ginny:
> I find this an interesting thought. I can't offhand think of a fruit that
> is unaltered by selective breeding, except for wild berries. How about
> bananas?

Bananas are likely among the most domesticated fruits, having been
cultivated for many thousands of years. Wild bananas are studded with large
seeds and quite starchy (unless very ripe on the stalk) compared to the ones
found in grocery stores. Cultivated bananas are grown/selected from
shoots--much like pineapples (New world origin), but for many thousands of
years more.

> For that matter, what about nuts? Are any of them close to
> original form? Brazil nuts?

Yes. They are all harvested wild in the Amazonia. But usually rancid in
markets. We sampled some fresh ones in Iquitos, Peru, and they tasted more
like chestnuts than brazil nuts found in markets. Not altogether attractive.

> Macadamias?

Most (probably all) nuts available commercially are from grafted trees and
almost always dried at high temps, otherwise they go rancid. We could
harvest hundreds of pounds from our trees but rarely do, because of the
processing involved. Still, it seems the selections for grafting were chosen
because they are easier to harvest, not because they are much different in
flavor.

Pecans from the USA south are supposed to be pretty close to wild, I've
heard.

> Coconuts?

Probably pretty near to the "original state" but also suffer from rancidity
in markets away from growing areas. All cocos I know of are grown from
sprouted "seed" but some varieties are not native. For example, we planted
mostly Samoan dwarfs which are supposedly immune to a coco disease spreading
around the world and are easier to harvest as they grow closer to the
ground--and they produce fruit much earlier than the local Hawaiian (very
high) variety. Nevertheless, it is a native to Samoa and not really breed in
the usual sense.

Cheers,
Kirt