This Is What Our Favorite Vegetables and Fruits Looked Like in the Past

Are you someone who loves to have all kinds of fruits and veggies around? You’re not alone, and it’s a great idea, as they come with so many nutrients and vitamins we need to thrive. Still, things have come a long way since they were first discovered and utilized.

That’s right; while wonky vegetables might be something many of us are turning toward to stop food waste, several fruits and vegetables used to look entirely different all those years ago. The way our favorite vegetables and fruits looked in the past might have you wondering why we ever ate them.

All images are for illustration purpose only*

Carrots used to be a lot thinner and paler than their modern-day orange counterparts

Carrots are a part of plenty of people’s everyday diets - even if we don’t realize it. They’re hidden in plenty of sauces and condiments, but things weren’t always the way they are now. Instead, it’s believed carrots became a thing around the 10th century when they were grown in the Asian and Persian empires of the time.

While they have largely been replaced with the larger, bright orange variants that we are so used to today, there are still some ancient carrots left dotted around the world. If you’re lucky enough to find one, you’ll likely see they are typically thin, white vegetables that grow with much larger tops than the carrots on so many vegetable patches.

Kale wasn’t quite as leafy as it is nowadays

Did you know that kale is actually a cultivar of cabbage? You might have guessed throughout the years, as both vegetables can often look extremely similar. Kale has become hugely popular over the past few years, with many giving it a superfood title as one of the healthiest leafy greens on the market. Still, it wasn’t always that way.

The kale we have on offer was pretty different from the kale that was cultivated for food in 2,000 BCE, as this kale was less leafy and more sparse in terms of its head and foliage. It looked more like a garden weed than a vegetable and has since been bred into leafy forms, such as curly kale.

Bananas used to have large seeds that made them tough to eat

If you’re partial to the odd banana or two, then you’re probably used to the fact you can usually peel off the skin with no issues and eat it straight from the natural casing. Yet, if you lived on this planet 7,000 years ago, your banana-eating experience likely wouldn’t have been quite so easy.

That’s because modern cultivation has transformed them into easy-peel fruits with tiny little seeds due to the fact that they were bred from two ancient forms of wild bananas. These wild bananas featured extremely tough skins that would have been impossible to pull apart like we do today, as well as large seeds that took up most of the flesh.

Eggplants were once yellow in color and a lot rounder

If you’re someone who loves to mix things up with your recipes or those who prefer to avoid meat and need an alternative, there are plenty of reasons that eggplants have become some of the most popular choices. The distinctive taste is no longer reserved for those in certain areas of the world as eggplants are available across the planet.

Still, things weren’t always this way. Before they became the talk of the emoji town, eggplants were bred in China. They were much smaller than the ones we see today, and were far more yellow than purple. As if that wasn’t enough, oblong eggplants weren’t really a thing. Instead, they were little spheres – almost like yellow tomatoes.

Strawberries now are much larger and come with far dewar spikes

Nowadays, it seems as though strawberries are just getting bigger and bigger. In fact, we’ve lost count of the number of people who have posted a picture of a giant strawberry on their social media accounts. This is because the need for fast and constant strawberries is leading to GMO strawberries and varying farming practices.

If you were to go back in time or grow your own strawberries at home, you would be able to see that wild and uncultivated strawberries are actually pretty different in their appearance. Not only are they much smaller than the strawberry we know and love today, but they also come complete with some rather cool spikes.

Corn used to be barely edible, meaning it had to be domesticated and altered

Did you know that the corn we know and love today couldn’t be any more different from the sweetcorn of the past? While the exact history of corn is still debated today, many experts suggest that it was first domesticated in 7,000 BCE by Native Americans. It was also thought to be a bid to make food more edible.

The teosinte plant - now known as corn - was once used by people across the region. Featuring around a dozen kernels in an extremely hard and dry casing, this corn was then cultivated and domesticated, where it underwent huge physical changes. Today, it’s a whopping 1,000 times larger than it was when it first came into our lives.

