Astaple food,food staple, or simplystaple, is afood that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standarddiet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction ofenergy needs and generally forming a significant proportion of the intake of othernutrients as well.[1] Forhumans, a staple food of a specificsociety may be eaten as often as every day or every meal, and most people live on a diet based on just a small variety of food staples.[2] Specific staples vary from place to place, but typically are inexpensive or readily available foods that supply one or more of themacronutrients andmicronutrients needed for survival and health:carbohydrates,proteins,fats,minerals andvitamins.[1] Typical examples includegrains (cereals andlegumes),seeds,nuts androot vegetables (tubers androots). Among them,cereals (rice,wheat,oat,maize, etc.),legumes (lentils andbeans) andtubers (e.g.potato,taro andyam) account for about 90% of the world's food calorie intake.[1]
Earlyagriculturalcivilizations valued thecrop foods that they established as staples because, in addition to providing necessarynutrition, they generally are suitable for storage over long periods of time without decay. Suchnonperishable foods are the only possible staples during seasons of shortage, such asdry seasons or coldtemperate winters, against which times harvests have been stored. During seasons of surplus, wider choices of foods may be available.
Staple foods are derived from eitherplant oranimal products that are digestible by humans and can be supplied in substantial quantities. Common plant-based staples includecereals (e.g.rice,wheat,maize,millet,barley,oats,rye,spelt,emmer,triticale andsorghum),starchytubers (e.g.potato,sweet potato,yam andtaro) orroot vegetables (e.g.cassava,turnip,carrot,rutabagas) and driedlegumes (lentils andbeans).[3] Animal-based staples include various types ofmeat (typicallylivestock andpoultry),fish,eggs,milk anddairy products (e.g.cheese).[2] Other staple foods includesago (derived from thepith of the sagopalm tree),[4] and large, fleshyfruits (e.g.breadfruit,breadnut,coconut andplantains). Staple foods may also includeprocessed food products (depending on the region) such asolive oil,coconut oil andsugar.[5][6][7]
Generally, staple foods are those eaten in bulk that supplyenergy to humans, predominantly in the form ofsugars andcarbohydrates, and so are mainly plant-based, asmeats andeggs are predominantlyprotein andfat, thoughdairy products provide all these. However, not all places are suitable foragriculture, and sopastoralism can be favoured instead, as it has the advantage that animals can live off of land unsuitable foragricultural crops and consume the local plant matter that is otherwise inedible to humans and convert that into—meat,offal,fat,eggs andmilk—that humans can eat. Animals can therefore provide staples to human diets in inhospitableecosystems such asdeserts,steppe,taiga,tundra andmountainous terrains. Specific examples includeherding in regions such asMongolia wheresheep are herded, thePrairies where theSioux herdedbison, and theArctic, where theSami people herdreindeer.[8][9][10]
The dominant staple foods in different parts of the world are a function of weather patterns, local terrain, farming constraints, acquired tastes andecosystems. For example, the main energy source staples in the average African diet are cereals (46 percent), roots and tubers (20 percent) and animal products (7 percent). In Western Europe the main staples in the average diet are animal products (33 percent), cereals (26 percent) and roots and tubers (4 percent).
Most of the human population lives on a diet based on one or more of the following staples: cereals (rice,wheat,maize (corn),millet andsorghum), roots and tubers (potatoes,cassava,yams andtaro) and animal products such as meat, milk, eggs, cheese and fish. Regional staples include the plantsrye,soybeans,barley,oats andteff.
Just 15 plantcrops provide 90 percent of the world'sfood energy intake (exclusive of meat), withrice,maize andwheat comprising 2/3 of human food consumption. These three are the staples of about 80 percent of the world population,[11] and rice feeds almost half of humanity.
Roots and tubers, meanwhile, are important staples for over one billion people in thedeveloping world, accounting for roughly 40 percent of the food eaten by half the population ofsub-Saharan Africa. Roots and tubers are high incarbohydrates,calcium andvitamin C, but low inprotein.Cassava root, for example, is a major food staple in the developing world, a basic food source for around 500 million people.
With economic development and free trade, many countries have shifted away from low-nutrient-density staple foods to higher-nutrient-density staples, as well as towards greatermeat consumption.
