Consecuencias del descubrimiento de América en la nutrición: la introducción de nuevos alimentos en Europa / Consequences of the discovery of America on nutrition: the introduction of new foods in Europe

RESUMO

Although there is an increasing number of historical studies on the effects of the discovery of America on Europe, there are still several gaps, specially on the benefits that Europe obtained from indigenous American cultures. This work enlightens the adoption by European cultures, of some foods stuffs commonly used by the inhabitants of the New World, that had great importance for European nutrition. Among these, corn, cacao, potatoes, tomatoes and pepper stand out. Some tropical fruits such as pineapples, eggfruits, cherimoyas, papaya and avocados are important. Spices such as cinnamon and vanilla must also be mentioned