EEOB 4240 — Set 7: Other Foods, Food Additives, and Beverages (Weeks 9–10)

[Week 9 – Other Foods] According to the "Healthy Eating Plate," half of each meal should be fruits and vegetables. What do these foods supply that makes them so important?
A. Complete proteins with all essential amino acids
B. Phytochemicals that act as antioxidants
C. Most of the body's daily calories
D. Saturated fats needed for cell membranes

B. Phytochemicals that act as antioxidants
Plant compounds like carotenoids, polyphenols, and vitamins C and E donate electrons to neutralize free radicals, which otherwise cause oxidative stress, inflammation, and illness.

[Week 10 – Beverages] Because tea leaves contain a higher percentage of caffeine than coffee beans, a typical cup of tea has more caffeine than a typical cup of coffee.

False. Tea leaves do have more caffeine by weight (about 2% vs. 1%), but a cup of coffee has about 100 mg and a cup of tea about 50 mg.
Far more ground coffee than tea leaf goes into each cup; a cup of cocoa has about 15 mg, and about 1 gram is an overdose.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Almost every plant part is eaten as a vegetable somewhere. Which vegetable is correctly matched with the plant part we eat?
A. Potato – storage root
B. Broccoli – ripened fruit
C. Artichoke – seed coat
D. Celery – leaf petiole

D. Celery – leaf petiole
Celery stalks are leaf petioles; the potato is a stem (tuber), broccoli is flower stalks and buds, and the globe artichoke is bracts.

[Week 10 – Beverages] Coffee belongs to which plant family, and where is it native?
A. Rubiaceae; eastern Africa
B. Rubiaceae; South America
C. Malvaceae; eastern Africa
D. Malvaceae; South America

A. Rubiaceae; eastern Africa
The earliest use was in Ethiopia, where leaves and fruits were chewed; Malvaceae is the cacao family, and Brazil only became a major coffee producer after the plant was introduced there.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi are best described as:
A. Separate species that were hybridized together
B. One species changed by genetic engineering
C. One species changed by artificial selection
D. Separate species domesticated in different regions

C. One species changed by artificial selection
All come from one wild mustard-family (Brassicaceae) species, with people selecting for different parts: leaves (kale, cabbage), flower buds (broccoli, cauliflower), side buds (Brussels sprouts), or a swollen stem (kohlrabi).

[Week 10 – Beverages] Arab traders kept a monopoly on coffee until the 1600s by boiling seeds before export so they could not sprout. How was this monopoly broken?
A. The Dutch obtained live seeds and started plantations in Java
B. The Portuguese found wild coffee plants growing in Brazil
C. The British smuggled seedlings from Ethiopia to plant in India
D. The Spanish carried seedlings from Yemen to plant in Mexico

A. The Dutch obtained live seeds and started plantations in Java
The Dutch got live seed from Yemen, grew it in Indonesia, and shared it with European botanical gardens; the Dutch and French then took it to tropical America, and Brazil was a major producer by 1729.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Capers, a Mediterranean food from the mustard family, are the plant's small unripe fruits pickled in brine.

False. Capers are flower buds pickled in brine.
They are Mediterranean in origin; the larger "caperberries" sold in jars are the fruits.

[Week 10 – Beverages] Compared with modern full-sun coffee plantations, traditional shade-grown coffee:
A. produces higher yields with less fertilizer
B. allows coffee to grow in frost-prone regions
C. lowers the caffeine content of the beans
D. supports much higher forest biodiversity

D. supports much higher forest biodiversity
Shade-grown coffee keeps the tropical forest canopy with little disturbance, while full-sun methods greatly reduce biodiversity and especially hurt migratory songbirds.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Where is the wild tomato native, and where was it domesticated?
A. Native to Mexico; domesticated in the Andes
B. Native to the Andes; domesticated in Mexico
C. Native to Mexico; domesticated in Mexico
D. Native to the Andes; domesticated in the Andes

B. Native to the Andes; domesticated in Mexico
The name comes from the Aztec (Nahuatl) word "tomatl"; the Spanish brought it to Europe in the 1500s, and it is now central to Old World cuisines like Italian.

