After the discovery of Brazil in 1500 and the beginning of its systematic colonization in 1530, the Portuguese have gradually settled along the Brazilian coast. An extensive exchange of plants, including vegetables, took place among Portugal, Brazil and other possessions in Africa and Asia by the Portuguese colonizers, sailors and Jesuits. In addition to diversifying the food, these introductions served as basic materials for breeding, often carried out empirically, searching the adaptation of these species to Brazilian soils and climate. After the eighteenth century, with the discovery of gold in Minas Gerais, Portuguese immigration to Brazil was intensified, with a strong urban development. Also, in the middle of the eighteenth century, there was a strong and systematized immigration from Açores to the South of Brazil. With it, many varieties of vegetables, specially onion and carrot, were brought to Brazil. Most of the Brazilian varieties originated from this material. Cultivar Baia-Periforme, the predominant onion variety in the Brazilian Southeast until the advent of hybrids, originated from selection within the portuguese cultivar Garrafal. The Creole onions, still today the most planted in Southern Brazil, were originated from germplasm brought by the Azoreans. In carrots, the so-called tropical germplasm, formed by selection of materials brought by the Azoreans, was the basis for the genetic improvement of tropical carrot, culminating with the release of cultivar Brasilia, in 1981, the most planted cultivar in summer. The Portuguese have left a profound legacy for Brazilian culture, present in some of our habits, including food habits. In the year we are completing 200 years of the arrival of the Portuguese royal family to Brazil, it is our opportunity to mention the Portuguese contributions to the production and consumption of vegetables in Brazil.
Immigration; introduction of varieties; germplasm exchange