More Fun Food Facts – 5/27/26

It’s time for more fun food facts. This time it is trivia pursuit that revolves around fun food facts. I love these little quirky fun food facts. I learn so much about things I never knew. I hope you do too. 🙂

1. What was the first food grown in space?

Green or spring onions were the first foods grown in space. In the late 1970’s Viktor Patsayev glided over to Oasis, a little square greenhouse attached to a wall of the Salyut 1 space station, to water the flax plants inside. After about a week, two little flax shoots poked up through the artificial soil. Patsayev and crewmate Vladislav Volkov carefully tended to the fragile seedlings like parents. The cosmonauts seemed to be cheered by them. “These are our pets,” Patsayev said. “They are our love,” noted Volkov unabashedly.

2. Which fruit was classified as a vegetable for tax purposes after an 1893 Supreme Court ruling?

The tomato. Nix v. Hedden, 149 U.S. 304 (1893). This was an action brought February 4, 1887, against the collector of the port of New York to recover back duties paid under protest on tomatoes imported by the plaintiff from the West Indies in the spring of 1886, which the collector assessed under “Schedule G. — Provisions” of the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883, c. 121, imposing a duty on “vegetables in their natural state, or in salt or brine, not specially enumerated or provided for in this act, ten percentum ad valorem,” and which the plaintiffs contended came within the clause in the free list of the same act, “Fruits, green, ripe, or dried, not specially enumerated or provided for in this act.” 22 Stat. 504, 519.

3. What does cilantro taste like to those who have a mutation in the OR6A2 gene?

Soap. Love it or hate it, cilantro has a distinct flavor, but why do people seem so divided over the taste of this herb? The answer might be OR6A2, an olfactory receptor gene found on chromosome 11. Olfactory receptors help the body detect smells, and our sense of smell influences our sense of taste. For people with this particular genetic difference, cilantro can taste soapy because they are unable to fully detect the smell of the cilantro. Cilantro can be found in guacamole, salsas, bean dips and more. If you find yourself turning your nose up at some of these foods, you might have your genetics to blame.

4. What kind of fruit was known as the “appel of paradis” in the Middle Ages?

Bananas. In Middle English and as late as 17c., apple was a generic term for all fruit other than berries but including nuts (e.g. Old English fingeræppla “dates,” literally “finger-apples;” Middle English appel of paradis “banana”). Hence its grafting onto the unnamed “fruit of the forbidden tree” in Genesis.

5. Why is brown sugar brown?

Brown sugar is brown because of the addition of molasses to white sugar. Molasses is responsible for its darker color and slightly increases its nutritional value. Brown sugar also contains slightly fewer calories than white sugar, yet the difference is minimal. One teaspoon (4 grams) of brown sugar provides 15 calories, while the same amount of white sugar has 16.3 calories. Aside from these minor differences, they are nutritionally similar. Their main differences are their taste and color.

So now you know. If these questions ever come up in a fun game of trivia pursuit, you will be the ones to know these answers. 🙂

Sometimes truth is wackier than fiction, but that makes it fun and interesting. Never stop having fun and never stop learning new things. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.