Study Guide BSCI 135 Unit II

Lectures 10-18
Stimulating plants and beverages:
Caffeine: physiological effects effects, desired
and undesired
Coffee
Scientific name, place of origin,
history, uses,
processing
Shade grown vs. sun grown
Organic, fair trade
Decaffeinated coffee
health benefits and general features
movie Black Gold
Tea
Scientific name, place of origin,
history, uses,
processing
Theophylline health effects
Main health benefits of tea
(see blog group activity)
Chocolate: the cacao plant
Scientific name, place of origin,
history, uses,
cultivation
processing how chocolate is made
Health effects of chocolate (esp. dark)
High price of chocolate
Film: The Dark Side of Chocolate
Also: Kola and soft drinks
Tobacco
Scientific name, place of origin,
history, uses,
cultivation
processing, growth
Health effects of nicotine and other chemicals in
tobacco
Tobacco in developing countries Indonesia
(video in class)
Case study on tobacco
Spices: What part of the plant they come from?
What is their origin/history? What other uses do
they have?

Old world spices: Cinnamon, black pepper,

cloves, nutmeg, mace, ginger, turmeric, saffron;
New world spices: Chili pepper, vanilla, allspice
Herbs: mint, parsley mustard and lily families.
Examples of each family
Medicinal uses of herbs?
Fibers: general features, source and origins
Cotton
Scientific name, place of origin,
history, uses,
cultivation, pesticide use
processing
Cotton fibers: function for the plant in dispersal
Diseases of cotton
Cotton gin, role in US South, Civil War
Genetically engineered cotton
Also; other fibers like Flax, Hemp, Jute, Sisal,
Ramie, Coir, Kapok
Seed fibers: Cotton, coir, kapok
Bast fibers: flax, hemp, jute, ramie
Leaf fibers: sisal
Coconut
Botany, fruit, dispersal,
History, cultivation, processing
Uses as food, fiber
Health benefits of coconut
Palm oil: environmental issues
Rubber plant
Origin, history, processing
Rubber tapping; Vulcanization process,
Names: inventors/innovators, organizers
Oak Tree
Origin, history, uses as wood
woods
Paper: Wood pulp
Types of paper
Environmental issues in use & production
Alternatives to paper
Bamboo
Origin, growth, processing
multiple uses of bamboo