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{{Redirect|Spud|other uses|Spud (disambiguation)|and|Tater (disambiguation)|and|Potato (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{short description|Plant species producing the tuber used as a staple food}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Patates.jpg
|image_caption = Potato [[cultivars]] appear in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes.
|genus = Solanum
|species = tuberosum
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|synonyms_ref=<ref>{{cite web |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:821337-1#synonyms |title=''Solanum tuberosum'' L. |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2017 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=7 September 2020 }}</ref>
|synonyms={{collapsible list|
*''Battata tuberosa'' <small>(L.) Hill</small>
*''Larnax sylvarum'' subsp. ''novogranatensis'' <small>N.W.Sawyer</small>
*''Lycopersicon tuberosum'' <small>(L.) Mill.</small>
*''Parmentiera edulis'' <small>Raf.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''acutifolium'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''adpressipilosum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''alccai-huarmi'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''ancacc-maquin'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''arcuatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' subsp. ''argentinicum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' subsp. ''australiperuvianum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' subsp. ''aya-papa'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''aymaranum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''basiscopum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''bifidum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''bolivianum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' subsp. ''bolivianum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''brachistylum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''brevicalyces'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''brevicalyx'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''brevipilosum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''caesium'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''caiceda'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''carhua'' <small>Vargas</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''ccompetillo'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''ccompis'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''ccusi'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' subsp. ''centraliperuvianum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''cevallosii'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''chalcoense'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''chimaco'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''ckello-huaccoto'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''coeruleum'' <small>Lechn. ex Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''colombianum'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' subsp. ''colombianum'' <small>(Bukasov) Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''conicicolumnatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''cryptostylum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''curtibaccatum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''cuzcoense'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''digitotuberosum'' <small>Vargas</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''dilatatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''discolor'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' subsp. ''ecuatorianum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''elongatibaccatum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''elongatipedicellatum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''globosum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''grauense'' <small>Vargas</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''guatemalense'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''hederiforme'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''herrerae'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''huaca-layra'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''huairuru'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''huallata'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''huaman-uma'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''imilla'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''incrassatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''juninum'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''lanciacuminatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''lapazense'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''latius'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''lecke-umo'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''lilacinoflorum'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''lisarassa'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''llutuc-runtum'' <small>Lechn. ex Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''longiacuminatum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''longibaccatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''macron'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''magnicorollatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''mexicanum'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''microstigma'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''microstigmatum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''nodosum'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''nudiculum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''obtusiacuminatum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''ovatibaccatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''pacus'' <small>Lechn. ex Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''pallidum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''platyantherum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''pomacanchicum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''ppacc-nacha'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''ppaqui'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''puca-mata'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''quechuanum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''sihuanum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''socco-huaccoto'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''stenon'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' var. ''stenophyllum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''sunchchu'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' subsp. ''tarmense'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''tenue'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''tiahuanacense'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' convar. ''titicacense'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''tocanum'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''tolucanum'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum andigenum'' f. ''uncuna'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum apurimacense'' <small>Vargas</small>
*''Solanum aracatscha'' <small>Besser</small>
*''Solanum aracc-papa'' <small>Juz. ex Rybin</small>
*''Solanum ascasabii'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum boyacense'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum caniarense'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum cardenasii'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum cayeuxi'' <small>Berthault</small>
*''Solanum chariense'' <small>A.Chev.</small>
*''Solanum chaucha'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum chaucha'' var. ''ccoe-sulla'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum chaucha'' var. ''ckati'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum chaucha'' var. ''khoyllu'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum chaucha'' var. ''puca-suitu'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum chaucha'' f. ''purpureum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum chaucha'' f. ''roseum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum chaucha'' var. ''surimana'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum chiloense'' <small>(A.DC.) Berthault</small>
*''Solanum chilotanum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum chilotanum'' var. ''angustifurcatum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum chilotanum'' f. ''magnicorollatum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum chilotanum'' f. ''parvicorollatum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum chilotanum'' var. ''talukdarii'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum chocclo'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum churuspi'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum coeruleiflorum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum cultum'' <small>(A.DC.) Berthault</small>
*''Solanum diemii'' <small>E.Brucher</small>
*''Solanum dubium'' <small>E.H.L.Krause</small>
*''Solanum erlansonii'' <small>Anon.</small>
*''Solanum esculentum'' <small>Neck.</small>
*''Solanum estradea'' <small>L.E.López</small>
*''Solanum goniocalyx'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum goniocalyx'' var. ''caeruleum'' <small>Vargas</small>
*''Solanum herrerae'' <small>Juz.</small>
*''Solanum hygrothermicum'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum kesselbrenneri'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum leptostigma'' <small>Juz.</small>
*''Solanum leptostigma'' <small>Juz. ex Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum macmillanii'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum maglia'' var. ''chubutense'' <small>Bitter</small>
*''Solanum maglia'' var. ''guaytecarum'' <small>Bitter</small>
*''Solanum mamilliferum'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum molinae'' <small>Juz.</small>
*''Solanum oceanicum'' <small>Brücher</small>
*''Solanum ochoanum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum paramoense'' <small>Bitter ex Pittier</small>
*''Solanum parmentieri'' <small>Molina ex Walp.</small>
*''Solanum parvicorollatum'' <small>Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' var. ''caeruleum'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' var. ''erlansonii'' <small>(Bukasov & Lechnovitch) Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' subsp. ''estradae'' <small>(L.E.López) Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' var. ''flavum'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' subsp. ''hygrothermicum'' <small>(Ochoa) Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' var. ''janck'o-phureja'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' var. ''macmillanii'' <small>(Bukasov & Lechnovitch) Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' f. ''orbiculatum'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' var. ''pujeri'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' var. ''rubroroseum'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' var. ''sanguineum'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' f. ''sayhuanimayo'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' f. ''timusi'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum phureja'' f. ''viuda'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum riobambense'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum rybinii'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum rybinii'' var. ''bogotense'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum rybinii'' var. ''boyacense'' <small>(Juz. & Bukasov) Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum rybinii'' var. ''pastoense'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum rybinii'' var. ''popayanum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum sabinei'' <small>(A.DC.) Berthault</small>
*''Solanum sanmartinense'' <small>Brücher</small>
*''Solanum sendigena'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum sinense'' <small>Blanco</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''alcay-imilla'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''canasense'' <small>Vargas</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''canastilla'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''catari-papa'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''ccami'' <small>(Bukasov) Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''ccami'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''chapina'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''chilcas'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''chincherae'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''chojllu'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''cochicallo'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''cohuasa'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''cuchipacon'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''cyaneum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''eucaliptae'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' subsp. ''goniocalyx'' <small>(Juz. & Bukasov) Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''huallata-chinchi'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''huamanpa-uman'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''huanuchi'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''huicu'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''kamara'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''kantillero'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''keccrana'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''kehuillo'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''koso-nahui'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''megalocalyx'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''negrum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''orcco-amajaya'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''pallidum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''peruanum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''phinu'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''phitu-huayacas'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''piticana'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''pitiquilla'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''pitoca'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''poccoya'' <small>Vargas</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''puca'' <small>Vargas</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''puca-lunca'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' var. ''putis'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''roseum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''tiele'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''yana-cculi'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum stenotomum'' f. ''yuracc'' <small>Vargas</small>
*''Solanum subandigenum'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum sylvestre'' <small>Audib. ex Dunal</small>
*''Solanum tarmense'' <small>Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum tascalense'' <small>Brücher</small>
*''Solanum tenuifilamentum'' <small>Juz. & Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''acuminatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''aethiopicum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''alaudinum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''album'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''alkka-imilla'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''alkka-silla'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''amajaya'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' subsp. ''andigenum'' <small>(Juz. & Bukasov) Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''anglicum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''araucanum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''auriculatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''azul-runa'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''batatinum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''bertuchii'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''borsdorfianum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''brachyceras'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''brachykalukon'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''brevipapillosum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''brevipilosum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''bufoninum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''californicum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''camota'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''cepinum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''chaped'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''chiar-lelekkoya'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''chiar-pala'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' subsp. ''chiloense'' <small>(A.DC.) L.I.Kostina</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''chiloense'' <small>A.DC.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''chilotanum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''chojo-sajama'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''chubutense'' <small>(Bitter) Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''conicum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''conocarpum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''contortum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''coraila'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''cordiforme'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''corsicanum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''crassifilamentum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''crassipedicellatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''cucumerinum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''cultum''
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''drakeanum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''elegans'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''elongatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''elongatum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''enode'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''erythroceras'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''fragariinum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''guaytecarum'' <small>(Bitter) Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''hassicum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''helenanum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''hispanicum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''holsaticum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''huaca-zapato'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''huichinkka'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''indianum'' <small>Lechn. ex Bukasov</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''infectum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''isla-imilla'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''jancck'o-kkoyllu'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''janck'o-chockella'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''janck'o-pala'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''julianum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''kaunitzii'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''kunurana'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''laram-lelekkoya'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''latum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''laurentianum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''lelekkoya'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''leonhardianum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''mahuinhue'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''malcachu'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''melanoceras'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''menapianum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''merceri'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''milagro'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''montticum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''multibaccatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''murukewillu'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''nigrum'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''nobile'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''norfolcicum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''nucinum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''oculosum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''ovatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''overita'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''palatinatum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''pecorum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''peruvianum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''pichuna'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''pillicuma'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''platyceras'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''polemoniifolium'' <small>J.Rémy</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''praecox'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''praedicandum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''pulo'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''putscheanum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''recurvatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''reniforme'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''rockii'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''rossicum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''rubrisuturatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''rugiorum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''runa'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''sabinei'' <small>A.DC.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''saccharatum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''salamandrinum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''sani-imilla'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''schnittspahnii'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''sebastianum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''sesquimensale'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''sicha'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''sipancachi'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''strobilinum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''surico'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''taraco'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''tener'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''tenuipedicellatum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''thalassinum'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''tinctorium'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''tinguipaya'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''ulmense'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''versicolor'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''villaroella'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''viride'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''vuchefeldicum'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''vulgare'' <small>Macloskie</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''vulgare'' <small>Hook.f.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''wila-huaycku'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''wila-imilla'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''wila-k'oyu'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''wila-monda'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''wila-pala'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''xanthoceras'' <small>Alef.</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' f. ''yurac-taraco'' <small>Ochoa</small>
*''Solanum tuberosum'' var. ''yutuense'' <small>Bukasov & Lechn.</small>
*''Solanum utile'' <small>Klotzsch</small>
*''Solanum yabari'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum yabari'' var. ''cuzcoense'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum yabari'' var. ''pepino'' <small>Hawkes</small>
*''Solanum zykinii'' <small>Lechn.</small>
  }}
}}
 