Some foods likequinoa—apseudocereal grain that originally came from theAndes—were also staples centuries ago.[12]Oca tubers,ulluku tubers andgrain amaranth are other foods that may have been historical Andean staples.[13]Pemmican made from dried meat and fat was a staple of thePlains Indians of North America.[14]
Most staple foods are currently produced using modern,conventional farming practices. However, the production of staple food usingorganic farming methods is growing.
| World production, 2012[16] | Average world yield, 2010 | World's most productive countries,[17] 2012[18] | World's largest producing countries, 2013[19] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Crop | (tonnes) | (tonnes perhectare) | (tonnes per hectare) | Country | (tonnes) | Country |
| 1 | Maize (Corn) | 873 million | 5.1 | 11.1[20] | United States | 354 million | United States |
| 2 | Rice | 738 million | 4.3 | 9.5 | Egypt | 204 million | China |
| 3 | Wheat | 671 million | 3.1 | 8.9 | New Zealand | 122 million | China |
| 4 | Potatoes | 365 million | 17.2 | 45.4 | Netherlands | 96 million | China |
| 5 | Cassava | 269 million | 12.5 | 34.8 | Indonesia | 47 million | Nigeria |
| 6 | Soybeans | 241 million | 2.4 | 4.4 | Egypt | 91 million | United States |
| 7 | Sweet potatoes | 108 million | 13.5 | 33.3 | Senegal | 71 million | China |
| 8 | Yams | 59.5 million | 10.5 | 28.3 | Colombia | 36 million | Nigeria |
| 9 | Sorghum | 57.0 million | 1.5 | 4.5 | United States | 10 million | United States |
| 10 | Plantain | 37.2 million | 6.3 | 31.1 | El Salvador | 9 million | Uganda |
Rice is most commonly cooked and eaten as separate entire grains, but most other staple cereals are milled into aflour or meal that can be used to makebread,noodles,pasta,porridge andmushes likemealie pap (although both can be eaten either as grains or ground into flour). Root vegetables can be mashed and used to makeporridge-like dishes such aspoi andfufu.Pulses (such aschickpeas, from whichgram flour is made) and starchy root vegetables (such ascanna rhizomes) can also be made into flour.[citation needed]
Consumed in isolation, staple foods do not provide the full range ofessential nutrients. The nutrient-deficiency diseasepellagra is associated with a diet consisting primarily ofmaize, while the diseaseberiberi is associated with a diet of refinedwhite rice.[21]Scurvy can result from a lack ofvitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid. One author indicated that the nutritional value of some staple foods are negatively affected by higher levels ofcarbon dioxide, as occurs inclimate change.[22]
The following table shows the nutrient content of 10 major staple vegetable foods in raw form on adry weight basis to account for their different water contents. Raw grains are not edible and cannot be digested, so they must be cooked, sprouted or otherwise prepared for human consumption. In sprouted and cooked form, the relative nutritional and anti-nutritional contents of each of these grains are different from that of the raw form of these grains, as shown. Potatoes also must be cooked, but should not be sprouted. The highlighted values show the highest nutrient density among these 10 staples. Other foods, consumed in smaller quantities, may have nutrient densities different from these values.
| Staple | Maize (corn)[A] | Rice, white[B] | Wheat[C] | Potatoes[D] | Cassava[E] | Soybeans, green[F] | Sweet potatoes[G] | Yams[Y] | Sorghum[H] | Plantain[Z] | RDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water content (%) | 10 | 12 | 13 | 79 | 60 | 68 | 77 | 70 | 9 | 65 | |
| Raw grams per 100 g dry weight | 111 | 114 | 115 | 476 | 250 | 313 | 435 | 333 | 110 | 286 | |
| Nutrient | |||||||||||
| Energy (kJ) | 1698 | 1736 | 1574 | 1533 | 1675 | 1922 | 1565 | 1647 | 1559 | 1460 | 8,368–10,460 |
