The Early Origin of the Potato
- Wild Varieties. Peru and Bolivia are the most likely geographic origins of the potato. ...
- Early Potato Cultivation. Once indigenous people learned to cultivate the root vegetable, it became the backbone of civilization.
- The Spanish Conquistadors. ...
Where do potatoes come from originally?
Potatoes are also used for purposes other than eating by humans, for example:
- Potatoes are used to brew alcoholic beverages such as vodka, poitín, or akvavit.
- They are also used as fodder for livestock. ...
- Potato starch is used in the food industry as a thickener and binder for soups and sauces, in the textile industry as an adhesive, and for the manufacturing of papers ...
- Potatoes are commonly used in plant research. ...
Where are potatoes originally from?
What is the most Irish city in America?
- Boston, Massachusetts 22.8%
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 16.2%
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 14.2%
- Louisville, Kentucky 13.2%
- Buffalo, New York 11.23%
- Nashville, Tennessee 9.8%
- Kansas City, Missouri 9.66%
- Raleigh, North Carolina 9.5%
Where did the potato come from?
The potato was originally believed to have been domesticated by Native Americans independently in multiple locations, but later genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species traced a single origin for potatoes, in the area of present-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia.
Which country did Potatoes originate?
The dish bears a variety of names:
- placek zbójnicki (brigand's) — most common
- placek cygański (gypsy's)
- placek węgierski (Hungarian) — despite being unknown in Hungary; but goulash (the topping) itself comes from Hungary
- jadło drwali (lumberjacks' food)
- placek góralski (mountainmen's)
Where did the potato originated from?
Originating from the highlands of the Andes, South America, potatoes were introduced to Europe in the sixteenth century.
What is the original ancestor of the potato?
The story of potato started around 350 million years ago, when they started to evolve from the poisonous ancestor of the plant nightshade (this family of plants eventually evolved not only into potatoes, but also into tobacco, chili peppers, bell peppers and tomatoes).
Where did the potato originally grow?
PeruStories About the Origin of Potatoes: Tubers Have Been Around For Thousands of Years. Potatoes have an incredibly rich and interesting history. For thousands of years, they were cultivated by the Incas in Peru. The earliest archaeological evidence exists on the shores of Lake Titicaca from roughly 400 BCE!
Who invented the potato?
The Inca Indians in Peru were the first to cultivate potatoes around 8,000 BC to 5,000 B.C. In 1536, Spanish Conquistadors in Peru discovered the flavors of the potato and transported them to Europe.
Did humans create potatoes?
The comfort food we know and love today as the potato was domesticated between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago from a wild species native to the Andes Mountains in southern Peru. During the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors are believed to have transported the rugged root-like vegetable across the Atlantic.
Who brought potatoes to India?
The PortugueseThe Portuguese introduced potatoes, which they called 'Batata', to India in the early seventeenth century when they cultivated it along the western coast. British traders introduced potatoes to Bengal as a root crop, 'Alu'.
What did Europe eat before potatoes?
Grains, either as bread or porridge, were the other mainstay of the pre-potato Irish diet, and the most common was the humble oat, usually made into oatcakes and griddled (ovens hadn't really taken off yet).
Who brought potatoes to Germany?
In fact the potato, which was originally grown in the Andes, evidently came to the German region of Franconia via the Netherlands in the Thirty Years War where it was then successfully cultivated in the mid-17th century before beginning its culinary conquest of other duchies and the Prussians.
Where did potatoes originate?
Potatoes have an incredibly rich and interesting history. For thousands of years, they were cultivated by the Incas in Peru. The earliest archaeological evidence exists on the shores of Lake Titicaca from roughly 400 BCE! Potatoes started quite small and narrow—kind of like our fingerlings, just a little gnarlier.
When did potatoes come to America?
The ever-exploring Europeans brought the potato into North America in the 1620s when the British governor in the Bahamas made a special gift of them to the governor of Virginia. They spread slowly through the northern colonies, but had much of the same initial reception in North America as they did in Europe.
How long can potatoes be stored?
They could store it for up to 10 years, and it provided great insurance against crop failures.
What are little potatoes like?
Little Potatoes are Just Like Their Ancestors. Our Little Potatoes resemble their ancestors from the Andes—little, vibrant, and full of nutrients. Eating our heritage varietals like Something Blue is like taking a journey back in time to the origin of potatoes. That’s what we mean when we say, ‘save the potato’;
Why did potatoes grow so big?
