Plants

Despite health concerns, settlers ate corn, and explorers and traders eventually brought it to Europe.

Wild varieties, whose fruits have a sour taste, are used in industry to obtain crystalline citric acid.

Rapeseed is currently grown in many countries around the world, in temperate and subtropical climates.

Although corn naturally contains niacin (nicotinic acid, vitamin B3, vitamin PP), it was not bioavailable without the process of nixtamalization (soaking and cooking the grain in an alkaline solution, usually lime water, washing and husking).

Flowers grow solitary on long stems.

Roasted asparagus seeds are a coffee surrogate.

Curcumin contained in turmeric shows an anti-cancer effect inside the infected cell.

In Europe, Spain dominates olive production.

It can survive long periods of drought (xerophyte). It is an adaptation to Mediterranean conditions (250 to 500 mm of annual rainfall). However, it needs 500 to 550 mm of annual rainfall to bear fruit. 

World production of table olives in 2016/2017 was 2.899.500 tons.