| Protein (g) | 10.4 | 8.1 | 14.5 | 9.5 | 3.5 | 40.6 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 12.4 | 3.7 | 50 |
| Fat (g) | 5.3 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 21.6 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 44–77 |
| Carbohydrates (g) | 82 | 91 | 82 | 81 | 95 | 34 | 87 | 93 | 82 | 91 | 130 |
| Fiber (g) | 8.1 | 1.5 | 14.0 | 10.5 | 4.5 | 13.1 | 13.0 | 13.7 | 6.9 | 6.6 | 30 |
| Sugar (g) | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 18.2 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 42.9 | minimal |
| Minerals | [A] | [B] | [C] | [D] | [E] | [F] | [G] | [Y] | [H] | [Z] | RDA |
| Calcium (mg) | 8 | 32 | 33 | 57 | 40 | 616 | 130 | 57 | 31 | 9 | 1,000 |
| Iron (mg) | 3.01 | 0.91 | 3.67 | 3.71 | 0.68 | 11.09 | 2.65 | 1.80 | 4.84 | 1.71 | 8 |
| Magnesium (mg) | 141 | 28 | 145 | 110 | 53 | 203 | 109 | 70 | 0 | 106 | 400 |
| Phosphorus (mg) | 233 | 131 | 331 | 271 | 68 | 606 | 204 | 183 | 315 | 97 | 700 |
| Potassium (mg) | 319 | 131 | 417 | 2005 | 678 | 1938 | 1465 | 2720 | 385 | 1426 | 4700 |
| Sodium (mg) | 39 | 6 | 2 | 29 | 35 | 47 | 239 | 30 | 7 | 11 | 1,500 |
| Zinc (mg) | 2.46 | 1.24 | 3.05 | 1.38 | 0.85 | 3.09 | 1.30 | 0.80 | 0.00 | 0.40 | 11 |
| Copper (mg) | 0.34 | 0.25 | 0.49 | 0.52 | 0.25 | 0.41 | 0.65 | 0.60 | - | 0.23 | 0.9 |
| Manganese (mg) | 0.54 | 1.24 | 4.59 | 0.71 | 0.95 | 1.72 | 1.13 | 1.33 | - | - | 2.3 |
| Selenium (μg) | 17.2 | 17.2 | 81.3 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 4.7 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 4.3 | 55 |
| Vitamins | [A] | [B] | [C] | [D] | [E] | [F] | [G] | [Y] | [H] | [Z] | RDA |
| Vitamin C (mg) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 93.8 | 51.5 | 90.6 | 10.4 | 57.0 | 0.0 | 52.6 | 90 |
| Thiamin (B1) (mg) | 0.43 | 0.08 | 0.34 | 0.38 | 0.23 | 1.38 | 0.35 | 0.37 | 0.26 | 0.14 | 1.2 |
| Riboflavin (B2) (mg) | 0.22 | 0.06 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.56 | 0.26 | 0.10 | 0.15 | 0.14 | 1.3 |
| Niacin (B3) (mg) | 4.03 | 1.82 | 6.28 | 5.00 | 2.13 | 5.16 | 2.43 | 1.83 | 3.22 | 1.97 | 16 |
| Pantothenic acid (B5) (mg) | 0.47 | 1.15 | 1.09 | 1.43 | 0.28 | 0.47 | 3.48 | 1.03 | - | 0.74 | 5 |
| Vitamin B6 (mg) | 0.69 | 0.18 | 0.34 | 1.43 | 0.23 | 0.22 | 0.91 | 0.97 | - | 0.86 | 1.3 |
| Folate Total (B9) (μg) | 21 | 9 | 44 | 76 | 68 | 516 | 48 | 77 | 0 | 63 | 400 |
| Vitamin A (IU) | 238 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 33 | 563 | 4178 | 460 | 0 | 3220 | 5000 |
| Vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol (mg) | 0.54 | 0.13 | 1.16 | 0.05 | 0.48 | 0.00 | 1.13 | 1.30 | 0.00 | 0.40 | 15 |
| Vitamin K1 (μg) | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 9.0 | 4.8 | 0.0 | 7.8 | 8.7 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 120 |
| Beta-carotene (μg) | 108 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 36996 | 277 | 0 | 1306 | 10500 |
| Lutein+zeaxanthin (μg) | 1506 | 0 | 253 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 6000 |
| Fats | [A] | [B] | [C] | [D] | [E] | [F] | [G] | [Y] | [H] | [Z] | RDA |
| Saturated fatty acids (g) | 0.74 | 0.20 | 0.30 | 0.14 | 0.18 | 2.47 | 0.09 | 0.13 | 0.51 | 0.40 | minimal |
| Monounsaturated fatty acids (g) | 1.39 | 0.24 | 0.23 | 0.00 | 0.20 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.03 | 1.09 | 0.09 | 22–55 |
| Polyunsaturated fatty acids (g) | 2.40 | 0.20 | 0.72 | 0.19 | 0.13 | 10.00 | 0.04 | 0.27 | 1.51 | 0.20 | 13–19 |
| [A] | [B] | [C] | [D] | [E] | [F] | [G] | [Y] | [H] | [Z] | RDA |
A raw yellow dent corn
B raw unenriched long-grain white rice
C raw hard red winter wheat
D raw potato with flesh and skin
E raw cassava
F raw green soybeans
G raw sweet potato
H raw sorghum
Y raw yam
Z raw plantains
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