List of food origins

This is a list of food items by the region of the world they originate or were domesticated in.

Items common to most regions

Vegetables

• Dandelion greens

Fruits

• Coconuts
• Cranberry (species are native to subarctic regions)
• Elderberry (not present in tropical regions)
• Mulberry
• Raspberry (not present in Africa)
• Wild strawberry (not present in Africa)
• Yellow plum (common to tropical regions, excluding North America, Europe, and West Asia)

Meats

• Crab
• Mussels
• Rabbit
• Duck

Seeds/Nuts

• Acorn (not present in Africa and South America)
• Chestnuts (Northern Hemisphere)
• Hickory nuts (species native to East/Southeast Asia, North America, and South Asia)
• Pine nuts
• Walnuts (Northern Hemisphere)

Herbs/Spices

• Wormwood

Other

• Birch syrup (produced from birch trees which are native to Europe, North Asia, and North America)

Africa

East Africa

Grains/Cereals

• Finger millet
• Teff
• Sorghum Originally from Sudan

Vegetables

• Ensete

Fruits

• Watermelon Originally from Northern Sudan.

Seeds/Nuts

• Noug

Other

• Coffee
• Khat

West Africa

Grains/Cereals

• African rice
• Fonio
• Pearl millet

Vegetables

• Cowpea or black-eye peas
• Hausa groundnut
• Pigeon pea
• Yam

Fruits

• Ackee
• Tamarind

Meats

• Guineafowl

Seeds/Nuts

• Kola Nut

Other

• Oil palm

Asia

East and Southeast Asia

Grains/Cereals

• Buckwheat
• Foxtail millet
• Rice

Vegetables

• Adzuki bean (or red mung bean)
• Calabash (or bottle gourd)
• Ginseng
• Lolot pepper
• Radish
• Soybean
• Taro
• Water spinach
• Wax gourd

Fruits

• Che
• Cherry
• Citrus fruits (Citron, Grapefruit, Kumquat, Mandarin, Lemon, Lime, Orange, Pomelo, and Tangerine)
• Doub Palm
• Durian
• Goji
• Goumi
• Hardy Kiwi
• Jambos
• Kiwifruit
• Lanzones
• Lapsi
• Longan
• Loquat
• Lychee
• Mangosteen
• Mock Strawberry
• Peach
• Persimmon
• Pomelo
• Rambutan
• Japanese barberry
• Monkfruit
• Yangmei

Meats

• Chicken

Seeds/Nuts

• Fox nut

Herbs/Spices

• Betel leaf
• Fingerroot
• Indonesian bay leaf
• Kewra
• Saffrol laurel

Other

• Tea
• Hemp

Southern Asia or Indian Subcontinent

Grains/Cereals

• Indian barnyard millet
• Jungle Rice
• Little Millet
• Raishan

Vegetables

• Black gram
• Chamoe
• Cucumber
• Eggplant
• Elephant foot yam
• Horseradish tree
• Ivy gourd
• Moth Bean
• Mung Bean
• Neem
• Pigeon pea
• Snake gourd

Fruits

• Bael fruit
• Bengal Currant
• Burflower-tree
• Ceylon gooseberry
• Indian gooseberry
• Java plum
• Malabar plum
• Wood-apple

Herbs/Spices

• Black pepper
• Cardamom
• Cinnamon
• Curry leaf
• Holy basil
• Indian bay leaf
• Long pepper
• Radhuni
• Turmeric
• Vetiver

Other

• Sal tree

Western Asia or Middle East

Grains/Cereals

• Barley
• Bitter vetch
• Oats
• Rye
• Wheat

Vegetables

• Allium species (chives, garlic, leek, onion, scallions, and shallots)
• Asparagus
• Beet
• Carrot
• Chickpea
• Fava bean
• Lentil
• Lettuce
• Turnip

Fruits

• Apple
• Apricot
• Date palm
• Fig
• Grape
• Jujube
• Plum
• Medlar
• Pomegranate

Meats

• Beef
• Goat
• Mutton
• Pork

Seeds/Nuts

• Almond
• Flax or Linseed
• Sesame

Herbs/Spices

• Asafoetida
• Black caraway
• Coriander
• Dill
• Lemongrass
• Thyme
• Mustard
• Spearmint

Oceania

Australia

Vegetables

• pencil yam

Fruits

• Black apple
• Broad-leaf bramble
• Burdekin plum
• Bush banana
• Cedar Bay cherry
• Cluster fig
• Common apple-berry
• Conkerberry
• Davidson's plum
• Desert fig
• Desert lime
• Emu apple
• Fibrous satinash
• Finger lime
• Illawarra plum
• Kakadu lime
• Kakadu plum
• Karkalla
• Lady apple
• Lemon aspen
• Little gooseberry tree
• Midyim
• Mountain pepper
• Muntries
• Native cherry
• Native currant
• Pigface
• Quandong
• Riberry
• Sandpaper fig
• Snow berry
• Sweet apple-berry
• White aspen
• Wild orange

Seeds/Nuts

• Macadamia

Meats

• Emu
• Kangaroo
• Possum
• Sea turtle

Other

• Aniseed myrtle
• Saltbush
• Witchetty grub

Austranesia and New Guinea

Grains/Cereals

• Job's tears

Vegetables

• Aibika
• Air yam
• East Asian arrowroot (Kudzu)
• Eucheuma (sea moss or gusô)
• Fiji sago palm
• Fiveleaf yam
• Giant swamp taro
• Giant taro
• Highland pitpit
• Indian coral tree
• Joint fir
• Lengkuas
• Lesser yam
• Pako
• The Plentiful fig
• Polynesian arrowroot
• Sea grape
• Ti plant
• Torch ginger
• Ube (purple yam)
• Water chestnut

