and apples, so the ancients preferred to grow these fruits.
In addition, we can more directly say that the ancients did not like to eat berries, not only kiwifruit, such as raspberries, hanging hooks, currants, sea buckthorn and many other "soft sticky" berries were rejected by the ancients, and have not been planted on a large scale.
Some friends may say that grapes are also berries, or imported fruits, but it is not the same as "grape wine luminous cup" is widely planted.
What is Chinese's quest for fruit? Whether it is ancient or the present is the first "sweet", the reason why grapes can be planted on a large scale in ancient China is because it is an "imported thing", which has been artificially domesticated before it was introduced to become sweeter. It is no exaggeration to say that if the grape is a native plant in our country, its first day may take a long time at night.
There is a big difference between the eating habits of China and Western countries, for fruits, we prefer "crisp, sweet", which is also recorded in some ancient books, such as the Ming Dynasty Yu Zhenmu's creation of the agricultural book "Book of Planting Trees": "Mulberry on the pear, crisp and sweet" highlights the direction of the ancients domesticated fruit taste.
Wild kiwifruit is neither crisp nor particularly sweet, so this may be one reason why the ancients did not grow kiwifruit.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="40" > kiwi fruit "medicinal" is heavier than "fruity"</h1>
At present, the reason why we can know that the ancients have contacted a certain fruit, the two main ways are archaeological discoveries and written records, of which the "written record" has the most detailed feedback on the characteristics, uses, and planting conditions of the fruit.
Kiwifruit also has many written records in ancient China, but unlike other fruits, there is no praise for its taste, and there is no description of how to cultivate it.
Related written records about kiwifruit, the most frequent occurrence is pharmacopoeia, medical techniques, since the "Materia Medica", almost all ancient pharmacy classics have recorded the medicinal value of kiwifruit.
This means that kiwifruit was an important Chinese medicinal material in ancient times, and some friends will ask, even if the "medicinal properties" of kiwifruit are heavier than "fruity", it is also in demand and should also be planted.
First of all, China has rich wild kiwifruit resources and is quite widely distributed, and collection can meet the demand.
Another point is the deliberate pursuit of "wild" by the ancients, and friends who understand Chinese herbal medicines know that the ancients were accustomed to linking the medicinal properties and efficacy of Chinese medicines to their growth environment.
It is believed that only the Chinese herbal medicine that grows up in the wild collection of heaven and earth essence will have better efficacy and medicinal properties.
Not only the ancients, but still like this, everyone thinks about the current wild ginseng and planted ginseng who has a higher price to understand this truth.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50" > plant characteristics led to restrictions on large-scale cultivation in ancient times</h1>
The ancients cultivated kiwifruit on a large scale, which also had a lot to do with its two botanical characteristics.
First of all, kiwi fruit is a vine plant, in general, the vine fruit tree can only be highly productive, in nature, other plants can be used as kiwi "trellis" for it to climb, and after large-scale planting, it is necessary to artificially build a frame, which undoubtedly increased the difficulty of planting and production in ancient times.
Secondly, kiwifruit is an hermaphrodite plant, the natural pollination rate is low, and the planting of kiwifruit requires a reasonable combination of pollinating male trees or artificial pollination, which also increases the difficulty of planting and production.
In summary, regarding why the ancients did not grow kiwifruit, I talked about 3 points, what reason do you think there is?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > like articles about the three rural areas, agriculture, planting, rural life, plant science and other types, then please pay attention to, like @ Yinong to see the world will continue to share what I know, learn, see to everyone. </h1>
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