As a result, potatoes evolved and were bred to be larger so that they could feed more people . In the late 1800s, the modern-day russet potato was born.
How did the French Monarchs try to convince their subjects to eat potatoes?
How the French Monarchs Tried to Convince their Subjects to Eat Potatoes. The French aristocracy thought the best way to inspire people to start seeing potatoes en vogue was to start literally wearing potato blossoms. Some of the most famous adoptees of this fashion trend was King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
How did potatoes travel to Europe?
Potatoes Travelled to Europe by Way of Spanish Conquistadors. In 1532 conquistadors from Spain came sailing onto the scene searching for vast riches to bring back to Europe.
Where did potatoes originate?
Potato slowly evolved into its current form in the South American Andean highlands between Peru and Bolivia. Human settlers reached that part of our world around 15 thousand years ago, and managed to domesticate wild potato around 8 millennia BC.
Where did potatoes grow?
Potato, indigenous flowering plants of the South America and the Andes mountains (modern-day southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia) managed to prove its usefulness to our ancestors, who cultivated it, nurtured it, and ensured its survival during the last 10,000 years of our history.
What is the fourth largest food crop in the world?
Centuries after they were introduced to Europe and North America, potatoes represent one of the most important parts of world’s cuisine and the fourth-largest food crop in the entire world (following maize, rice and wheat).
How many tons of potatoes were produced in 2010?
In 2010 world production of potatoes reached incredible 324 million tons (74.8 million tons in China, 36.6 in India, 21.1 in Ukraine, 18.3 in United States and 10.2 in Germany, etc.).
What are some edible crops that have emerged at the dawn of modern human civilization?
Among many edible crops that emerged at the dawn of modern human civilization and managed to spread across entire world, few managed to distinguish themselves by their ruggedness, storage quality and its nutritional value. Potato, indigenous flowering plants of the South America and the Andes mountains ...
When did potatoes become commonplace?
In early 1800s, potato became a commonplace crop that was used in entire Europe, but such popularity became severely tested between 1845 and 1849 when disease destroyed entire potato production of Ireland.
When did potatoes come to Europe?
Potato arrived to Britain in 1585 , Belgium and Germany in 1587, Austria in 1588, Ireland in 1589 and France in 1600. Sadly, local population of those countries looked at potato as absolutely unneeded, weird, poisonous (only roots of the plant were edible, which was totally unheard off in Europe), and in some cases as downright evil.
Where did the word "potato" come from?
Etymology. The English word potato comes from Spanish patata (the name used in Spain). The Royal Spanish Academy says the Spanish word is a hybrid of the Taíno batata (' sweet potato ') and the Quechua papa ('potato'). The name originally referred to the sweet potato although the two plants are not closely related.
Where do potatoes come from?
The potato is a root vegetable native to the Americas, a starchy tuber of the plant Solanum tuberosum, and the plant itself is a perennial in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Wild potato species, originating in modern-day Peru, can be found throughout the Americas, from Canada to southern Chile.
What are potatoes used for?
Potatoes are also used for purposes other than eating by humans, for example: 1 Potatoes are used to brew alcoholic beverages such as vodka, poitín, or akvavit. 2 They are also used as fodder for livestock. Livestock-grade potatoes, considered too small and/or blemished to sell or market for human use but suitable for fodder use, have been called chats in some dialects. They may be stored in bins until use; they are sometimes ensiled. Some farmers prefer to steam them rather than feed them raw and are equipped to do so efficiently. 3 Potato starch is used in the food industry as a thickener and binder for soups and sauces, in the textile industry as an adhesive, and for the manufacturing of papers and boards. 4 Potatoes are commonly used in plant research. The consistent parenchyma tissue, the clonal nature of the plant and the low metabolic activity make it an ideal model tissue for experiments on wound-response studies and electron transport. 5 Potatoes have been delivered with personalized messages as a novelty. Potato delivery services include Potato Parcel and Mail A Spud.
What are the characteristics of a potato plant?
Potato plants. Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow about 60 cm (24 in) high, depending on variety, with the leaves dying back after flowering, fruiting and tuber formation. They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple flowers with yellow stamens.
How to tell difference between floury and waxy potatoes?
For culinary purposes, varieties are often differentiated by their waxiness: floury or mealy baking potatoes have more starch (20–22%) than waxy boiling potatoes (16–18%) . The distinction may also arise from variation in the comparative ratio of two different potato starch compounds: amylose and amylopectin.
