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Non-cereal crops are dominated by pulses (large-seeded legumes) and root crops, such as potatoes and yams. With their higher protein content and nitrogen-fixing ability, pulses complement cereals both agronomically and nutritionally, and are found in all regions of grain-based agriculture. Pulses were collected by hunter gatherers for many millennia before being domesticated in the Near East at about the same time as the early cereal crops, with non-dormant lentils dating from 11,000-9,000 BP, and non-shattering peas and lentils from 8,800-8,500 BP. Several bean species were domesticated in Eurasia and the Americas with Phaseolus spp being major staples throughout the latter continent. In all cases, the primary domestication traits were loss of dormancy, non-shattering pods, thin-coats, and increased seed size. As root crops, potatoes were selected primarily for low levels of toxins and large tuber size rather than for seed-related traits as in cereals and legumes.

In this chapter, the formation, structures, and properties of a series of thermoplastic starch/ poly(vinylalcohol)(PVOH) nanocomposites with layered silicates are discussed. The relative concentrations of PVOH and layered silicate could be related to changes in intergallery spacing and formed a highly ordered intercalated structure. Dispersion of clay platelets was shown to be important in improving mechanical properties in these nanocomposites as was the interfacial interactions of filler and matrix (the more agglomerated composites containing both layered silicate and PVOH led to enhanced tensile strength and tensile modulus as compared to the more well dispersed composites without PVOH). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the thermoplastic starch and starch nanocomposites indicated a range of hydrogen bonding environments were produced between starch chains, PVOH and layered silicates during the extrusion processing stage. The evolution of distinct crystalline phases with ageing is also discussed.

It has been seen that starch bio-nanocomposite systems are complex systems that are tuneable via type of nanofillers, design of nanofiller geometry (size, shape), design of nanofiller surface chemistry, starch type and modification, starch–plasticiser–nanofiller interactions, and processing conditions. These parameters have major effects on structure, processibility, final mechanical, thermal, barrier and other properties, and biodegradation of starch nanocomposites. If these interactions are well controlled, and the desired structure and hence final performances are achieved, starch bio-nanocomposites offer great promise to extend the application of starch-based polymers into wider more demanding applications.

In the first chapter of this book, we noted the “dark age” of nearly forty years separating the work of Bray and Lotka in the early 1920s and the discovery of the BZ reaction in the late 1950s. Remarkably, the history of nonlinear chemical dynamics contains another gap of almost the same length. In 1952, the British mathematician Alan Turing wrote a paper in which he suggested that chemical reactions with appropriate nonlinear kinetics coupled to diffusion could lead to the formation of stationary patterns of the type encountered in living organisms. It took until 1990 for the first conclusive experimental evidence of Turing patterns to appear (Castets et al., 1990). Turing was a formidable figure (Hodges, 1983). He was responsible for much of the fundamental work that underlies the formal theory of computation, and the notion of a “Turing machine” is essential for anyone who wishes to understand computing and computers. During World War II, Turing was a key figure in the successful effort to break the Axis “Enigma” code, an accomplishment that almost certainly saved many lives and shortened the war in Europe. His 1952 paper, entitled “The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis” was his only published venture into chemistry, but its impact has been enormous. Recently, this classic paper has been reprinted along with some of Turing's unpublished notes on the origins of phyllotaxis, the arrangement of leaves on the stems of plants (Saunders, 1992). In this chapter, we shall describe the nature of Turing patterns and some of the systems in which they may play a role, explore why they have been so elusive, examine the experimental systems in which they have been demonstrated, and consider other systems and other methods for generating them. Much of our discussion will focus on the chlorite-iodide-malonic acid (CIMA) reaction in which the patterns were first seen. In the study of Turing patterns, the CIMA system and its relatives play much the same role today that the BZ reaction played during the 1960s and 1970s in the study of chemical oscillation.

