Brassica rapa

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The geographic and genetic origins of B. rapa have been difficult to identify due to its long history of human cultivation. It is found in most parts of the world, and has returned to the wild many times as a feral plant or weed.

Genetic sequencing and environmental modelling have indicated that ancestral B. rapa likely originated 4000 to 6000 years ago in the Hindu Kush area of Central Asia, and had three sets of chromosomes, providing the genetic potential for a diversity of form, flavour, and growth. Domestication has produced modern vegetables and oil-seed crops, all with two sets of chromosomes.{{cite web |last1=Tarlach |first1=Gemma |title=The Deep Roots of the Vegetable That 'Took Over the World' |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/brassica-rapa-vegetable-domestication |website=Atlas Obscura |date=11 June 2021 |access-date=30 June 2021}}{{cite journal |last1=McAlvay |first1=Alex C |last2=Ragsdale |first2=Aaron P |last3=Mabry |first3=Makenzie E |last4=Qi |first4=Xinshuai |last5=Bird |first5=Kevin A |last6=Velasco |first6=Pablo |last7=An |first7=Hong |last8=Pires |first8=J Chris |last9=Emshwiller |first9=Eve |title=Brassica rapa Domestication: Untangling Wild and Feral Forms and Convergence of Crop Morphotypes |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |date=2021 |volume=38 |issue=8 |pages=3358–3372 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msab108|pmid=33930151 |pmc=8321528 }}

Oilseed subspecies (subsp. oleifera) of Brassica rapa may have been domesticated several times from the Mediterranean to India, starting as early as 2000 BC.{{cite book |editor1-last=Prance |editor1-first=Ghillean |editor2-last=Nesbitt |editor2-first=Mark |last1=Sanderson |first1=Helen|date=2005 |title=The Cultural History of Plants |publisher=Routledge |page=72 |isbn=0415927463}} There are descriptions of B. rapa vegetables in Indian and Chinese documents from around 1000 BC.

Edible turnips were possibly first cultivated in northern Europe, and were an important food in ancient Rome. The turnip then spread east to China, and reached Japan by 700 AD.

In the 18th century, the turnip and the oilseed-producing variants were thought to be different species by Carl Linnaeus, who named them B. rapa and B. campestris. Twentieth-century taxonomists found that the plants were cross fertile and thus belonged to the same species. Since the turnip had been named first by Linnaeus, the name Brassica rapa was adopted.{{cite book |publisher=Canola Council of Canada |editor=Phil Thomas |chapter=Canola Varieties |title=Canola Growers Manual |year=2003 |chapter-url=http://www.canolacouncil.org/chapter2.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090712144055/http://www.canolacouncil.org/chapter2.aspx |archive-date=12 July 2009 }}

Many butterflies, including the small white, feed from and pollinate the B. rapa flowers.

The young leaves are a common leaf vegetable and can be eaten raw; older leaves are typically cooked. The taproot and seeds can also be eaten raw, although the seeds contain an oil{{Which|date=October 2024}} that can cause irritation for some people.{{Cite book|last=Benoliel|first=Doug|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/668195076|title=Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest|publisher=Skipstone|year=2011|isbn=978-1-59485-366-1|edition=Rev. and updated|location=Seattle, WA|pages=83–84|oclc=668195076}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons-inline}}
• {{unimelb|Brassica_rapa.html}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20151222075133/http://www.prota4u.org/protav8.asp?h=M4&t=Brassica,rapa&p=Brassica+rapa#Synonyms PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) database record on Brassica rapa L.]

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rapa

Category:Leaf vegetables

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Root vegetables

Category:Space-flown life