Fruit & Veges That Looked Very Different 1000 Years Ago

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  • 1/12
    Wild watermelon: The painting which was created between 1645 and 1672, shows swirly shapes in the center that is marked off in six separate sections. Modern watermelons have a lot more edible flesh!
    1/12 Wild watermelon: The painting which was created between 1645 and 1672, shows swirly shapes in the center that is marked off in six separate sections. Modern watermelons have a lot more edible flesh!
  • 2/12
    Watermelons now have a red, fleshy centre. There are now even seedless watermelons. Researchers double the number of chromosomes in traditional melons by adding the chemical colchicine - Photo / iStock
    2/12 Watermelons now have a red, fleshy centre. There are now even seedless watermelons. Researchers double the number of chromosomes in traditional melons by adding the chemical colchicine - Photo / iStock
  • 3/12
    The first bananas may have been cultivated some 7,000 years ago and as early as 10,000 in what is now Papua New Guinea and they have been found to grow in Asia, reported Smithsonian.com. The ancient ancestor of the modern bananas is the Musa acuminate, a plant that had small okra looking pods. This was eventually crossed with Musa balbisiana, which created plantains that eventually produced the bright yellow fruits we have today.
    3/12 The first bananas may have been cultivated some 7,000 years ago and as early as 10,000 in what is now Papua New Guinea and they have been found to grow in Asia, reported Smithsonian.com.

    The ancient ancestor of the modern bananas is the Musa acuminate, a plant that had small okra looking pods.

    This was eventually crossed with Musa balbisiana, which created plantains that eventually produced the bright yellow fruits we have today.

  • 4/12
    The modern day banana has a long history of modification. The ones we buy at the grocery story, may be full blown hybrids but are much tastier and have more nutrients than those our ancestors snacked on - Photo / iStock
    4/12 The modern day banana has a long history of modification. The ones we buy at the grocery story, may be full blown hybrids but are much tastier and have more nutrients than those our ancestors snacked on - Photo / iStock
  • 5/12
    You wouldn't even recognise this wild plant as an eggplant! In the past, these vegetables were be found in all different shapes and sizes such as white, azure, purple and yellow. And some of the earliest ones had spines in the area where they stem connects to the flower.
    5/12 You wouldn't even recognise this wild plant as an eggplant!

    In the past, these vegetables were be found in all different shapes and sizes such as white, azure, purple and yellow.

    And some of the earliest ones had spines in the area where they stem connects to the flower.

  • 6/12
    Through crossbreeding, the spikes are no longer part of the egg plant and it isn’t the orange like shape it once was. Today they are purple! Photo / iStock
    6/12 Through crossbreeding, the spikes are no longer part of the egg plant and it isn’t the orange like shape it once was. Today they are purple! Photo / iStock
  • 7/12
    Wild carrots are unrecognisable today. Found in Persia and Asia Minor around the 10th century, they were purple or white root-like structures. It's seeds made their way as far as Europe about 5,000 years ago and it is still found today in temperate regions.
    7/12 Wild carrots are unrecognisable today. Found in Persia and Asia Minor around the 10th century, they were purple or white root-like structures. It's seeds made their way as far as Europe about 5,000 years ago and it is still found today in temperate regions.
  • 8/12
    The orange vege we know today was domesticated in the 1900s, which started as a golden ball and transformed into the long orange carrot today - Photo / iStock
    8/12 The orange vege we know today was domesticated in the 1900s, which started as a golden ball and transformed into the long orange carrot today - Photo / iStock
  • 9/12
    Wild maize, or corn, has been a staple for human agriculture and has been altered since the beginning of its time. The domestication of corn began with ancient farmers in Mexico, who pinked kernels to plant and noticed not all the plants were the same. For western civilization, the story of corn began in 1492 when Columbus's men discovered this new grain in Cuba.
    9/12 Wild maize, or corn, has been a staple for human agriculture and has been altered since the beginning of its time. The domestication of corn began with ancient farmers in Mexico, who pinked kernels to plant and noticed not all the plants were the same. For western civilization, the story of corn began in 1492 when Columbus's men discovered this new grain in Cuba.
  • 10/12
    Modification has changed the types and amounts of starch corn produces, where it can be grown and the length, size and shape of the entire vegetable - Photo / iStock
    10/12 Modification has changed the types and amounts of starch corn produces, where it can be grown and the length, size and shape of the entire vegetable - Photo / iStock
  • 11/12
    Peaches were first domesticated around 4,000 BC by ancient Chinese, who reported they tasted very earthy and salty. The fruits were only 25 mm in size and had little flesh to chomp on - just about 64 percent of the peach was edible.
    11/12 Peaches were first domesticated around 4,000 BC by ancient Chinese, who reported they tasted very earthy and salty. The fruits were only 25 mm in size and had little flesh to chomp on - just about 64 percent of the peach was edible.
  • 12/12
    Farmers are now selectively breeding peaches, which has produced the same fruit but 64 times bigger, 27 percent juicier and 4 percent sweeter.
    12/12 Farmers are now selectively breeding peaches, which has produced the same fruit but 64 times bigger, 27 percent juicier and 4 percent sweeter.

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The fruit and veges  we eat today would have been unrecognisable to our ancestors, researchers have revealed!

Farmers have been developing new ways to improve their crops since the birth of agriculture some 12,000 years ago, and technologies from selective breeding to genetically modifying plants has been used.

We can't even recognise some of these?!Â