In traditional cuisine, soups and sauces are thickened with starch-based ingredients, such as wheat flour. Although it is possible to obtain a similar degree of thickening in soups and sauces with nonstarch polysaccharides—such as guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, and carboxymethylcellulose—the mouthfeel and flavor are often not as good as traditional starch-based ingredients. This chapter explains why this is so. Solutions of nonstarch polysaccharides have poor mixing behavior which results in the following: taste molecules, particularly salt and sugars, will remain in the poorly mixed solution and be swallowed before their concentration equilibrates with saliva in the mouth, resulting in inhibited saltiness or sweetness. If a viscous solution mixes poorly with saliva, it will dilute very slowly, giving an undesirable mouthfeel, which can be described, depending on the polysaccharide, as slimy, mouth coating, clingy, and the like.

Laundry was the process by which the hygienic function of linen—as required by propriety and medicine—was regularly renewed. Chapter 9 surveys the process of washing linens (washing, bucking, drying, starching, ironing) and the tools and resources it required (water, boilers, soap, irons, clothes lines, etc). Inventories reveal which tools and materials for laundry early modern English people owned and in what spaces this work was done. Household accounts document the necessary consumables (soap and starch), how frequently and in what quantities these were purchased, and what these patterns tell us about laundry.

Research work at the site of Canímar Abajo in northern Cuba, one of the rare Cuban sites investigated through systematic, large scale excavations, has yielded exciting new data that contribute to our understanding of two major themes in circum-Caribbean archaeology: 1. the timing of first migration to the Greater Antilles as well as the origins of the first settlers; and 2. the nature and timing of the origins of resource production in the Caribbean. The discovery of starch grains of maize (Zea mays), common bean (Phaseous sp.), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and cassava (Manihotesculenta) in dental calculus from burials at this site have important implications for discussions on food production in the Neotropics. Research results indicate that a community of people practicing a subsistence regime of fishing, gathering, hunting and plant cultivation was already established in the area of the Canímar River estuary by 1200 BC. It is argued that the first migrants most likely crossed to the Greater Antilles from mainland Central America well before 1200 BC, and brought cultivated species originating in Mexico (maize and beans) and in Central America (sweet potato) with them.

Understanding the importance of plant food in the subsistence of local populations has been greatly enhanced by the study of starch grains that are specific to the Caribbean. Plants constituted an important part in the diet of the pre-Hispanic populations of Cuba in their various stages of development. However, weather conditions have not in general allowed the preservation of their traces in archaeological sites that would enable researchers to reconstruct nutritionary intakes of the past populations. As a result, a new method in analysis of food residues on artifacts made of stone, as well as in sediments, ceramics, and other materials, can make an important contribution in our understanding of the dietary activities of archaeological populations. Furthermore, understanding changes that the plant starch undergoes during thermal and mechanical processing is an important empirical tool for future analyses. In this chapter, the authors examine the criteria that can be used in the identification and analysis of starch grains of phaseolus (common bean) in archaeological record.

Our diet affects our physiology. People who can drink milk as adults have evolved different physiologies from those who cannot. The same is true of people who live on starch. Only the Japanese can digest seaweed, again for essentially the same reason, namely adaptation. Peoples from different regions are differently susceptible to a variety of drugs, including alcohol. Genetic differences underlie several of the contrasting susceptibilities, but the degree to which this variation is due to adaptation or chance mutation still has to be determined. Arctic peoples' ability to eat amounts of fat that would probably make others ill is explained not by genes, but by a lifetime of a fatty diet, along with, in the past, a healthy lifestyle.

Henry W. Blair based part of his program for reform upon his appreciation for the land and people of the White Mountain region of New Hampshire. He came to recognize that the southern Appalachian region shared many of the same characteristics and that this region helped to justify many of his legislative initiatives.

Chapter 2 describes conversion of cellulose to useful products in the 19th century (rayon, celluloid, guncotton) and the role of glucose in its chemical structure. The preparation of candy floss (cotton candy) is described and how the method is relevant to spinning synthetic fibres. The composition of sugar and the composition of foods is explained. In particular, the distinction among starch, sugar, carbohydrates, monosaccharides, and polysaccharides is made. Conversion of crops to bioethanol is described.