This 17th century painting by Giovanni Stanchi shows watermelons remarkably different from modern ones. The picture, created between 1645 and 1672, indicates the existence of watermelons with six triangular holes and a color different from the one we are used to today. Over time, we have selectively created these fruits to have a red fleshy interior - which is actually the placenta. Some people suggested that the watermelon in Stanchi's painting was only immature or without water, but the black seeds indicate that it was, in fact, mature.
The first bananas were probably planted at least 7,000 years ago (possibly 10,000 years ago) in what is now Papua New Guinea. They were also grown in Southeast Asia. Modern bananas came from two wild varieties, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, which have large, hard seeds like those from the photo above. The hybrid version produced the banana we love so much today, with its distinctive shape, very small seeds and a better taste.
Perhaps the most emblematic example of selective breeding is corn in North America, produced from a plant that was barely edible. The wild, shown above, was domesticated for the first time in 7,000 BC and was dried like a raw potato. Today, it's a thousand times bigger than it was 9,000 years ago, and much easier to peel and grow. In addition, 6.6% of it is made of sugar, compared with only 1.9% of its ancestor. About half of these changes occurred in the 15th century, when European settlers began to grow maize extensively.
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