The Possible Use of Acorns in Past Economies of the Southern Levant: A Staple Food or a Negligible Food Source?

Rosenberg, Danny

doi:10.1179/175638008x348025

Cited by 36 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Acorns were typically acknowledged for their high importance to the rural economy as components of animal feeding; however, their nutritional value and high phytochemical contents have raised the interest of many researchers looking for undervalued food to be integrated in the human diet. In addition, an increase in their consumption can have a positive impact at social and economic levels (Rosenberg ).…”

Section: Acorns As An Alternative Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, these fruits are described as a new “healthy food,” containing about 48% to 50% starch, 2% to 5% proteins, and generally a low fat content, presenting a higher nutritional value than cereals (Aguilera and others ; Özcan ; Rababah and others ; Deforce and others ). Their contents in starch and other carbohydrates, as well as fibers, proteins, and vitamins (mostly A and E), make them feasible to be used as an important source of dietary energy (Saffarzadeh and others ; Gea‐Izquierdo and others ; Rosenberg ). Acorn starch, in particular, presents high paste consistency, allowing its use as a food ingredient, especially as thickening and stabilizing agents.…”

Section: Acorns As An Alternative Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Acorns are also considered as good sources of fibers, proteins, and vitamins (mostly A and E) (Saffarzadeh and others ; Gea‐Izquierdo and others ; Rosenberg ), mineral elements (Rakić and others ), and unsaturated fatty acids (Gea‐Izquierdo and others ; Tejerina and others ). All these compounds, in addition to other classes such as sterols or aliphatic alcohols, are dealt with detail in the next sections, with particular focus on the phenolic compounds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A New Age forQuercusspp. Fruits: Review on Nutritional and Phytochemical Composition and Related Biological Activities of Acorns

Vinha

Barreira

Costa

et al. 2016

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

101

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Abstract:The current global food system must adapt to the expected growth of world population (about 9 billion individuals by 2050). This adaptation will probably include an increased consumption of edible wild foods, due to their richness in micronutrients and bioactive compounds, besides providing a cost-effective and sustainable way of improving caloric food security. A striking example of such natural matrices is the Quercus genus, which has the additional advantage of being widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In a traditional sense, Quercus fruits (acorns) were mainly used in animal feeding, despite their potentially important role on the rural economy. But this preconception is changing. In fact, their nutritional value, high contents in phytochemical compounds, biological activity (such as antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, and cardioprotective properties) and use in the treatment of specific diseases (such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, or Alzheimer's disease) have raised the interest in integrating acorns into the human diet. Accordingly, this comprehensive overview was designed to provide an evidence-based review of the literature, with the objective to achieve useful conclusions regarding the nutritional properties, methodologies of extraction, identification, and characterization of a wide variety of bioactive compounds and scientifically validated bioactivities in Quercus species worldwide. The industrial by-products from acorn oil extraction or flour production are also included. Data regarding the analytical techniques, individual compounds, and their bioactivities, are organized in tables. The reported data are discussed and directions for further investigations are suggested, highlighting the use of acorns in food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical applications.

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Section: Acorns As An Alternative Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Acorns As An Alternative Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A New Age forQuercusspp. Fruits: Review on Nutritional and Phytochemical Composition and Related Biological Activities of Acorns

Vinha

Barreira

Costa

et al. 2016

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

101

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“…Several studies have also suggested that acorns were the staple food of semi-sedentary Natufian groups (Bainbridge, 1985;Mason, 1995;Mason and Nesbitt, 2009;McCorriston, 1994;Rosenberg, 2008). The application of optimal foraging models of behavioral ecology for these groups suggests that large acorns could have provided greater energy returns than wild cereals (Barlow and Heck, 2002).…”

Section: The Role Of Acorns and Pine Nuts In The Capsian Dietmentioning

confidence: 94%

First preliminary evidence for basketry and nut consumption in the Capsian culture (ca. 10,000–7500BP): Archaeobotanical data from new excavations at El Mekta, Tunisia

Morales

Mulazzani

Belhouchet

et al. 2015

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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“…Some scholars have, however, questioned the link between the Early Natufian and the Mediterranean zone. Olszewski 35–37 argued that cereal stands would have been more ubiquitous in the steppe zone rather than the forest, while others have argued that the Natufian plant subsistence economy may have been more reliant on acorns than on cereals 38–40 . A recent review of the available archaeobotanical evidence for the Natufian also suggests that cereals were not an important component of the plant subsistence economy 41 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Resolution AMS Dates from Shubayqa 1, northeast Jordan Reveal Complex Origins of Late Epipalaeolithic Natufian in the Levant

Richter

Arranz‐Otaegui

Yeomans

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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The Late Epipalaeolithic Natufian (~14,600 − 11,500 cal BP) is a key period in the prehistory of southwest Asia. Often described as a complex hunting and gathering society with increased sedentism, intensive plant exploitation and associated with an increase in artistic and symbolic material culture, it is positioned between the earlier Upper- and Epi-Palaeolithic and the early Neolithic, when plant cultivation and subsequently animal domestication began. The Natufian has thus often been seen as a necessary pre-adaptation for the emergence of Neolithic economies in southwest Asia. Previous work has pointed to the Mediterranean woodland zone of the southern Levant as the ‘core zone’ of the Early Natufian. Here we present a new sequence of 27 AMS radiocarbon dates from the Natufian site Shubayqa 1 in northeast Jordan. The results suggest that the site was occupied intermittently between ~14,600 − 12,000 cal BP. The dates indicate the Natufian emerged just as early in eastern Jordan as it did in the Mediterranean woodland zone. This suggests that the origins and development of the Natufian were not tied to the ecological conditions of the Mediterranean woodlands, and that the evolution of this hunting and gathering society was more complex and heterogeneous than previously thought.

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The Possible Use of Acorns in Past Economies of the Southern Levant: A Staple Food or a Negligible Food Source?

Cited by 36 publications

References 21 publications

A New Age forQuercusspp. Fruits: Review on Nutritional and Phytochemical Composition and Related Biological Activities of Acorns

A New Age forQuercusspp. Fruits: Review on Nutritional and Phytochemical Composition and Related Biological Activities of Acorns

First preliminary evidence for basketry and nut consumption in the Capsian culture (ca. 10,000–7500BP): Archaeobotanical data from new excavations at El Mekta, Tunisia

High Resolution AMS Dates from Shubayqa 1, northeast Jordan Reveal Complex Origins of Late Epipalaeolithic Natufian in the Levant

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