Potato
A potato is a vegetable, the Solanum tuberosum.[1] It is a small plant with large leaves. The part of the potato that people eat is a tuber that grows under the ground.
| Potato | |
|---|---|
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| Potato cultivars appear in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Solaneae |
| Genus: | Solanum |
| Species: | S. tuberosum
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| Binomial name | |
| Solanum tuberosum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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List
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A potato has a lot of starch and other carbohydrates. Potato usually has a light-brown or yellowish skin and is white or yellow inside. If the potato gets light on it, the tuber turns green and will be poisonous.[2][3]
History
The potato came from the high and cool areas of the Andes mountains. It was grown as a food crop thousands of years ago.[4] When Spanish conquistadores came to South America in the 1500s, they took potatoes back to Europe.[5][6]
It took nearly 200 years for the potato to become a widely grown crop. In the 1630s the farmers in Ireland began growing potatoes because they grew well in the poor soils. They also have most of the vitamins that people need to live. When a potato plague destroyed the crop in 1845, the Irish Potato Famine killed many people.[4][7]
The potato plant is now grown in many parts of the world. Captain William Bligh planted potatoes on Bruny Island, Tasmania in 1792.[8] In Australia they are now the largest vegetable crop.[2]
Name Origin
The English word "potato" comes from the Spanish word "patata". The Royal Spanish Academy says the Spanish word is a hybrid of the Taíno batata ('sweet potato') and the Quechua papa ('potato').[9][10]
Types
- Yukon Gold – developed in Canada[11]
- Norgleam[12][13]
- Bismark[14]
- Coliban[14]
- Russet
- Pontiac[14]
- Sequoia[14]
- Desiree[14] – cream colored flesh, red skin[15]
- Bintje[14]
- Irish grown
- Potattoo
- Hattawa
Scientists in Germany have used genetic engineering to make a potato called the Amfloratus, which could be grown to make starch for making other things in factories.[16]
Cooking
Potatoes are almost always eaten cooked. People cook potatoes by boiling, baking, roasting, or frying them. French fries or "chips" are potatoes cut into long pieces and fried until they are soft. Potato chips, often called crisps, are potatoes cut into very thin round pieces and fried until they are hard.
Potato Media
Morphology of the potato plant; tubers are forming from stolons.
A variety of S. tuberosum tuberosum, the Chilean potato
A variety of different potatoes for sale in a market in France
Potatoes of different colors
Amflora potatoes, modified to produce pure amylopectin starch
- Phytophtorainfestanseffects
A modern potato harvester
Transporting to cold storage in India
Plant destroyed by Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) larvae
Axomamma, Incan goddess of potatoes
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Potato - growing potatoes in Australia". www.potato.com.au. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ↑ "Potato plant poisoning - green tubers and sprouts". U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Potato - History". www.indepthinfo.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ↑ "How the Potato Changed the World". Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- ↑ "Get to Know the Potato". Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- ↑ "The History Place - Irish Potato Famine". www.historyplace.com. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ↑ "DPIW - Tasmania's potato history". www.dpiw.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ↑ "patata". Diccionario Usual (in español). Royal Spanish Academy. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ↑ Ley, Willy (February 1968). "The Devil's Apples". Galaxy Science Fiction: 118–25. https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v26n04_1968-04#page/n117/mode/2up.
- ↑ "Yukon Gold Potato History". homecooking.about.com. Archived from the original on 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ↑ "Norgleam". Ag.ndsu.nodak.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-07-15. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
- ↑ "Norgleam - Dictionary". Encyclo.co.uk. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 "DPIW - Potato Varieties". www.dpiw.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ↑ "Potato types – varieties of potatoes widely available". www.hub-uk.com. Archived from the original on 2009-05-12. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ↑ "EU Clashes Over Authorising GMO Maize Types, Potato – Food Industry News". www.flex-news-food.com. Retrieved 2009-07-05.