How many varieties of potatoes are there in the UK?
There are close to 4,000 varieties of potato each of which has specific agricultural or culinary attributes. Around 80 varieties are commercially available in the UK. In general, varieties are categorized into a few main groups based on common characteristics, such as russet potatoes (rough brown skin), red potatoes, white potatoes, yellow potatoes (also called Yukon potatoes) and purple potatoes. For culinary purposes, varieties are often differentiated by their waxiness: floury or mealy baking potatoes have more starch (20–22%) than waxy boiling potatoes (16–18%). The distinction may also arise from variation in the comparative ratio of two different potato starch compounds: amylose and amylopectin. Amylose, a long-chain molecule, diffuses from the starch granule when cooked in water, and lends itself to dishes where the potato is mashed. Varieties that contain a slightly higher amylopectin content, which is a highly branched molecule, help the potato retain its shape after being boiled in water. Potatoes that are good for making potato chips or potato crisps are sometimes called "chipping potatoes", which means they meet the basic requirements of similar varietal characteristics, being firm, fairly clean, and fairly well-shaped.
What is the molecule that helps a potato retain its shape after being boiled in water?
Amylose , a long-chain molecule, diffuses from the starch granule when cooked in water, and lends itself to dishes where the potato is mashed. Varieties that contain a slightly higher amylopectin content, which is a highly branched molecule, help the potato retain its shape after being boiled in water.
When did potatoes first appear in South America?
Spanish invaders in Peru began to use white potatoes as cheap food for sailors 1530s. The first potato from South America reached Pope Paul III in 1540 ; it was grown in France at first as an ornamental plant. According to popular tradition, it was introduced to Ireland 1565 by John Hawkins.
What is the name of the potato that was first called Virginia?
The name later (1590s) was extended (based on general likeness, both being esculent tubers) to the common white potato, native to Peru, which was at first (mistakenly) called Virginia potato, or, because at first it was of minor importance compared to the sweet potato, bastard potato.
What is the slang for the potato trap?
Slang potato trap "mouth" is attested from 1785. The Potato Famine in Ireland from 1845 to 1849 was so called by 1851, mostly outside Ireland; in it it is typically the Great Famine, Great Hunger, or Great Starvation. To drop (something) like a hot potato is from 1824.
What is the French word for "potato"?
The French is pomme de terre, literally "earth-apple;" a Swedish dialectal word for "potato" is jordpäron, literally "earth-pear.". Colloquial pronunciation tater is attested in print from 1759. Potato salad is by 1842 as a typical German dish; by 1844 in English cookery books.
Where did sweet potatoes come from?
1560s, "sweet potato," from Spanish patata, from a Carib language of Haiti batata "sweet potato.". Sweet potatoes were first to be introduced to Europe; they were in cultivation in Spain by mid-16c. and in Virginia by 1648. Early 16c.
When was Kartoffel invented?
According to popular tradition, it was introduced to Ireland 1565 by John Hawkins. It was brought to England from Colombia by Sir Thomas Herriot, 1586. German Kartoffel (17c.) is a dissimilation from tartoffel, ultimately from Italian tartufolo (Vulgar Latin *territuberem ), originally "truffle.".
What is the potato story?
The potato, on the other hand, is essential to Irish food ( these days ), a staple food for a lot of the world, and contains a story of discovery, confusion, and division in its three popping syllables. The potato's history is really a tale of two tubers, both born in New World dirt.
Where did sweet potatoes originate?
The sweet potato, which belongs to a different species entirely, started out in the tropical warmth of the stretch of Central America between the Yucatan and the Venezuelan highlands. And by the time Columbus hit the Caribbean, the sweet potato had become a standard part of the region's diet.
What do we call plain potatoes?
What we call just plain potatoes were "Virginia potatoes" (or "bastard potatoes") at first, but as they became more and more common in the British Isles (like, for instance, in Ireland), people dropped the "Virginia," leaving us with just one word for two very different foods: "potato.".
Where did Christoforo put his sweet potatoes?
So when Christoforo needed to load up on food to make the journey back to the Old Country, he piled batatas --a native Caribbean word for sweet potatoes, probably from somewhere near modern-day Haiti--into his ships' holds.
Where did the Spanish find the tuber?
