F A 0 food supply data for 146 countries were analyzed to identia the plant commodities that account for the top 90% of each country'sper capita supply of foodplants by weighs calories, protein, and fat. The plant commodities were divided into two groups: species commodities, such as "cabbages, '' that can be attributed to particular species; and general commodities, such as "bydrogenated oils," whose species composition is not known. A total of 82 species commodities and 28 general commodities contribute 90% of national per capita supplies of food plants. The 82 species commodities consist of 103 species. Fifty-six of these commodities, comprising 75 species, individually account for 5% or more of at least one county's supply of a nutritional category (plant weight, plant calories, plant protein, plant fag. These figures are several times higher than previous finaings that very few (7-30) plant species feed the world. The new figures are considered more accurate because they derive j k m national supply rather than global production datq and from several separate measures of the importance of a food commodity rather than one. The results suggest that ( I ) plant species diversity remains a significant factor for world food supply; and (2) a conservation priority is to maintain both this wider away of species and the diversity of genetic variants that comprise each species.Resumen: Los datos de la F A 0 sobre abastecimiento de alimentos para 146paises, f u m n analizados para identifcar la mercaderia vegetal que comprende el 90% tope do abastecimiento per capita de alimentos vegetales en peso, calon'as, proteinas y grasas. La rnercaderia vegetal fue dividida en dos gtwpos: mercadm'a por especie como las "coles" que sepueden ubicar dentro de un taxa deplanta en particular It is often stated that very few plants feed the world today. Common figures in the literature range from seven plant species providing 75% of human nutrition (Office of Technology Assessment 1987) to 30 plant species supplying 95% of human nutrition (McNeely &
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.