The '''potato''' is a [[root vegetable]] native to the [[Americas]], a [[starch]]y [[tuber]] of the [[plant]] '''''Solanum tuberosum''''', and the plant itself is a [[perennial plant|perennial]] in the nightshade family, [[Solanaceae]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/potato|title=Potato – Definition of potato by Merriam-Webster|work=merriam-webster.com}}</ref>
 
Wild potato [[species]], originating in modern-day [[Peru]], can be found throughout the Americas, from [[Canada]] to southern [[Chile]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Geographic distribution of wild potato species|last1=Hijmans|first1=RJ|first2=DM|last2=Spooner|journal=[[American Journal of Botany]]|volume=88|issue=11|pages=2101–12|url=http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/88/11/2101|doi=10.2307/3558435|year=2001|jstor=3558435|pmid=21669641}}</ref> The potato was originally believed to have been domesticated by [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]] independently in multiple locations,<ref name="UniWisconsin">University of Wisconsin-Madison, ''Finding rewrites the evolutionary history of the origin of potatoes'' (2005) [http://www.news.wisc.edu/11620]</ref> but later genetic testing of the wide variety of [[cultivar]]s and wild species traced a single origin for potatoes. In the area of present-day southern [[Peru]] and extreme northwestern [[Bolivia]], from a species in the ''[[Solanum brevicaule]]'' complex, potatoes were [[Domestication|domesticated]] approximately 7,000–10,000 years ago.<ref name="Spooner 2005 14694–99">{{cite journal|last1=Spooner|first1=David M.|last2=McLean|first2=Karen|last3=Ramsay|first3=Gavin|last4=Waugh|first4=Robbie|last5=Bryan|first5=Glenn J.|date=29 September 2005|title=A single domestication for potato based on multilocus amplified fragment length polymorphism genotyping|journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|PNAS]]|pmid=16203994|volume=102|issue=41|pmc=1253605|pages=14694–99|doi=10.1073/pnas.0507400102|lay-url=http://www.cipotato.org/pressroom/press_releases_detail.asp?cod=17&lang=en|bibcode=2005PNAS..10214694S|access-date=24 November 2007|archive-date=26 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426183520/http://www.cipotato.org/pressroom/press_releases_detail.asp?cod=17&lang=en|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="LostCrops">{{cite book|author=Office of International Affairs|title=Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation|date=1989|url=http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=030904264X&page=92|work=nap.edu|isbn=978-0-309-04264-2|page=92|doi=10.17226/1398}}</ref><ref name="John Michael Francis 2005">{{cite book | author = John Michael Francis|title = Iberia and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History : a Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia | publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]]|year = 2005|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OMNoS-g1h8cC&pg=PA867| isbn = 978-1-85109-421-9 | page = 867 }}</ref> In the [[Andes]] region of South America, where the species is [[Indigenous species|indigenous]], some close relatives of the potato are cultivated.
 
Potatoes were introduced to Europe from the Americas in the second half of the 16th century by the Spanish. Today they are a [[staple food]] in many parts of the world and an integral part of much of the world's [[food supply]]. As of 2014, potatoes were the world's fourth-largest food crop after [[maize]] (corn), [[wheat]], and [[rice]].<ref name=potpro>{{cite web|title=The potato sector|publisher=Potato Pro|url=https://www.potatopro.com/world/potato-statistics|year=2014|access-date=31 December 2017}}</ref>
 
Following millennia of [[selective breeding]], there are now over 5,000 [[List of potato cultivars|different types of potatoes]].<ref name="LostCrops" /> Over 99% of presently cultivated potatoes worldwide descended from varieties that originated in the lowlands of [[Zona Sur|south-central Chile]].<ref name="chile">{{cite web | url = http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/uow-uds012908.php | title = Using DNA, scientists hunt for the roots of the modern potato | access-date =10 September 2008 | date = 29 January 2008 | last = Miller | first = N | publisher = [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] }}</ref><ref name="Ames2008">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.3732/ajb.95.2.252| pmid = 21632349| title = DNA from herbarium specimens settles a controversy about origins of the European potato| journal = American Journal of Botany| volume = 95| issue = 2| pages = 252–57| date = February 2008| last1 = Ames | first1 = M.| last2 = Spooner | first2 = D.M.| s2cid = 41052277| url = https://semanticscholar.org/paper/980c77ace8ed9129b6b2a63c84893684577a8685| doi-access = free}}</ref>
 
The importance of the potato as a food source and culinary ingredient varies by region and is still changing. It remains an essential crop in Europe, especially Northern and Eastern Europe, where [[per capita]] production is still the highest in the world, while the most rapid expansion in production over the past few decades has occurred in [[Southern Asia|southern]] and [[eastern Asia]], with China and India leading the world in overall production as of 2018.
 
Like the [[tomato]], the potato is a [[nightshade]] in the genus ''Solanum'', and the vegetative and fruiting parts of the potato contain the toxin [[solanine]] which is dangerous for human consumption. Normal potato tubers that have been grown and stored properly produce [[glycoalkaloids]] in amounts small enough to be negligible to human health, but if green sections of the plant (namely sprouts and skins) are exposed to light, the tuber can accumulate a high enough concentration of glycoalkaloids to affect human health.<ref name="fried">{{cite journal|author=Mendel Friedman, Gary M. McDonald & Mary Ann Filadelfi-Keszi|date=1997|title=Potato Glycoalkaloids: Chemistry, Analysis, Safety, and Plant Physiology|journal=Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences|volume=16|issue=1|pages=55–132|doi=10.1080/07352689709701946}}</ref><ref name="Greening of potatoes">{{cite web|url=http://www.csiro.au/resources/green-potatoes|title=Greening of potatoes|year=2005 |publisher=Food Science Australia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125205141/http://www.csiro.au/resources/green-potatoes|archive-date=25 November 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=15 November 2008}}</ref>
 
{{TOC limit}}
 
==Etymology==
The English word ''potato'' comes from Spanish {{lang|es|patata}} (the name used in Spain). The [[Royal Spanish Academy]] says the Spanish word is a hybrid of the [[Taíno language|Taíno]] {{lang|tnq|batata}} ('[[sweet potato]]')  and the [[Quechua languages|Quechua]] {{lang|qu|papa}} ('potato').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?LEMA=patata |title=patata |publisher=[[Royal Spanish Academy]] |work=Diccionario Usual |language=es|access-date=16 July 2010}}</ref>{{r|ley196804}} 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 we now call potato.<ref name=OED>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=potato, n |encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |editor1=J. Simpson |editor2=E. Weiner |year=1989 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-861186-8 }}</ref>  In many of the chronicles detailing agriculture and plants, no distinction is made between the two.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weatherford |first=J. McIver |author-link=Jack Weatherford |title=Indian givers: how the Indians of the Americas transformed the world |year=1988 |publisher=Fawcett Columbine |location=New York |isbn=978-0-449-90496-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/indiangivershow000weat/page/69 69] |url=https://archive.org/details/indiangivershow000weat/page/69 }}</ref>  Potatoes are occasionally referred to as ''Irish potatoes'' or ''white potatoes'' in the United States, to distinguish them from sweet potatoes.<ref name=OED/>
 
