Paper short abstract:

Domestication of plants is an ongoing process inducing many kinds of uses, knowledge and evolutionary trends. Studies of society-plant relationships reveal that the same species can be appreciated and produced in different ways by neighbouring populations. Is the historical evolution of gastronomy a key to understanding evolutionary pressures on domesticates ?

Paper long abstract:

The Lake Chad Basin has a long history of plant-society interactions and is thought to be the cradle of domestication of some major cereals, pulses and tubers, but it is also an area of constant exchanges between a great diversity of ethnolinguistic groups sharing and trading some crops, and knowledge about them, while simultaneously cultivating some gastronomic specialities as a mark of their cultural identity.

The study of plant-Man co-evolution in this biome has not yet led to the discovery of evolutionary trends in humans comparable to the changes induced by the domestication of cattle and its effect on lactose digestion. However, secular trends of the evolution of agricultural systems and historical evolution of taste and food preferences have an impact on domesticated plants populations. Organoleptic features of species and landraces are selected and it affects the evolutionary trajectory as surely as selection for yield. These cultural choices vary according to ethnolinguistic diversity. In this paper, we will discuss the cases of the changing status of the Bambara groundnut - selected for the various colors of its flour ; Sorghum landraces - color or suitability for beer brewing ; millet landraces -seasonality ; and various species of leafy greens - for their taste and glutinous features. Most of the species and landraces are known to most of ethnolinguistic groups, but not necessarily prized for the same features. Some can be intensively cultivated in some places, while remaining adventitious in others and still be in use or actively traded between groups.