It wasn't until the 1530s that Spanish explorers made it all the way to Peru, where they found a white-fleshed tuber that the locals called papas. And once those worked their way up to England in the 1590s, things got a little confused.
Where did potatoes come from?
The humble potato was domesticated in the South American Andes some 8,000 years ago and was only brought to Europe in the mid-1500s, from where it spread west and northwards, back to the Americas, and beyond.
Which countries produce potato?
And as you read these lines, the world’s leading potato producers today are China, India, Russia and Ukraine, respective ly.
How many hours of sunlight does a potato plant need?
Day length is very constant across the year in the equatorial region where potatoes first were domesticated, so the potato plant was used to regular days with 12 hours of sunlight, said evolutionary geneticist Hernan A Burbano Roa.
How many wild potatoes are there in Ireland?
The 151 known species of wild potatoes are the ancestors of today’s potatoes (Credit: Diego Arguedas Ortiz) For landless tenants in 17th- and 18th-Century Ireland, a single acre of land cultivated with potatoes and one milk cow was nutritionally sufficient for feeding a large family of six to eight.
Why are wild potatoes used in science?
In the early decades of the 20th Century, scientists began combining genes from mainstream potatoes, hoping to keep their domesticated traits, with wild potatoes, hoping to get their resistance to diseases. Most tubers grown today are a result of such tests.
Why did the villagers prize potatoes?
The humble tuber. Villagers prized potatoes because they provided an unmatched nutritional yield per hectare. In Ireland in particular, tenants rented the land they tilled, so as lords increased their fees, they were forced to produce as much food as possible in the smallest possible area.
Where do you find potato samples?
It’s set in an arid suburb in the Peruvian capital, Lima, and harbours a collection of thousands of potato samples from across the continent. “The Andes is where the biggest genetic diversity lies, but you can find potatoes from Chile to the United States,” René Gómez, senior curator at the CIP genebank, told me there.
Overview
The potato is a starchy tuber of the plant Solanum tuberosum and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern United States to southern Chile. The potato was originally believed to have been domesticated by Native …
Etymology
The English word potato comes from Spanish patata (the name used in Spain). The Royal Spanish Academy says the Spanish word is a hybrid of the Taíno batata ('sweet potato') and the Quechua papa ('potato'). The name originally referred to the sweet potato although the two plants are not closely related. The 16th-century English herbalist John Gerard referred to sweet potatoes as common potatoes, and used the terms bastard potatoes and Virginia potatoes for the species w…
Biology
Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow about 60 cm (24 in) high, depending on variety, with the leaves dying back after flowering, fruiting and tuber formation. They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple flowers with yellow stamens. Potatoes are mostly cross-pollinated by insects such as bumblebees, which carry pollen from other potato plants, though a substantial amount of se…
History
The potato was first domesticated in the region of modern-day southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia by pre-Columbian farmers, around Lake Titicaca. It has since spread around the world and become a staple crop in many countries.
The earliest archaeologically verified potato tuber remains have been found at the coastal site of Ancon (central Peru), dating to 2500 BC. The most widely cultivated variety, Solanum tuberosum t…
Production
In 2020, world production of potatoes was 359 million tonnes, led by China with 22% of the total (table). Other major producers were India, Russia, Ukraine and the United States. It remains an essential crop in Europe (especially northern and eastern Europe), where per capita production is still the highest in the world, but the most rapid expansion over the past few decades has occurred in south…
Nutrition
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a typical raw potato is 79% water, 17% carbohydrates (88% is starch), 2% protein, and contains negligible fat (see table). In a 100-gram (3+1⁄2-ounce) portion, raw potato provides 322 kilojoules (77 kilocalories) of food energy and is a rich source of vitamin B6 and vitamin C (23% and 24% of the Daily Value, respectively), with no other vitamin…
Growth and cultivation
Potatoes are generally grown from seed potatoes, tubers specifically grown to be free from disease and to provide consistent and healthy plants. To be disease free, the areas where seed potatoes are grown are selected with care. In the US, this restricts production of seed potatoes to only 15 states out of all 50 states where potatoes are grown. These locations are selected for their cold, h…
Uses
Potatoes are prepared in many ways: skin-on or peeled, whole or cut up, with seasonings or without. The only requirement involves cooking to swell the starch granules. Most potato dishes are served hot but some are first cooked, then served cold, notably potato salad and potato chips (crisps). Common dishes are: mashed potatoes, which are first boiled (usually peeled), and then mashe…