The name ''spud'' for a potato comes from the digging of soil (or a hole) prior to the planting of potatoes. The word has an unknown origin and was originally ({{circa|1440}}) used as a term for a short knife or dagger, probably related to the Latin {{lang|la|spad-}} a word root meaning "sword"; compare Spanish {{lang|es|espada}}, English "spade", and ''[[wikt:spadroon|spadroon]]''. It subsequently transferred over to a variety of digging tools. Around 1845, the name transferred to the tuber itself, the first record of this usage being in [[New Zealand English]].<ref>{{cite web |title=spud (n.) |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/spud |access-date=13 May 2018 |work=Online Etymology Dictionary }}</ref> The origin of the word ''spud'' has erroneously been attributed to an 18th-century activist group dedicated to keeping the potato out of Britain, calling itself The Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet <small>(S.P.U.D.)</small>. It was [[Mario Pei]]'s 1949 ''The Story of Language'' that can be blamed for the word's [[false etymology|false origin]]. Pei writes, "the potato, for its part, was in disrepute some centuries ago. Some Englishmen who did not fancy potatoes formed a Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet. The initials of the main words in this title gave rise to spud." Like most other pre-20th century [[acronym]]ic origins, this is false, and there is no evidence that a Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet ever existed.<ref name="Wilton94">{{cite book |author1=David Wilton |author2=Ivan Brunetti |page=[https://archive.org/details/wordmythsdebunki00wilt_0/page/94 94] |title=Word myths: debunking linguistic urban legends |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-19-517284-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/wordmythsdebunki00wilt_0/page/94 }}</ref><ref name="ley196804">{{Cite magazine |last=Ley |first=Willy |date=February 1968 |title=The Devil's Apples |department=For Your Information |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v26n04_1968-04#page/n117/mode/2up |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction |pages=118–25 |via=[[Internet Archive]] }}</ref>
 
== Characteristics ==
[[File:Potato flowers.jpg|thumb|Flowers of a potato plant]]
[[File:Potato plants.jpg|thumb|Potato plants]]Potato plants are herbaceous [[perennial]]s that grow about {{convert|60|cm|in|abbr=on}} high, depending on variety, with the leaves [[plant senescence|dying back]] after flowering, fruiting and tuber formation. They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple flowers with yellow [[stamen]]s. In general, the tubers of varieties with white flowers have white skins, while those of varieties with colored flowers tend to have pinkish skins.<ref>{{cite book |author=Tony Winch |title=Growing Food: A Guide to Food Production |year=2006 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]]
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDrqL2J-AiYC&pg=PA209 |isbn=978-1-4020-4975-0|page=209}}</ref> Potatoes are mostly [[pollination|cross-pollinated]] by insects such as [[bumblebee]]s, which carry pollen from other potato plants, though a substantial amount of self-fertilizing occurs as well. Tubers form in response to decreasing day length, although this tendency has been minimized in commercial varieties.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Virginia Amador |author2=Jordi Bou |author3=Jaime Martínez-García |author4=Elena Monte |author5=Mariana Rodríguez-Falcon |author6=Esther Russo |author7=Salomé Prat |title=Regulation of potato tuberization by daylength and gibberellins |url=http://www.ijdb.ehu.es/abstract.01supp/s37.pdf |journal=International Journal of Developmental Biology |issue=45 |pages= S37–S38 |year=2001 |access-date=8 January 2009}}</ref>
After flowering, potato plants produce small green fruits that resemble green [[cherry tomato]]es, each containing about 300 [[seed]]s. Like all parts of the plant except the tubers, the fruit contain the toxic [[alkaloid]] [[solanine]] and are therefore unsuitable for consumption. All new potato varieties are grown from seeds, also called "true potato seed", "TPS" or "botanical seed" to distinguish it from seed tubers. New varieties grown from seed can be [[vegetative propagation|propagated vegetatively]] by planting tubers, pieces of tubers cut to include at least one or two eyes, or cuttings, a practice used in greenhouses for the production of healthy seed tubers. Plants propagated from tubers are clones of the parent, whereas those propagated from seed produce a range of different varieties.
 
== Genetics ==
There are about 5,000 potato varieties worldwide. Three thousand of them are found in the Andes alone, mainly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia. They belong to eight or nine species, depending on the taxonomic school. Apart from the 5,000 cultivated varieties, there are about 200 wild species and subspecies, many of which can be cross-bred with cultivated varieties. Cross-breeding has been done repeatedly to transfer resistances to certain pests and diseases from the gene pool of wild species to the gene pool of cultivated potato species. [[Genetically modified food|Genetically modified]] varieties have met public resistance in the United States and in the European Union.<ref>{{cite news |title=Consumer acceptance of genetically modified potatoes |publisher=American Journal of Potato Research cited through Bnet |year=2002 |url=http://www.agbioforum.org/v7n12/v7n12a13-mccluskey.pdf |access-date=19 February 2012 |archive-date=1 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101142414/http://www.agbioforum.org/v7n12/v7n12a13-mccluskey.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news |title=A genetically modified potato, not for eating, is stirring some opposition in Europe
|work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/24/business/worldbusiness/24spuds.html
|access-date=15 November 2008 |first=Elisabeth |last=Rosenthal |date=24 July 2007}}</ref> [[File:Russet potato cultivar with sprouts.jpg|thumb|Russet potatoes]]
 
The major species grown worldwide is ''Solanum tuberosum'' (a [[tetraploid]] with 48 [[chromosome]]s), and modern varieties of this species are the most widely cultivated. There are also four diploid species (with 24 chromosomes): ''S.&nbsp;stenotomum'', ''S.&nbsp;phureja'', ''S.&nbsp;goniocalyx'', and ''S.&nbsp;ajanhuiri''. There are two triploid species (with 36 chromosomes): ''S.&nbsp;chaucha'' and ''S.&nbsp;juzepczukii''. There is one pentaploid cultivated species (with 60 chromosomes): ''S.&nbsp;curtilobum''. There are two major subspecies of ''Solanum tuberosum'': ''andigena'', or Andean; and  ''tuberosum'', or Chilean.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/reprint/42/5/1451.pdf |title=Chilean Tetraploid Cultivated Potato, ''Solanum tuberosum'' is Distinct from the Andean Populations: Microsatellite Data, Celeste M. Raker and David M. Spooner, University of Wisconsin, published in ''Crop Science'', Vol.42, 2002 |access-date=16 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326171403/http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/reprint/42/5/1451.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2009}}</ref> The Andean potato is adapted to the short-day conditions prevalent in the mountainous equatorial and tropical regions where it originated; the [[Potatoes of Chiloé|Chilean potato]], however, native to the [[Chiloé Archipelago]], is adapted to the long-day conditions prevalent in the higher latitude region of southern Chile.<ref name="Rodríguez">{{cite journal|url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-34582007000300011 |title=Molecular description and similarity relationships among native germplasm potatoes (''Solanum tuberosum'' ssp. ''tuberosum'' L.) using morphological data and AFLP markers |journal=Electronic Journal of Biotechnology |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=436–443 |access-date=6 December 2009|doi=10.2225/vol10-issue3-fulltext-14 |date=July 2007 |last1=Anabalón Rodríguez |first1=Leonardo |last2=Morales Ulloa |first2=Daniza |last3=Solano Solis |first3=Jaime |hdl=10925/320 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> [[File:Russet potato.jpg|thumb|Organically grown [[Russet Burbank]]s]]The [[International Potato Center]], based in [[Lima, Peru]], holds an [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]]-accredited collection of potato [[germplasm]].<ref>{{cite web |title=ISO accreditation a world-first for CIP genebank |publisher=[[International Potato Center]] |year=2008 |url=http://www.cipotato.org/pressroom/press_releases_detail.asp?cod=55 |access-date=19 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908122706/http://www.cipotato.org/pressroom/press_releases_detail.asp?cod=55 |archive-date=8 September 2008}}</ref> The international Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium announced in 2009 that they had achieved a draft sequence of the potato genome.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.genomeweb.com/sequencing/potato-draft-sequence-available|title=Potato Draft Sequence Available|work=Genoweb Daily News|date=24 September 2009|access-date=1 May 2011}}</ref> The potato genome contains 12 chromosomes and 860 million base pairs, making it a medium-sized plant genome.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Visser |first1=R.G.F. |last2=Bachem |first2=C.W.B. |last3=Boer |first3=J.M. |last4=Bryan |first4=G.J. |last5=Chakrabati |first5=S.K. |last6=Feingold |first6=S. |last7=Gromadka |first7=R. |last8=Ham |first8=R.C.H.J. |last9=Huang |first9=S. |last10=Jacobs |doi=10.1007/s12230-009-9097-8 |first10=J.M.E. |last11=Kuznetsov |first11=B. |last12=Melo |first12=P.E. |last13=Milbourne |first13=D. |last14=Orjeda |first14=G. |last15=Sagredo |first15=B. |last16=Tang |first16=X. |title=Sequencing the Potato Genome: Outline and First Results to Come from the Elucidation of the Sequence of the World's Third Most Important Food Crop |journal=American Journal of Potato Research |volume=86 |issue=6 |pages=417–29 |year=2009 |doi-access=free }}</ref> More than 99 percent of all current [[variety (botany)|varieties]] of potatoes currently grown are direct descendants of a subspecies that once grew in the [[lowland]]s of south-central [[Chile]].<ref name="sd">{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080129160727.htm |title=Using DNA, Scientists Hunt For The Roots Of The Modern Potato |author=Story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] |publisher=ScienceDaily (with information from a report originally appearing in the [[American Journal of Botany]]) |date=4 February 2008 |access-date=27 August 2011}}</ref> Nonetheless, genetic testing of the wide variety of [[cultivar]]s and wild species affirms that all potato subspecies derive from a single [[Indigenous (ecology)|origin]] in the area of present-day southern [[Peru]] and extreme Northwestern [[Bolivia]] (from a species in the ''Solanum brevicaule'' complex).<ref name="Spooner 2005 14694–99" /><ref name="LostCrops" /><ref name="John Michael Francis 2005" /> The wild Crop Wild Relatives Prebreeding project encourages the use of wild relatives in breeding programs. Enriching and preserving the gene bank collection to make potatoes adaptive to diverse environmental conditions is seen as a pressing issue due to climate change.<ref>{{cite web|title=Welcome to the Crop Wild Relatives Prebreeding project|url=https://research.cip.cgiar.org/confluence/display/PotatoCWRprebreeding/Home|publisher=Potato CWR prebreeding Project|access-date=27 July 2018|archive-date=27 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727150014/https://research.cip.cgiar.org/confluence/display/PotatoCWRprebreeding/Home|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
Most modern potatoes grown in North America arrived through European settlement and not independently from the South American sources, although at least one wild potato species, ''Solanum fendleri'', naturally ranges from Peru into Texas, where it is used in breeding for resistance to a [[nematode]] species that attacks cultivated potatoes. A secondary center of genetic variability of the potato is Mexico, where important wild species that have been used extensively in modern breeding are found, such as the hexaploid ''Solanum demissum'', as a source of resistance to the devastating [[Phytophthora infestans|late blight disease]].<ref name="PlDis2011">{{Cite journal|title=Potato and tomato late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans: An overview of pathology and resistance breeding |last1=Nowicki|first1=Marcin|date=17 August 2011|doi= 10.1094/PDIS-05-11-0458|pmid=30731850|last2=Foolad|first2=Majid R.|last3=Nowakowska|first3=Marzena|last4=Kozik |first4=Elzbieta U.|journal=Plant Disease|volume=96|issue=1|pages=4–17|display-authors=etal|doi-access=free}}</ref> Another relative native to this region, ''[[Solanum bulbocastanum]]'', has been used to genetically engineer the potato to resist potato blight.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Gene RB cloned from Solanum bulbocastanum confers broad spectrum resistance to potato late blight|doi=10.1073/pnas.1533501100|pmid=12872003|pmc=170883 |volume=100 |issue=16 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |pages=9128–9133|year=2003 |last1=Song |first1=J |last2=Bradeen |first2=J.M. |last3=Naess |first3=S.K. |last4=Raasch |first4=J.A. |last5=Wielgus |first5=S.M. |last6=Haberlach |first6=G.T. |last7=Liu |first7=J |last8=Kuang |first8=H |last9=Austin-Phillips |first9=S |last10=Buell |first10=C.R. |last11=Helgeson |first11=J.P. |last12=Jiang |first12=J |bibcode=2003PNAS..100.9128S }}</ref>
 