Fruits

• Antidesma montanum
• Banana
• Bignay
• Bilimbi
• Binukaw
• Blue tongue
• Breadfruit
• Button mangosteen
• Breadnut
• Cempedak
• Dracontomelon costatum
• Dragon plum
• Fe'i banana
• Dye Fig
• Ficus wassa
• Galo
• Golden apple
• Hala Fruit
• Island lychee
• Jackfruit
• Java apple
• Lipote
• Mangosteen
• Marang
• Marata
• Marianas breadfruit
• Millaa millaa vine
• Monkey jack
• Mo'onia fruit
• Mountain apple
• Noni
• Rambutan
• Rattan fruit
• Rukam
• Santol
• Star fruit
• Tal palm
• Tipuho
• Velvet apple
• Water apple

Meats

• Banteng
• Carabao

Seeds/Nuts

• Beach cordia
• Galip nut
• Pao nut
• Pili
• Sea almond
• Tahitian chestnut

Herbs/Spices

• Bitter ginger
• Clove
• Cubeb
• Ginger
• Lemongrass
• Nutmeg tree (origin of Nutmeg and Mace)
• Pangi
• Pandan

Other

• Agar
• Areca nut
• Areng palm
• Betel
• Edible-nest swiftlet
• Jaggery palm
• Kalingag
• Kava
• Nipa palm
• Queen sago palm
• Sugarcane
• True sago palm

Europe

Northern Europe

Grains/Cereals

• Large crabgrass

Vegetables

• Angelica
• Cabbage
• Parsnips
• Kohlrabi

Fruits

• Blackcurrant
• Briançon apricot
• Cloudberry
• Garden strawberry (domesticated variety)
• Gooseberry
• Guelder rose
• Hawberry
• Lingonberry
• Pear
• Red raspberry
• Redcurrant
• Sloe
• Bilberry

Meats

• Domestic Rabbit

Seeds/Nuts

• Hazelnuts
• Rapeseed

Herbs/Spices

• Caraway
• Dill
• Hops
• Tarragon

Southern Europe or Mediterranean

Vegetables

• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Caper
• Cauliflower
• Collard
• Kale
• Peas

Fruits

• Cornelian cherry
• Juniper berry
• Seaberry
• Olive

Herbs/Spices

• Catnip
• Common sage
• Fennel
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Rosemary

Americas

North America

Grains/Cereals

• Amaranth
• Erect knotweed
• Little barley
• Maygrass
• Wild rice

Vegetables

• American Groundnut
• Sunchoke
• Tepary bean
• Dandelion

Fruits

• American persimmon
• American plum
• American raspberry
• Beach plum
• Black cherry
• Black raspberry
• Blackberry
• Blueberry
• Buffaloberry
• Canada plum
• Canadian serviceberry
• Chokecherry
• Desert apricot
• Dewberry
• Eastern may hawthorn
• Fox grape
• Ground plum
• Huckleberry
• Maypop
• Pawpaw
• Red mulberry
• Salal
• Salmonberry
• Saskatoonberry
• Saw palmetto
• Thimbleberry
• Toyon
• Wintergreen

Meats

• Alligator
• Bison
• Turkey (bird)

Seeds/Nuts

• American hazelnut
• Black Walnut
• Pecan
• Sunflower

Herbs/Spices

• American ginseng
• Blue sage
• Coneflower
• White sage

Other

• Maple syrup

Central America and Caribbean

Grains/Cereals

• Maize (corn)

Vegetables

• Common bean or Pole bean
• Jicama
• Prickly pear cactus
• Scarlet runner bean or Butter bean
• Squash species (acorn squash, butternut squash, pumpkin, and zucchini)
• Strangler fig
• Yucca

Fruits

• Acerola
• Avocado
• Black sapote
• Guava
• Lucuma
• Mamey sapote
• Muntingia
• Papaya
• Pitaya (Dragonfruit)
• Prickly pear fruit
• Sapodilla
• Soursop
• Tomatillo

Herbs/Spices

• Achiote
• Allspice
• Blue vine sage
• Chia
• Vanilla

Other

• Agave
• Chicle
• Diviner's sage
• Tobacco

South America

Grains/Cereals

• Quinoa

Vegetables

• Andean lupin
• Arrowroot
• Canna (plant)
• Cassava
• Lima bean
• Oca
• Potatoes
• Sweet potato
• Yacón
• Ulloco

Fruits

• Araza
• Cashew apple
• Cherimoyas
• Chili peppers
• Courbaril
• Feijoa
• Grenadia
• Jabuticaba
• Jelly palm
• Passion fruit
• Pineapple
• Saúco
• Tamarillo
• Tomato
• Quenepa

Meats

• Armadillo
• Alpaca
• Capybara
• Guinea pig
• Llama
• Rhea (bird)

Seeds/Nuts

• Brazil nut
• Cashew
• Peanut

Herbs/Spices

• Anacahuita
• Boldo
• Cocoa bean
• Lemon verbena

Other

• Coca
• Guarana
• Guayusa
• Marcela
• Yerba mate

See also

• List of culinary fruits
• List of culinary herbs and spices
• List of culinary nuts
• List of dried foods
• List of edible seeds
• List of snack foods
• List of vegetables

References