[Week 10 – Beverages] As coffee beans are roasted hotter and longer, they become:
A. lighter and drier, with less caffeine
B. darker and oilier, with more caffeine
C. darker and oilier, with less caffeine
D. lighter and drier, with more caffeine

C. darker and oilier, with less caffeine
Longer, hotter roasting also makes beans more flavorful, but roasting too fast scorches the outside and roasting too slow saps the flavor.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Why were Europeans hesitant to eat tomatoes when they first arrived from the Americas?
A. The fruits spoiled during the long voyage
B. The leaves caused rashes like poison ivy
C. The plant resembled poisonous nightshades
D. The fruit was linked to Aztec religious rites

C. The plant resembled poisonous nightshades
The tomato is in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), where most members are poisonous (deadly nightshade, tobacco, jimsonweed), even though the family also gives us peppers, potato, eggplant, and tomatillo.

[Week 10 – Beverages] What processing difference separates black tea from green tea?
A. Black tea leaves are withered and left to oxidize
B. Green tea leaves are fermented longer before drying
C. Black tea leaves are steamed before they are rolled
D. Green tea uses only the terminal bud and one leaf

A. Black tea leaves are withered and left to oxidize
Green tea is steamed right away to stop oxidation, then rolled and dried; oolong is in between (semi-fermented).

[Week 10 – Beverages] Which concern is most associated with modern cacao production in West Africa?
A. Insect pests carried in from South America
B. Loss of wild cacao relatives to hybridization
C. Water pollution from processing fermented pulp
D. Forced labor and child labor on cacao farms

D. Forced labor and child labor on cacao farms
About 2 million children in West Africa (where most cacao is now grown) are affected, along with unregulated pesticide use; fair trade and supply-chain tracking are proposed responses.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Pumpkins and squashes, like watermelon, are members of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) that were first domesticated in Africa.

False. They are in the gourd family, but pumpkins and squashes come from the Andes–Mesoamerica region.
Watermelon is from Africa, melons and cucumbers range from Africa to Australia, and the family also includes the luffa (vegetable sponge).

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Why are apple varieties propagated by grafting onto a rootstock rather than grown from seed?
A. Apple seeds rarely germinate outside Central Asia
B. Apple trees do not breed true from seed
C. Apple seedlings cannot survive cold winters
D. Apple seedlings cannot be pollinated by bees

B. Apple trees do not breed true from seed
Grafting a piece of a desired variety (the scion) onto a strong rootstock keeps that variety's traits; wild apples come from the mountains of Central Asia and spread along the Silk Road.

[Week 10 – Beverages] After harvest, cacao seeds and pulp are piled and fermented for 4–7 days. What does this fermentation accomplish?
A. It separates cocoa butter from cocoa solids
B. It raises caffeine and theobromine levels
C. It softens seeds so they can become nibs
D. It kills the embryo and develops flavor

D. It kills the embryo and develops flavor
Fermentation produces alcohol and acid that penetrate the seed coat and kill the embryo, while enzymes break down stored materials and release the compounds that give chocolate its flavor.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] In the late 1800s, an aphid-like insect from North America destroyed the roots of European wine grapes. How were European vineyards saved?
A. Grafting European vines onto resistant North American rootstocks
B. Replacing European vines with native North American wine grapes
C. Spraying vineyard soils with sulfur-based insecticides each year
D. Moving vineyards to new Mediterranean-climate regions abroad

A. Grafting European vines onto resistant North American rootstocks
The insect was phylloxera; grafting let growers keep the European wine grape, which is still the source of "fine wines."

[Week 10 – Beverages] Champagne gets its bubbles from carbon dioxide that is added to the finished wine just before bottling.

False. Champagne undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle, which traps the carbon dioxide.
True Champagne comes from only one region of France; Spain's cava and Italy's spumante are also double-fermented.

[Week 10 – Beverages] Chocolate was brought to Europe from the Aztec court as a spiced drink but did not catch on right away. What change made hot chocolate popular in Europe?
A. Pressing it into solid bars for easy travel
B. Adding milk to reduce its bitter flavor
C. Removing hot spices and adding sugar
D. Fermenting the seeds to remove the pulp

C. Removing hot spices and adding sugar
The Aztec drink included chili pepper and other spices; once sugar and cinnamon replaced them, hot chocolate became popular from the 1650s, and it stayed only a drink until the early 1800s.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] How did the modern garden strawberry originate?
A. Selection from wild European strawberries eaten since the 1300s
B. A cross of North American and Chilean species made in France
C. Selection from large Chilean strawberries grown in the Andes
D. A cross of European and Asian wild species made in England

B. A cross of North American and Chilean species made in France
The hardy but small North American species and the large but not hardy Chilean species were brought to Europe and crossed accidentally, producing a hybrid (an octoploid).