Potatoes yield abundantly with little effort, and adapt readily to diverse climates as long as the climate is cool and moist enough for the plants to gather sufficient water from the soil to form the starchy tubers. Potatoes do not keep very well in storage and are vulnerable to moulds that feed on the stored tubers and quickly turn them rotten, whereas crops such as grain can be stored for several years with a low risk of rot. The [[food energy]] yield of potatoes—about {{convert|9.2|e6kcal/acre|GJ/ha|abbr=off|order=flip}}—is higher than that of maize ({{convert|7.5|e6kcal/acre|GJ/ha|abbr=on|disp=or|order=flip}}), rice ({{convert|7.4|e6kcal/acre|GJ/ha|abbr=on|disp=or|order=flip}}), wheat ({{convert|3|e6kcal/acre|GJ/ha|abbr=on|disp=or|order=flip}}), or [[soybeans]] ({{convert|2.8|e6kcal/acre|GJ/ha|abbr=on|disp=or|order=flip}}).<ref name="Ensminger">{{cite book |first1=Audrey |last1=Ensminger |first2=M.E.|last2=Ensminger|first3=James E.|last3=Konlande|title=Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia |year=1994 |publisher=CTC Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XMA9gYIj-C4C&pg=PA1104|isbn=978-0-8493-8981-8|page=1104}}</ref>
 
=== Varieties ===
{{further|List of potato cultivars}}[[File:Bamberger Hoernle.jpg|thumb|[[Bamberg potato]]es]]There are close to 4,000 varieties of potato including common commercial varieties, each of which has specific agricultural or culinary attributes.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Saving the Potato in its Andean Birthplace |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/06/0610_020610_potato.html |date=10 June 2002 |magazine=National Geographic |author=John Roach |access-date=11 September 2009}}</ref> Around 80 varieties are commercially available in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishpotatoes.co.uk/potato-varieties/ |title=Potato Varieties |last=Potato Council Ltd. |work=Potato Council website |publisher=Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board |access-date=13 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908212045/http://www.britishpotatoes.co.uk/potato-varieties |archive-date=8 September 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Potato Primer |publisher=[[Cooks Illustrated]] |url=http://www.cooksillustrated.com/images/document/howto/JF07_PotatoPrimer.pdf |access-date=8 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217030233/http://www.cooksillustrated.com/images/document/howto/JF07_PotatoPrimer.pdf |archive-date=17 December 2008}}</ref> Potatoes that are good for making [[potato chip]]s 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/potatoes-chipping-grades-and-standards|title=Potatoes for Chipping Grades and Standards {{!}} Agricultural Marketing Service|website=www.ams.usda.gov|language=en|access-date=27 August 2018}}</ref>
 
The [[European Cultivated Potato Database]] (ECPD) is an online collaborative database of potato variety descriptions that is updated and maintained by the [[Scottish Agricultural Science Agency]] within the framework of the European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks (ECP/GR)—which is run by the [[International Plant Genetic Resources Institute]] (IPGRI).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europotato.org/menu.php |title=Europotato.org |publisher=Europotato.org |access-date=16 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128021457/http://www.europotato.org/menu.php |archive-date=28 November 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<!--List is at [[List of potato cultivars]], don't add here!-->
 
=== Pigmentation ===
[[File:Papas de colores de Chiloe.jpg|thumb|right|Potatoes with different pigmentation]] [[File:BlauerSchwede02.JPG|thumb|alt=Two dark-skinned potatoes on a white plate. A further potato is cut into sections to show the variety's purple-blue flesh, placed at lower-right on the plate.|Potato variety 'Blue Swede']]Dozens of potato [[cultivar]]s have been [[plant breeding|selectively bred]] specifically for their skin or, more commonly, flesh [[biological pigment|color]], including gold, red, and blue varieties<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wisconsinpotatoes.com/growing/varieties/|title=So many varieties, so many choices|date=2017|publisher=Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association}}</ref> that contain varying amounts of [[phytochemical]]s, including [[carotenoids]] for gold/yellow or [[polyphenol]]s for red or blue cultivars.<ref name="Hirsch">{{cite journal|last1=Hirsch |first1=C.N.|last2=Hirsch|first2=C.D.|last3=Felcher|first3=K|last4=Coombs|first4=J|last5=Zarka|first5=D|last6=Van Deynze|first6=A|last7=De Jong|first7=W|last8=Veilleux |first8=R.E. |last9=Jansky|first9=S|year=2013|title=Retrospective View of North American Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Breeding in the 20th and 21st Centuries|journal=G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics |volume=3|issue=6|pages=1003–13|doi=10.1534/g3.113.005595|pmc=3689798|last10=Bethke|first10=P|last11=Douches|first11=D.S. |last12=Buell|first12=C.R.|pmid=23589519}}</ref> Carotenoid compounds include [[provitamin A]] [[alpha-carotene]] and [[beta-carotene]], which are converted to the [[essential nutrient]], [[vitamin A]], during digestion. [[Anthocyanin]]s mainly responsible for red or blue pigmentation in potato cultivars do not have nutritional significance, but are used for visual variety and consumer appeal.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jemison Jr|first1=John M.|last2=Sexton|first2=Peter|last3=Camire|first3=Mary Ellen|year=2008|title=Factors Influencing Consumer Preference of Fresh Potato Varieties in Maine|journal=American Journal of Potato Research|volume=85|issue=2|page=140|doi=10.1007/s12230-008-9017-3|s2cid=34297429}}</ref> In 2010, potatoes were [[genetic engineering|bioengineered]] specifically for these pigmentation traits.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mattoo|first1=A.K.|last2=Shukla|first2=V|last3=Fatima|first3=T|last4=Handa|first4=A.K.|last5=Yachha|first5=S.K. |year=2010|title=Genetic engineering to enhance crop-based phytonutrients (nutraceuticals) to alleviate diet-related diseases|journal=Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology|volume=698|pages=122–43|pmid=21520708|doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-7347-4_10|isbn=978-1-4419-7346-7}}</ref>
 