Apples might have been the first cultivated tree, but that hasn’t stopped them from changing

Many of the apples we eat today are cultivated in China, but they are also grown across the world in various different forms. Most are grown in organic orchards, while others are grown with non-organic additions that help them to grow faster and larger. Still, no one is entirely sure how long apples have been a part of our lives.

However, many experts suggest the apple tree was one of the first trees to be cultivated. After all, many have heard of the story of Adam and Eve. The apples that would have existed thousands of years ago would have been much smaller than the ones we eat today, as human interference has resulted in an increase in size.

Potatoes used to vary in shape and size a lot more than they do today

What would we do without potatoes? This vegetable can be cooked in so many ways, and they are a staple ingredient in so many cuisines worldwide. Yet, when this vegetable first made its mark on the world, potatoes were teeny tiny. They were the size of a small berry and were often extremely different in terms of their appearance.

Some were spotted, some were smooth, some were rough, and they were all kinds of shapes and sizes. Wild potatoes like this can still be found away from cultivated soil and modern farms, and you can try them out for yourself. Either that or you could stick to the larger potatoes you can buy from the store.

Papaya was forced to adapt if it was going to survive

Although many of the fruits and vegetables we enjoy have changed due to the human desire for fast-growing and larger fruit, the papaya has been genetically modified over the years for the sake of its health. That’s because this fruit is at high risk of disease and destruction when the papaya ringspot virus is involved.

Through research and scientific advancement, these plants can now be saved to ensure that they grow delicious and healthy fruit. One side effect of this is the fact that this fruit is now much larger than its ancient ancestors. Still, plenty would rather keep papaya in any form than see it lost to Mother Nature.

Tomatoes used to look more like small berries than the giant fruit they are today

Nowadays, you can head to the store and pick up some of the largest and juiciest tomatoes you’ve ever seen. They are now a staple ingredient within the fruit and vegetable world, and there are so many different variations. This is all thanks to domestication and GMO farming, which has allowed these tomatoes to grow from their once-tiny size.

Yes, it’s believed that tomatoes first reared their heads in South America around 700 BCE. During that time, they looked like tiny little berries that grew on a vine. You can still buy wild tomatoes today if you fancy taking a break from the larger tomatoes you take home on a regular basis, with plenty of options available.

Cabbage was nowhere near as leafy as the modern vegetable

If you walked past the ancient version of cabbage in the wild, would you know it was a cabbage? We’re gonna hazard a guess and say that plenty of people wouldn’t. Yet, this is what cabbage looks like in the wild and what our ancestors used to eat before this vegetable was domesticated for bulk consumption.

It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of cabbage, but the first variation of wild cabbage supposedly made an appearance in Britain and the rest of Europe. With thin stalks and leaves, this cabbage is unlike the dense cabbages we buy in the grocery store. These particular varieties are grown in designated cabbage fields and tended to for optimum yield.

Grapes aren’t too different but have increased in size significantly

Farming has come a long way over the years, but that’s not all that has changed. Being able to transport plants around the world now means that we can enjoy fruits and vegetables that would have once been nothing more than a myth. Take grapes. They originated in the Middle East somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 years ago.

While they might not be completely unrecognizable, grapes have changed from the ancient fruit. Grapes still grew on a vine, with each individual fruit coming in around the size of a blueberry. Now? They can be almost the size of some of our thumbs, thanks to genetic modification and targeted growing practices used across the globe.

Mangoes increased in size to keep up with the demand for the fruit

Many people love exotic fruit, which is why mangoes are becoming increasingly popular. They are sweet and sour and are delicious on their own or blended into a smoothie. Most of the time, many don’t even think about the size of a mango in the store because we are so used to seeing the same multicolored fruit.

However, mangoes weren’t always this size. This fruit can be traced back to India around 2,000 BCE, and it’s now become one of the biggest exports from the country itself. Due to the demand, what were once fairly small mangoes have since been cultivated to be much larger to keep mango lovers across the world satisfied.

