Custard Apples belong to South America, or India?

Custard Apples belong to South America. A recent excavation in a small town in Uttar Pradesh has unearthed custard apple seeds there. The seeds date to the Neolithic era—3rd-2nd century bc. Is it possible then that there existed some kind of communication between India and South America?

Researchers who carried out the study say yes. “We found one whole seed and three to four broken seeds,’ says A Pokharia of Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleoethnobotany, Lucknow. The study was carried out in Tokwa, an archaeologically important site in Mirzapur district. The seeds had heavy carbon coating. Based on radiocarbon dates of other Neolithic sites in the region, the author concluded that the seeds belonged to the 3rd-2nd century bc. The study was published in Current Science (Vol 94, No 2).

There are other studies that say that the Portuguese introduced custard apples in the East in the 16th century ad. Pokharia refutes such claims. Continue reading »

Filed under Agriculture, India, News | Tags: History, Horticulture, India, Mirzapur, Seeds, South America, Uttar Pradesh | Comment (0)