=== Genetically engineered potatoes ===
{{Main|Genetically engineered potato}}
Genetic research has produced several [[genetically modified]] varieties. 'New Leaf', owned by [[Monsanto Company]], incorporates genes from ''[[Bacillus thuringiensis]]'', which confers resistance to the [[Colorado potato beetle]]; 'New Leaf Plus' and 'New Leaf Y', approved by US regulatory agencies during the 1990s, also include resistance to viruses. [[McDonald's]], [[Burger King]], [[Frito-Lay]], and [[Procter & Gamble]] announced they would not use genetically modified potatoes, and Monsanto published its intent to discontinue the line in March 2001.<ref>{{cite web |title=Genetically Engineered Organisms Public Issues Education Project/Am I eating GE potatoes? |publisher=[[Cornell University]] |url=http://www.geo-pie.cornell.edu/crops/potato.html |access-date=16 December 2008}}</ref>
 
[[waxy potato starch|Waxy potato varieties]] produce two main kinds of potato starch, [[amylose]] and [[amylopectin]], the latter of which is most industrially useful. [[BASF]] developed the [[Amflora]] potato, which was modified to express [[antisense RNA]] to inactivate the gene for [[NDP-glucose—starch glucosyltransferase|granule bound starch synthase]], an enzyme which catalyzes the formation of amylose.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/gmo/popups/55.potato_eh92_527_1.html|title=GMO compass database|access-date=6 October 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009210148/http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/gmo/popups/55.potato_eh92_527_1.html|archive-date=9 October 2014}}</ref>  Amflora potatoes therefore produce starch consisting almost entirely of [[amylopectin]], and are thus more useful for the starch industry. In 2010, the European Commission cleared the way for 'Amflora' to be grown in the European Union for industrial purposes only—not for food. Nevertheless, under EU rules, individual countries have the right to decide whether they will allow this potato to be grown on their territory. Commercial planting of 'Amflora' was expected in the Czech Republic and Germany in the spring of 2010, and [[Sweden]] and the Netherlands in subsequent years.<ref>[http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/492.docu.html GM potatoes: BASF at work] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531073525/http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/492.docu.html |date=31 May 2010}} GMO Compass 5 March 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2011.</ref> Another GM potato variety developed by BASF is 'Fortuna'<!-- see de:Fortuna (Kartoffel) fr:Fortuna (pomme de terre) --> which was made resistant to [[Phytophthora infestans|late blight]] by adding two resistance genes, blb1 and blb2, which originate from the Mexican wild potato Solanum bulbocastanum.<ref>Research in Germany, 17 November 2011. [http://www.research-in-germany.de/84190/2011-11-17-business-basf-applies-for-approval-for-another-biotech-potato.html Business BASF applies for approval for another biotech potato] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602111343/http://www.research-in-germany.de/84190/2011-11-17-business-basf-applies-for-approval-for-another-biotech-potato.html |date=2 June 2013 }}</ref><ref>Burger, Ludwig (31 October 2011) [https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/31/us-basf-idUSTRE79U41Q20111031 BASF applies for EU approval for Fortuna GM potato] Reuters, Frankfurt. Retrieved 29 December 2011</ref>  In October 2011 BASF requested cultivation and marketing approval as a feed and food from the EFSA. In 2012, GMO development in Europe was stopped by BASF.<ref>[http://www.dw.de/basf-stops-gm-crop-development-in-europe/a-15671900 BASF stops GM crop development in Europe], ''Deutsche Welle'', 17 January 2012</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/business/global/17iht-gmo17.html?_r=0 Basf stop selling GM Product in Europe, ''New York Times''], 16 January 2012</ref>
 
In November 2014, the USDA approved a genetically modified potato developed by [[J.R. Simplot Company]], which contains genetic modifications that prevent bruising and produce less [[acrylamide]] when fried than conventional potatoes; the modifications do not cause new proteins to be made, but rather prevent proteins from being made via [[RNA interference]].<ref>Andrew Pollack for the ''New York Times''. 7 November 2014. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/business/genetically-modified-potato-from-simplot-approved-by-usda.html U.S.D.A. Approves Modified Potato. Next Up: French Fry Fans]</ref><ref>''Federal Register''. 3 May 2013. [https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/05/03/2013-10504/jr-simplot-co-availability-of-petition-for-determination-of-nonregulated-status-of-potato#h-7 J.R. Simplot Co.; Availability of Petition for Determination of Nonregulated Status of Potato Genetically Engineered for Low Acrylamide Potential and Reduced Black Spot Bruise]</ref><ref>ISAAA GM Approval Database. [http://www.isaaa.org/gmapprovaldatabase/developedby/default.asp?DeveloperID=61&DevelopedBy=J.R.%20Simplot%20Co. GM Crop Events developed by J.R. Simplot Co.] Accessed 3 January 2015</ref>
 
== History ==
{{Main|History of the potato}}
The potato was first domesticated in the region of modern-day southern [[Peru]] and northwestern [[Bolivia]]<ref name="Spooner 2005 14694–99"/> by pre-Columbian farmers, around Lake Titicaca.<ref name="LostCrops"/>  It has since spread around the world and become a [[staple food|staple crop]] in many countries.
 
The earliest archaeologically verified potato tuber remains have been found at the coastal site of [[Ancon (archaeological site)|Ancon]] (central [[Peru]]), dating to 2500 BC.<ref>Martins-Farias 1976; Moseley 1975</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=David R. |last1=Harris |first2=Gordon C. |last2=Hillman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxghBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA496 |title=Foraging and Farming: The Evolution of Plant Exploitation |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-317-59829-9 |page=496 }}</ref> The  most widely cultivated variety, ''[[Solanum tuberosum tuberosum]]'', is indigenous to the [[Chiloé Archipelago]], and has been cultivated by the local [[Indigenous peoples in Chile|indigenous people]] since before the [[Conquest of Chile|Spanish conquest]].<ref name="Rodríguez"/><ref>[http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/uow-uds012908.php Using DNA, scientists hunt for the roots of the modern potato], January 2008</ref>
 
According to conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato was responsible for a quarter of the growth in [[Old World]] population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Nunn |first1= Nathan |last2= Qian |first2= Nancy |year= 2011 |title= The Potato's Contribution to Population and Urbanization: Evidence from a Historical Experiment |url= http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/nunn/files/Potato_QJE.pdf |journal= [[Quarterly Journal of Economics]] |volume= 126 |issue= 2 |pages= 593–650 |doi= 10.1093/qje/qjr009 |pmid= 22073408 |s2cid= 17631317 |access-date=7 July 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110705043431/http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/nunn/files/Potato_QJE.pdf | archive-date=5 July 2011}}</ref> In the Altiplano, potatoes provided the principal energy source for the [[Inca civilization]], its predecessors, and its Spanish successor. Following the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire]], the Spanish introduced the potato to Europe in the second half of the 16th century, part of the [[Columbian exchange]]. The staple was subsequently conveyed by European mariners to territories and ports throughout the world. The potato was slow to be adopted by European farmers, but soon enough it became an important food staple and field crop that played a major role in the European 19th century population boom.<ref name="John Michael Francis 2005"/> However, lack of genetic diversity, due to the very limited number of varieties initially introduced, left the crop vulnerable to disease. In 1845, a plant disease known as late blight, caused by the fungus-like [[oomycete]] ''[[Phytophthora infestans]]'', spread rapidly through the poorer communities of western [[Ireland]] as well as parts of the [[Scottish Highlands]], resulting in the crop failures that led to the [[Great Irish Famine]].<ref name="PlDis2011"/> Thousands of varieties still persist in the Andes however, where over 100 cultivars might be found in a single valley, and a dozen or more might be maintained by a single agricultural household.<ref>{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080114015939/http://research.cip.cgiar.org/confluence/display/wpa/Peru | url = http://research.cip.cgiar.org/confluence/display/wpa/Peru | access-date =10 September 2008 | archive-date = 14 January 2008 | publisher = [[International Potato Center]] | title = History and overview | work = World Potato Atlas: Peru | date = 1 January 2007 | last = Theisen | first = K }}</ref>
 