Plums might have been one of the first domesticated fruits

While they might not be to everyone’s taste, plums have still earned a secure part in many people’s fruit bowls over the years. Amazingly, they might have been around longer than many people realize. That’s because it’s thought plums were one of the first domesticated fruits in the world, with ancient civilizations thriving on the sweet addition.

It’s been noted that plums were found across the world as far back as the Neolithic Age around 6,000 years ago and have since become much larger. In fact, they were once as small as grapes. While it doesn’t seem there’s much of a difference in taste, wild plums might look a little confusing at first.

Avocados were once overtaken by their pits, leaving little edible flesh

As a favorite of several millennials across the world, the avocado fruit has celebrated a resurgence in popularity over the past few years. It seems as though more and more people are enjoying the soft and versatile flesh of an avocado. What’s a delicious piece of toast without a smashed avocado or two to spice things up?

Avocados we buy today do have a large pit, but there is still a huge amount of flesh to enjoy. However, this wasn’t the case during around 3,000 BCE. These fruits were much smaller, and the avocado pit actually took up approximately 80% of the fruit. Since then, it’s been bred for customers to get more for their money.

Everything about growing and cultivating celery has changed

When you think of celery, what comes to mind? There’s a chance it’s those thick, leafy stalks that stand out against the rest of the vegetable aisle. If you’ve ever wondered how it’s grown, that’s by the plant sticking out of the ground, with the bottom of the stalk buried underground. Sadly, our ancestors didn’t get to enjoy this wonder.

That’s because wild celery is an underwater plant that grows in ribbon-like leaves and flourishes in moist conditions. It will often grow out of the water into an extremely tall and spindly plant, but this was later bred to create the variation of garden celery we eat today. After all, you can’t dip thin ribbons of celery in hummus.

Paintings have helped us to understand the changes in watermelons

There’s no doubt about the fact that a watermelon requires a huge amount of preparation. Not only do you have to put in a large amount of effort in terms of the cutting and slicing, but you then have to remove the seeds. Of course, it’s now possible to buy watermelons without any seeds in them at all.

Still, modern watermelons are a far cry from the watermelons of the 17th century. Historians have learned about ancient watermelons from a painting by Giovanni Stanchi, which depicts a watermelon with swirled sections in the middle. Since then, humans have bred this fruit to have a fleshy interior that is much larger, much juicier, and much redder in color.

Lemons had to be cultivated to look more appealing to people

If you’ve ever wandered across a tree and seen wrinkled yellow spheres growing from it, you might have had the pleasure of seeing a wild lemon. How about that? While they can still be found across the globe, lemons have been cultivated and bred to have the soft and flawless skin we know them to have today.

Yet, back in the day, this just wasn’t the case. These lemons featured a rough and ready skin that made them look more like a brain than a type of fruit. As more and more people began to grow and farm this fruit, they were transformed into something that was more pleasing to the eye.

Ancient cucumbers were covered in spikes and reserved for the upper class

Can you imagine a cucumber with thorns? Amazingly, these cucumbers can still be found in the wild if they’re away from modern cultivation that’s changed their size and their spikiness. It’s believed cucumbers can be traced back to India around 4,000 years ago, where this member of the gourd family was used to treat all kinds of illnesses.

Many people believed that it could cure bad eyesight, cure scorpion bites, and even aid pregnancy. Although it was largely eaten by the upper class, it soon made its way down the ladder and into everyday life. Now, cucumbers are everywhere, but you don’t have to worry about pricking your tongue while you eat them.

Peach skin is now edible, and the fruit has lost its salty taste

Let’s be honest; you just can’t go wrong with a peach. While you do have to make your way around the stone, there’s still a huge amount of sweet flesh for you to sink your teeth into. However, it wasn’t always this way. The ancient peach can be traced back to around 4,000 BCE, but things have changed.

The biggest difference between ancient and modern peaches is all down to the skin. While we can eat the soft skin of a peach, our ancestors would have struggled to bite through the hard and waxy skin of the wild peach. These wild peaches were also around 64 times smaller - less than an inch in height - and slightly salty.