[Week 10 – Beverages] White chocolate is made from:
A. cocoa butter, sugar, and milk solids
B. cocoa powder, sugar, and milk solids
C. chocolate liquor, sugar, and cocoa butter
D. cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and sugar

A. cocoa butter, sugar, and milk solids
It contains only the fat pressed from cacao, with no cocoa solids; ground nibs make chocolate liquor (baking chocolate when cooled), and adding milk made milk chocolate.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Raw pineapple, papaya, and kiwi keep gelatin desserts like Jell-O from setting. Why?
A. Their acids dissolve the sugar in the gelatin
B. Their fibers absorb the water in the gelatin
C. Their oils coat the gelatin and block gelling
D. Their enzymes break down the protein in gelatin

D. Their enzymes break down the protein in gelatin
Gelatin is an animal protein, and these fruits contain protein-digesting enzymes (bromelain, papain, actinidin), the same reason papaya and kiwi are used as meat tenderizers and digestive aids.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Pawpaw, a fruit tree native to eastern North America and cultivated by Native Americans, is not a major commercial crop because its fruit starts fermenting soon after harvest.

True.
The fruit must be eaten quickly, so it can't be shipped and sold widely; it is becoming popular as a landscape plant instead.

[Week 10 – Beverages] Why do researchers think grapes were domesticated before people began making wine from them?
A. Wild grapes were too small to press for juice
B. Wild grapes had too little sugar to make much alcohol
C. Wild grapes grew far from the first farming villages
D. Wild grapes lacked the yeasts needed for fermentation

B. Wild grapes had too little sugar to make much alcohol
The first fermented drinks were probably made from honey or dates in the Fertile Crescent about 10,000 years ago; wine became popular in ancient Greece and spread to France, Spain, and Portugal.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Mango, cashew, and pistachio all belong to the same plant family as:
A. deadly nightshade
B. juniper
C. poison ivy
D. wormwood

C. poison ivy
The cashew family (Anacardiaceae) includes poison ivy, oak, and sumac, whose urushiol causes skin rashes; some urushiol is in mango peel, so people sensitive to poison ivy should be careful with mangoes.

[Week 10 – Beverages] What step in winemaking mainly determines whether a wine is red or white?
A. When the grape skins are removed relative to fermentation
B. Whether the wine is fermented a second time in the bottle
C. How long the wine is aged in oak barrels before bottling
D. Whether yeast or sugar is added at the start of fermentation

A. When the grape skins are removed relative to fermentation
Skins and seeds come out before fermentation for white wine and after for red, which is how a white "blanc de noirs" Champagne can be made from dark grapes.

[Week 10 – Beverages] Absinthe, flavored with wormwood and anise, was banned in the U.S. and much of Europe in 1915 even though its effects were never clearly shown to be worse than those of other alcoholic drinks.

True.
It was believed to be dangerously addictive and hallucinogenic, but the bans were later lifted, and the U.S. allowed it again in 2007.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] In the botanical sense, a nut is a dry fruit that does not split open and holds a single seed. Which of these is a true nut?
A. Almond
B. Peanut
C. Cashew
D. Hazelnut

D. Hazelnut
Almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, and cashews are seeds inside a drupe, and peanuts are legume seeds; most "nuts" are high in protein, healthy fats, and fiber.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, and limes are ancient hybrids of several wild species. Where did citrus originate?
A. Mediterranean Europe
B. Subtropical Southeast Asia
C. Tropical South America
D. Arid North Africa

B. Subtropical Southeast Asia
Citrus (family Rutaceae) likely began around Yunnan or the Himalayas, has been cultivated for over 4,500 years, and is valued mainly for vitamin C.

[Week 9 – Other Foods] Pine nuts and ginkgo "nuts" are seeds rather than true nuts or fruits, because pines and ginkgo are gymnosperms that do not produce flowers.

True.
Pine nuts are high in fat (about 68%), and ginkgo seeds contain toxic compounds, so they should be cooked or eaten only in small amoun