== Production ==
{{main|List of countries by potato production}}
{| class="wikitable floatright"  style="float:right; clear:left; width:18em;"
|-
! colspan=2|Potato production – 2018
|-
!  style="background:#ddf; width:75%;"| Country
!  style="background:#ddf; width:25%;"| <small>Production (millions of [[tonne]]s)</small>
|-
|style="text-align: center;" | {{CHN}} ||style="text-align: center;" | 98.3
|-
|style="text-align: center;" | {{IND}} ||style="text-align: center;" | 48.5
|-
|style="text-align: center;" | {{RUS}} ||style="text-align: center;" | 22.5
|-
|style="text-align: center;" | {{UKR}} ||style="text-align: center;" | 22.5
|-
|style="text-align: center;" | {{USA}} ||style="text-align: center;" | 20.6
|-
|style="text-align: center;" | '''World''' ||style="text-align: center;" | '''368.2'''
|-
|colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" |<small>Source: [[FAOSTAT]] of the [[United Nations]]<ref name="fao18">{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC|title=Potato production in 2018; Region/World/Production Quantity/Crops from pick lists|publisher=UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Statistics Division (FAOSTAT)|date=2019|access-date=24 February 2020}}</ref></small>
|}
[[File:PotatoYield.png|thumb|right|Global production of potatoes in 2008]]
In 2018, world production of potatoes was 368 million [[tonne]]s, led by China with 27% 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 southern and eastern Asia.<ref name=potpro/><ref name=fao18/>
 
== Nutrition ==
A raw potato is 79% water, 17% [[carbohydrates]] (88% is [[starch]]), 2% [[protein]], and contains negligible [[fat]] (see table). In a {{convert|100|g|oz|frac=2|adj=on|abbr=off}} portion, raw potato provides {{convert|322|kJ|kcal|abbr=off}} 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 vitamins or minerals in significant amount (see table). The potato is rarely eaten raw because raw potato starch is poorly digested by humans.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Beazell|first1=JM|last2=Schmidt|first2=CR|last3=Ivy|first3=AC|date=January 1939|title=On the Digestibility of Raw Potato Starch in Man|journal=The Journal of Nutrition|volume=17|issue=1|pages= 77–83|doi=10.1093/jn/17.1.77}}</ref> When a potato is baked, its contents of vitamin B6 and vitamin C decline notably, while there is little significant change in the amount of other nutrients.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2770/2|title=Nutrient contents of potato, baked, flesh and skin, without salt per 100 grams|publisher=Nutritiondata.com, Conde Nast for the US National Nutrient Database, SR-21|date=2014|access-date=7 May 2017}}</ref>
 
Potatoes are often broadly classified as having a high [[glycemic index]] (GI) and so are often excluded from the diets of individuals trying to follow a [[low-glycemic index diet|low-GI diet]]. The GI of potatoes can vary considerably depending on the cultivar or cultivar category (such as "red", [[Russet Burbank potato|russet]], "white", or [[King Edward potato|King Edward]]), growing conditions and storage, preparation methods (by cooking method, whether it is eaten hot or cold, whether it is mashed or cubed or consumed whole), and accompanying foods consumed (especially the addition of various high-fat or high-protein toppings).<ref name=gi/> In particular, consuming reheated or cooled potatoes that were previously cooked may yield a lower GI effect.<ref name="gi">{{cite journal|vauthors=Fernandes G, Velangi A, Wolever TM |year=2005|title=Glycemic index of potatoes commonly consumed in North America|journal=Journal of the American Dietetic Association|volume=105|pages=557–62|doi=10.1016/j.jada.2005.01.003|pmid=15800557|issue=4}}</ref>
 
In the UK, potatoes are not considered by the [[National Health Service]] (NHS) as counting or contributing towards the recommended daily [[5 A Day|five portions of fruit and vegetables]], the 5-A-Day program.<ref>[http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Whatcounts.aspx List of what counts towards 5 A DAY portions of fruit and vegetables] ''[[National Health Service|NHS]]'' 18 December 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2010</ref>
 
===Comparison to other staple foods===
This table shows the nutrient content of potatoes next to other major staple foods, each one measured in its respective raw state, even though staple foods are not commonly eaten raw and are usually sprouted or cooked before eating. In sprouted and cooked form, the relative nutritional and anti-nutritional contents of each of these grains (or other foods) may be different from the values in this table. Each nutrient (every row) has the highest number highlighted to show the staple food with the greatest amount in a 100-gram raw portion.
{{Comparison of major staple foods}}
 
===Toxicity===
[[File:Potato EarlyRose sprouts.jpg|thumb|'[[Early Rose potato|Early Rose]]' variety seed tuber with sprouts]]
[[File:Solanum tuberosum 004.JPG|thumb|[[Potato fruit]], which is not edible]]
Potatoes contain [[Toxicity|toxic]] compounds known as [[glycoalkaloid]]s, of which the most prevalent are [[solanine]] and [[chaconine]]. Solanine is found in other plants in the same family, [[Solanaceae]], which includes such plants as deadly nightshade (''[[Atropa belladonna]]''), henbane (''[[Hyoscyamus niger]]'') and tobacco (''[[Nicotiana|Nicotiana spp.]]''), as well as the food plants [[eggplant]] and [[tomato]]. These compounds, which protect the potato plant from its predators, are generally concentrated in its leaves, flowers, sprouts, and fruits (in contrast to the tubers).<ref>{{cite web |title=Tomato-like Fruit on Potato Plants |publisher=[[Iowa State University]] |url=http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2004/7-2-2004/tomatopotato.html |access-date=8 January 2009}}</ref> In a summary of several studies, the glycoalkaloid content was highest in the flowers and sprouts and lowest in the tuber flesh. (The glycoalkaloid content was, in order from highest to lowest: flowers, sprouts, leaves, tuber skin, roots, berries, peel [skin plus outer cortex of tuber flesh], stems, and tuber flesh).<ref name=fried/>
 
Exposure to light, physical damage, and age increase glycoalkaloid content within the tuber.<ref name="Greening of potatoes"/> Cooking at high temperatures—over {{convert|170|°C|°F|abbr=on}}—partly destroys these compounds. The concentration of glycoalkaloids in [[Solanum jamesii|wild potatoes]] is sufficient to produce toxic effects in humans. Glycoalkaloid poisoning may cause headaches, [[diarrhea]], [[cramps]], and, in severe cases, coma and death. However, poisoning from cultivated potato varieties is very rare. Light exposure causes greening from [[chlorophyll]] synthesis, giving a visual clue as to which areas of the tuber may have become more toxic. However, this does not provide a definitive guide, as greening and glycoalkaloid accumulation can occur independently of each other.
 
Different potato varieties contain different levels of glycoalkaloids. The [[Lenape (potato)|Lenape]] variety was released in 1967 but was withdrawn in 1970 as it contained high levels of glycoalkaloids.<ref name="boing">{{cite web|url=https://boingboing.net/2013/03/25/the-case-of-the-poison-potato.html|title=The case of the poison potato|publisher=boingboing.net|author=Marggie Koerth-Baker|date=25 March 2013|access-date=8 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108070908/http://boingboing.net/2013/03/25/the-case-of-the-poison-potato.html|archive-date=8 November 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since then, breeders developing new varieties test for this, and sometimes have to discard an otherwise promising [[cultivar]]. Breeders try to keep glycoalkaloid levels below 200&nbsp;mg/kg (200 [[Parts-per notation|ppmw]]). However, when these commercial varieties turn green, they can still approach [[solanine]] concentrations of 1000&nbsp;mg/kg (1000 ppmw). In normal potatoes, analysis has shown solanine levels may be as little as 3.5% of the breeders' maximum, with 7–187&nbsp;mg/kg being found.<ref>''Glycoalkaloid and calystegine contents of eight potato cultivars'' [http://grande.nal.usda.gov/ibids/index.php?mode2=detail&origin=ibids_references&therow=728718 J-Agric-Food-Chem. 2003 May 7; 51(10): 2964–73] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211003132/http://grande.nal.usda.gov/ibids/index.php?mode2=detail&origin=ibids_references&therow=728718 |date=11 February 2009 }}</ref> While a normal potato tuber has 12–20&nbsp;mg/kg of glycoalkaloid content, a green potato tuber contains 250–280&nbsp;mg/kg and its skin has 1500–2200&nbsp;mg/kg.<ref>{{cite book |author=Shaw, Ian |title=Is it Safe to Eat?: Enjoy Eating and Minimize Food Risks |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|location=Berlin |year=2005 |page=129 |isbn=978-3-540-21286-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XlfVw2QmdvIC&pg=PA129}}</ref>
 
==Growth and cultivation {{anchor|seed_potato}}==
[[File:Potato planting machine.JPG|thumb|Potato planting]]
[[File:Tractors in Potato Field.jpg|thumb|Potato field in [[Fort Fairfield, Maine]]]]
 
