The New Zealand bracken fern rhizome, Pteridium esculentum (G.Forst): a toxic food plant of pre-European Māori

IF 1.1 3区 历史学 Q2 ANTHROPOLOGY
Foss Leach, Janet Davidson, Michael Burtenshaw, Graham Harris, Tony Tomlin, Paul Davis
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引用次数: 2

Abstract

The two species of bracken fern, Pteridium esculentum and Pteridium aquilinum, are well known to produce neoplastic lesions and thiamine deficiency when consumed by mammals, with severe consequences to health. New Zealand Pre-European Māori are known to have consumed rhizomes of P. esculentum as food with little or no recorded consequences to health. Processing methods by Māori prior to consumption may have helped to detoxify this food. We carried out LDH toxicity tests on rhizomes that had been pre-processed before simulated digestion to test this possibility. We tested rhizomes harvested each month of the year, different components of the rhizome, both raw and roasted rhizomes, rhizomes stored for up to 12 months, and rhizomes leached for up to 24 hours. All specimens remained equally toxic within experimental error. We carried out a detailed analysis of nutrients in bracken rhizome and compared this with kūmara, Ipomoea batatas, another important food plant for pre-European Māori, and found that bracken rhizome has c. 70% of the caloric value of kūmara. A cost/benefit analysis of the two plants suggested that the reward for effort is greatest for kūmara by a modest amount. Analysis of historic ethnographic observations relating to bracken rhizome from AD 1769 to the 1840s provides complex and contradictory evidence of the role of bracken rhizome in the Māori economic system. Although there is clear evidence that Māori greatly favoured chewing rhizomes, this fondness may result from the presence of one or more plant secondary metabolites (PSM), such as ecdysone, which are known to be addictive. Our analysis of the evidence favours the plant being essentially a famine food, filling in the period between planting and harvest of kūmara, known as the ‘hungry gap’ between October and April in the southern hemisphere. However, it would also have provided an important source of food for travellers, as fern-lands are widespread. Our analysis of archaeological information did not produce unequivocal direct evidence of bracken rhizome consumption. However, the presence of extreme tooth wear and a unique pattern of first molar dislocation, attributed to the use of teeth to strip starch from rhizomes, has been shown to be present at all periods of New Zealand prehistory. This is contrary to the finding of some other researchers.

新西兰的蕨类根状茎,Pteridium esculentum(G.Forst):一种前欧洲毛利人的有毒食物植物
众所周知,两种蕨类植物翼蕨(Pteridium esculentum)和翼蕨(Pteridium aquilinum)在被哺乳动物食用后会产生肿瘤病变和硫胺素缺乏,对健康造成严重后果。据了解,新西兰前欧洲人Māori曾将蛇根茎作为食物食用,很少或没有记录对健康造成影响。食用之前Māori的加工方法可能有助于这种食物的解毒。我们对模拟消化前预处理的根茎进行了LDH毒性测试,以测试这种可能性。我们测试了一年中每个月收获的根状茎,根状茎的不同成分,生的和烤的根状茎,储存长达12个月的根状茎,以及浸出长达24小时的根状茎。在实验误差范围内,所有标本的毒性都是相等的。我们对蕨菜根茎中的营养成分进行了详细的分析,并将其与kūmara、Ipomoea batatas(前欧洲的另一种重要食物植物Māori)进行了比较,发现蕨菜根茎的热值为kūmara的约70%。对这两种植物的成本/收益分析表明,kūmara的努力回报最大,但差距不大。对公元1769年至1840年代有关蕨菜根茎的历史民族志观察的分析,提供了复杂而矛盾的证据,证明蕨菜根茎在Māori经济体系中的作用。虽然有明确的证据表明Māori非常喜欢咀嚼根茎,但这种喜好可能是由于一种或多种植物次生代谢物(PSM)的存在,例如蜕皮激素,这是已知的上瘾物质。我们对证据的分析表明,这种植物本质上是一种饥荒食物,填补了从播种到收获kūmara之间的时期,在南半球被称为10月到4月之间的“饥饿间隙”。然而,它也为旅行者提供了重要的食物来源,因为蕨类植物遍布各地。我们对考古资料的分析并没有产生明确的直接证据表明人们食用了蕨菜根茎。然而,极端的牙齿磨损和独特的第一磨牙脱位模式的存在,归因于使用牙齿从根茎中剥离淀粉,已被证明存在于新西兰史前的所有时期。这与其他一些研究人员的发现相反。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
1.80
自引率
0.00%
发文量
24
期刊介绍: Archaeology in Oceania is published online and in print versions three times a year: April, July, October. It accepts articles and research reports in prehistoric and historical archaeology, modern material culture and human biology of ancient and modern human populations. Its primary geographic focus is Australia, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and lands of the western Pacific rim. All articles and research reports accepted as being within the remit of the journal and of appropriate standard will be reviewed by two scholars; authors will be informed of these comments though not necessarily of the reviewer’s names.
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