Potato

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Potato

The inside and outside of a potato

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class:
Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Asteridae
Order:
Solanales
Family:
Solanaceae
Genus:
Solanum
Binomial name
Solanum tuberosum
L.

A potato is a root vegetable, the Solanum tuberosum. It is a small plant with large leaves. The
part of the potato that people eat is a tuber that grows under the ground.
A potato contains 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.[1][2]

1. Sprout 2. Dormant bud 3. Periderm 4. Cortex 5. Vascular Ring 6. Perimedulla 7. Outer

medulla

Contents

1 History

2 Types

3 Cooking

4 References

History
The potato is originally from the high and cool areas of the Andes of Peru. It was grown as a
food crop more than 7,000 years ago.[3] When Spanish conquistadores came to South America in
the 1500s they took potatoes back to Europe.[3]
It took nearly 200 years for the potato to become a widely grown crop. In the 1780s 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 survive. The Irish became so dependent on the potato that
when the crop failed in 1845 there was a famine and many people starved to death.[3][4]
The potato plant is now grown in many different parts of the world. Captain William Bligh
planted potatoes on Bruny Island, Tasmania in 1792.[5] In Australia they are now the largest
vegetable crop.[1]

Types

Yukon Gold developed in Canada[6]

Norgleam[7][8]

Bismark[9]

Coliban[9]

Russet

Pontiac[9]

Sequoia[9]

Desiree[9] cream colored flesh, red skin[10]

Bintje[9]

Scientists in Germany have used genetic engineering to make a potato called the Amflora, which
could be grown to make starch for making other things in factories.[11]

Cooking
The potato cannot be eaten unless it is 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.
William Shakespeare wrote that the potato was an aphrodisiac,[12] but there is no evidence to
show this is true.

image by Clusius (1583)

References
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.
"Potato - History". www.indepthinfo.com. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
"The History Place - Irish Potato Famine". www.historyplace.com. Retrieved 2009-0705.
"DPIW - Tasmania's potato history". www.dpiw.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 2009-07-05.

 "Yukon Gold Potato History". homecooking.about.com. Retrieved 2009-07-05.

"Norgleam". Ag.ndsu.nodak.edu. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
"Norgleam - Dictionary". Encyclo.co.uk. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
"DPIW - Potato Varieties". www.dpiw.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
"Potato types varieties of potatoes widely available". www.hub-uk.com. Retrieved
2009-07-05.
"EU Clashes Over Authorising GMO Maize Types, Potato Food Industry News".
www.flex-news-food.com. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
"The Untold History of the Potato - Book Reviews - Books - Entertainment". theage.com.au.
Retrieved 2009-07-05.