===Seed potatoes===
Potatoes are generally grown from ''seed potatoes,{{anchor|seed potato}}'' 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.potatoesusa.com/potato-products/seed-potatoes|title=United States Potato Board -Seed Potatoes|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825053643/http://www.potatoesusa.com/potato-products/seed-potatoes|archive-date=25 August 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> These locations are selected for their cold, hard winters that kill pests and summers with long sunshine hours for optimum growth. In the UK, most seed potatoes originate in [[Scotland]], in areas where westerly winds reduce [[aphid]] attack and the spread of [[Potato virus Y|potato virus]] [[pathogen]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Seed & Ware Potatoes|url=http://www.sasa.gov.uk/seed-ware-potatoes|website=www.sasa.gov.uk|publisher=[[Scottish Agricultural Science Agency|Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture]]|access-date=27 February 2018}}</ref>
 
===Phases of growth===
Potato growth can be divided into five phases. During the first phase, sprouts emerge from the seed potatoes and root growth begins. During the second, [[photosynthesis]] begins as the plant develops leaves and branches above-ground and [[stolon]]s develop from lower leaf [[axil]]s on the below-ground stem. In the third phase the tips of the stolons swell forming new [[tubers]] and the shoots continue to grow and flowers typically develop soon after. Tuber bulking occurs during the fourth phase, when the plant begins investing the majority of its resources in its newly formed tubers. At this phase, several factors are critical to a good yield: optimal [[soil moisture]] and temperature, soil nutrient availability and balance, and resistance to [[Pest (organism)|pest attacks]]. The fifth phase is the maturation of the tubers: the plant canopy dies back, the tuber skins harden, and the [[Plant sugars|sugars]] in the tubers convert to starches.<ref>{{cite web |title=Potatoes Home Garden |url=https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn-and-garden/potatoes-home-garden/ |website=sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu |publisher=UF/IFAS Extension |access-date=14 August 2019}}</ref><ref name="JefferiesLawson1991">{{cite journal|last1=Jefferies|first1=R. A.|last2=Lawson|first2=H. M.|title=A key for the stages of development of potato (Solatium tuberosum)|journal=Annals of Applied Biology|volume=119|issue=2|year=1991|pages=387–399|issn=0003-4746|doi=10.1111/j.1744-7348.1991.tb04879.x}}</ref>
 
[[File:Culture de la pomme de terre.jpg|thumb|right|Preparation of a potato crop in Hesbaye, Belgium]]
 
===Challenges===
[[File:Potato bag cultivation.JPG|thumb|Potatoes grown in a tall bag are common in gardens as they minimize the amount of digging required at harvest]]New tubers may start growing at the surface of the soil. Since exposure to light leads to an undesirable greening of the skins and the development of [[solanine]] as a protection from the sun's rays, growers cover surface tubers. Commercial growers cover them by piling additional soil around the base of the plant as it grows (called "hilling" up, or in British English "earthing up"). An alternative method, used by home gardeners and smaller-scale growers, involves covering the growing area with organic [[mulch]]es such as straw or plastic sheets.<ref name="cornell1">{{cite web|url=http://suffolk-lamp.cit.cornell.edu/assets/Horticulture-Leaflets/Growing-Potatoes-in-the-Home-Garden.pdf|publisher=[[Cornell University]] [[Cooperative extension service|Extension Service]]|title=Growing Potatoes in the Home Garden|access-date=27 June 2010}}</ref>
 
Correct potato husbandry can be an arduous task in some circumstances. Good ground preparation, [[harrowing]], [[plough|plowing]], and rolling are always needed, along with a little grace from the weather and a good source of water.<ref>{{cite web|author=Maude Brulard |url=https://m.phys.org/news/2015-04-dutch-saltwater-potatoes-world-hungry.html |title=Dutch saltwater potatoes offer hope for world's hungry |work=M.phys.org |date=29 April 2015 |access-date=11 October 2018}}</ref> Three successive plowings, with associated harrowing and rolling, are desirable before planting. Eliminating all root-weeds is desirable in potato cultivation. In general, the potatoes themselves are grown from the eyes of another potato and not from seed. Home gardeners often plant a piece of potato with two or three eyes in a hill of mounded soil. Commercial growers plant potatoes as a row crop using seed tubers, young plants or microtubers and may mound the entire row. Seed potato crops are [[roguing|rogued]] in some countries to eliminate diseased plants or those of a different variety from the seed crop.
 
Potatoes are sensitive to heavy [[frost]]s, which damage them in the ground. Even cold weather makes potatoes more susceptible to bruising and possibly later rotting, which can quickly ruin a large stored crop.
 
=== Pests ===
{{Main|List of potato diseases}}
The historically significant ''[[Phytophthora infestans]]'' (late blight) remains an ongoing problem in Europe<ref name="PlDis2011" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.njf.nu/filebank/files/20060330$fil$vodD3dJE390Hb92eKsGd.pdf|title=NJF seminar No. 388 Integrated Control of Potato Late Blight in the Nordic and Baltic Countries. Copenhagen, Denmark, 29 November −1 December 2006|publisher=Nordic Association of Agricultural Scientists|access-date=14 November 2008}}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.extension.org/pages/18361/organic-management-of-late-blight-of-potato-and-tomato-phytophthora-infestans|title=Organic Management of Late Blight of Potato and Tomato (Phytophthora infestans)|publisher=[[Michigan State University]]|access-date=6 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702002959/http://www.extension.org/pages/18361/organic-management-of-late-blight-of-potato-and-tomato-phytophthora-infestans|archive-date=2 July 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Other potato diseases include ''[[Rhizoctonia]]'', ''[[Sclerotinia]]'', [[Pectobacterium carotovorum|black leg]], [[powdery mildew]], [[powdery scab]] and [[Potato leafroll virus|leafroll virus]].[[File:Phytophtora infestans-effects.jpg|thumb|A potato ruined by [[late blight]]]]Insects that commonly transmit potato diseases or damage the plants include the [[Colorado potato beetle]], the [[potato tuber moth]], the green peach aphid (''[[Myzus persicae]]''), the [[potato aphid]], [[beet leafhopper]]s, [[thrips]], and [[mites]]. The [[potato cyst nematode]] is a microscopic worm that thrives on the roots, thus causing the potato plants to wilt. Since its eggs can survive in the soil for several years, [[crop rotation]] is recommended.
 
During the crop year 2008, many of the [[certified organic food|certified organic]] potatoes produced in the United Kingdom and certified by the [[Soil Association]] as organic were sprayed with a [[copper pesticide]]<ref>Section 4.11.11, page 103 [http://92.52.112.178/web/sacert/sacertweb.nsf/e8c12cf77637ec6c80256a6900374463/4d7054234b8da20a8025740b0012f83f/$FILE/ATTW3W7S/Soil%20Association%20Organic%20Standards%20for%20Producers%202009.pdf Soil Association Organic Standards for Producer, Version 16, January, 2009]{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> to control potato blight (''Phytophthora infestans''). According to the Soil Association, the total copper that can be applied to organic land is 6&nbsp;kg/[[Hectare|ha]]/year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soilassociation.org/Certification/Servicesforlicensees/Forms/Horticultureandarable/tabid/406/Default.aspx|title=Links to forms permitting application of copper fungicide on the website of the Soil Association|publisher=Soilassociation.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015055455/http://www.soilassociation.org/Certification/Servicesforlicensees/Forms/Horticultureandarable/tabid/406/Default.aspx|archive-date=15 October 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=16 July 2010}}</ref>
 
According to an [[Environmental Working Group]] analysis of USDA and FDA pesticide residue tests performed from 2000 through 2008, 84% of the 2,216 tested potato samples contained detectable traces of at least one pesticide. A total of 36 unique pesticides were detected on potatoes over the 2,216 samples, though no individual sample contained more than 6 unique pesticide traces, and the average was 1.29 detectable unique pesticide traces per sample. The average quantity of all pesticide traces found in the 2,216 samples was 1.602 [[Parts per million|ppm]]. While this was a very low value of pesticide residue, it was the highest amongst the 50 vegetables analyzed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://static.foodnews.org/pdf/2010-foodnews-data.pdf|title=Metrics Used in EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides Compiled from USDA and FDA Data|publisher=Environmental Working Group|access-date=1 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511040731/http://static.foodnews.org/pdf/2010-foodnews-data.pdf|archive-date=11 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
===Harvest===
[[File:Potato plant prior to harevest.jpg|thumb|Potato plant prior to harvest]]
[[File:Potato flower close-up. Eastern Siberia.jpg|thumb|Potato flower close-up. Eastern Siberia]]
At harvest time, gardeners usually dig up potatoes with a long-handled, three-prong "grape" (or graip), i.e., a [[Garden fork|spading fork]], or a potato hook, which is similar to the graip but with tines at a 90[[Degree (angle)|°]] angle to the handle. In larger plots, the plow is the fastest implement for unearthing potatoes. Commercial harvesting is typically done with large [[potato harvester]]s, which scoop up the plant and surrounding earth. This is transported up an apron chain consisting of steel links several feet wide, which separates some of the dirt. The chain deposits into an area where further separation occurs. Different designs use different systems at this point. The most complex designs use vine choppers and shakers, along with a blower system to separate the potatoes from the plant. The result is then usually run past workers who continue to sort out plant material, stones, and rotten potatoes before the potatoes are continuously delivered to a wagon or truck. Further inspection and separation occurs when the potatoes are unloaded from the field vehicles and put into storage.
 
Immature potatoes may be sold as "creamer potatoes"{{anchor|creamer potatoes|new potatoes}} and are particularly valued for taste. These are often harvested by the home gardener or farmer by "grabbling", i.e. pulling out the young tubers by hand while leaving the plant in place. A creamer potato is a variety of potato harvested before it matures to keep it small and tender. It is generally either a [[Yukon Gold potato]] or a red potato, called gold creamers<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-calories/food/fresh-direct/gold-creamer-potato|title=Calories in Fresh Direct Gold Creamer Potato|publisher=The Daily Plate, LLC|access-date=18 July 2008}}</ref> or red creamers respectively, and measures approximately {{convert|1|in|cm|1|order=flip|abbr=on}} in diameter.<ref name="recipe tips">{{cite web|url=http://www.recipetips.com/glossary-term/t--35863/creamer-potato.asp|title=Creamer Potato|publisher=recipetips.com|access-date=18 July 2008}}</ref> The skin of creamer potatoes is waxy and high in moisture content, and the flesh contains a lower level of [[starch]] than other potatoes. Like potatoes in general, they can be prepared by boiling, baking, frying, and roasting.<ref name="recipe tips" /> Slightly older than creamer potatoes are "new potatoes"{{anchor|new potato}}, which are also prized for their taste and texture and often come from the same varieties.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Randal|first=Oulton|date=24 July 2006|title=Creamer Potatoes|url=http://www.cooksinfo.com/creamer-potatoes|website=CooksInfo.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
 
Potatoes are usually cured after harvest to improve skin-set. Skin-set is the process by which the skin of the potato becomes resistant to skinning damage. Potato tubers may be susceptible to skinning at harvest and suffer skinning damage during harvest and handling operations. Curing allows the skin to fully set and any wounds to heal. Wound-healing prevents infection and water-loss from the tubers during storage. Curing is normally done at relatively warm temperatures ({{convert|50|to|60|°F|°C|order=flip|disp=or}}) with high humidity and good gas-exchange if at all possible.<ref>Kleinkopf G.E. and N. Olsen. 2003. Storage Management, in: Potato Production Systems, J.C. Stark and S.L. Love (eds), University of Idaho Agricultural Communications, 363–81.</ref>
 
=== Storage ===
[[File:Potato transportation to cold storage in India (1).jpg|thumb|Potato transportation to cold storage in India]] [[File:Potato farming in India.jpg|thumb|Potato farming in India]]Storage facilities need to be carefully designed to keep the potatoes alive and slow the natural process of decomposition, which involves the breakdown of starch. It is crucial that the storage area is dark, ventilated well and, for long-term storage, maintained at temperatures near {{convert|4|C|F}}. For short-term storage, temperatures of about {{convert|7|to|10|°C|°F}} are preferred.<ref name="crosstree">Potato storage, value Preservation: {{cite web | first  = Pawanexh | last  = Kohli | year  = 2009 | title  = Potato storage and value Preservation: The Basics | url  = http://crosstree.info/Documents/POTATO%20STORAGE.pdf | publisher  = CrossTree techno-visors | access-date  = 12 July 2009 | archive-date  = 6 August 2020 | archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20200806192307/http://www.crosstree.info/Documents/POTATO%20STORAGE.pdf | url-status  = dead }}</ref>
 
On the other hand, temperatures below {{convert|4|°C|°F}} convert the starch in potatoes into sugar, which alters their taste and cooking qualities and leads to higher [[acrylamide]] levels in the cooked product, especially in deep-fried dishes. The discovery of acrylamides in starchy foods in 2002 has led to international health concerns. They are believed to be probable [[carcinogen]]s and their occurrence in cooked foods is being studied for potentially influencing health problems.{{efn|See text: [[acrylamides]], esp introduction; acrylamide was accidentally discovered in foods in April 2002 by scientists in Sweden when they found the chemical in [[starch]]y foods, such as [[potato chip]]s, [[French fried potatoes|French fries]], and bread that had been heated (production of acrylamide in the heating process was shown to be temperature-dependent)}}<ref name="tareke">{{cite journal  |vauthors=Tareke E, Rydberg P, etal |title = Analysis of acrylamide, a carcinogen formed in heated foodstuffs |journal = J. Agric. Food Chem. |volume = 50 |issue = 17
|pages = 4998–5006 |year = 2002 |pmid = 12166997 |doi = 10.1021/jf020302f}}</ref>
 
Under optimum conditions in commercial warehouses, potatoes can be stored for up to 10–12 months.<ref name="crosstree" /> The commercial storage and retrieval of potatoes involves several phases: first ''drying'' surface moisture; ''wound healing'' at 85% to 95% [[relative humidity]] and temperatures below {{convert|25|°C|°F}}; a staged ''cooling phase''; a ''holding'' phase; and a ''reconditioning'' phase, during which the tubers are slowly warmed. [[Ventilation (architecture)|Mechanical ventilation]] is used at various points during the process to prevent condensation and the accumulation of carbon dioxide.<ref name="crosstree" />
 
If potatoes develop green areas or start to sprout, trimming or peeling those green-colored parts is inadequate to remove copresent toxins, and such potatoes are no longer edible.<ref>{{cite book |author=Carol Deppe |title=The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times |publisher=Chelsea Green Publishing |location=White River Junction, VT |year=2010 |page=[https://archive.org/details/resilientgardene0000depp/page/157 157] |isbn=978-1-60358-031-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/resilientgardene0000depp|url-access=registration }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Small, Ernest |title=Top 100 food plants |publisher=NRC Research Press |location=Ottawa |year=2009 |page=421 |isbn=978-0-660-19858-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyWY_YkV7qAC&pg=PA421|quote=Green-colored potatoes should be discarded.}}</ref>
 
=== Yield ===
The world dedicated {{convert|18.6|e6ha|e6acre|abbr=off}} to potato cultivation in 2010; the world average yield was {{convert|17.4|t/ha|ST/acre|abbr=off}}. The United States was the most productive country, with a nationwide average yield of {{convert|44.3|t/ha|ST/acre|abbr=off}}.<ref name="yield2010">{{cite web|title=FAOSTAT: Production-Crops, 2010 data |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |year=2011 |url=http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=567#ancor |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114151638/http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=567 |archive-date=14 January 2013 }}</ref> United Kingdom was a close second.
 
[[New Zealand]] farmers have demonstrated some of the best commercial yields in the world, ranging between 60 and 80 tonnes per hectare, some reporting yields of 88 tonnes potatoes per hectare.<ref>{{cite web |title=There's yet more gold in them thar "hills"! |author=Sarah Sinton |publisher=Grower Magazine, The Government of New Zealand |year=2011 |url=http://maxa.maf.govt.nz/sff/about-projects/search/05-157/grower-article.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Phosphate and potatoes |publisher=Ballance |year=2009 |url=http://www.ballance.co.nz/technical+expertise/horticulture/phosphate+and+potatoes |access-date=19 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301060943/http://www.ballance.co.nz/technical+expertise/horticulture/phosphate+and+potatoes |archive-date=1 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=International Year of the Potato: 2008, Asia and Oceania |year=2008 |publisher=Potato World |url=http://www.potato2008.org/en/world/asia.html |access-date=19 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622203024/http://www.potato2008.org/en/world/asia.html |archive-date=22 June 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
There is a big gap among various countries between high and low yields, even with the same variety of potato. Average potato yields in developed economies ranges between 38 and 44 tonnes per hectare. China and India accounted for over a third of world's production in 2010, and had yields of 14.7 and 19.9 tonnes per hectare respectively.<ref name="yield2010" /> The yield gap between farms in developing economies and developed economies represents an opportunity loss of over 400 million tonnes of potato, or an amount greater than 2010 world potato production. Potato crop yields are determined by factors such as the crop breed, seed age and quality, crop management practices and the plant environment. Improvements in one or more of these yield determinants, and a closure of the yield gap, can be a major boost to food supply and farmer incomes in the developing world.<ref>{{cite book |title=Workshop to Commemorate the International Year of the Potato |publisher=The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |year=2008 |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/i0200e/I0200E10.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Solutions for a cultivated planet |author=Foley, Ramankutty|date=12 October 2011 |journal=Nature |volume=478 |issue=7369 |pages=337–42 |doi=10.1038/nature10452 |pmid=21993620|display-authors=etal|bibcode=2011Natur.478..337F|s2cid=4346486|url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/6xw5g085}}</ref>
 
=== Climate change ===
{{Excerpt|Climate change and potatoes}}
 
==Uses==
{{See also|List of potato dishes}}
[[File:PreparedPotatoes.jpg|thumb|Various potato preparations: (clockwise from top left) [[potato chips]], [[hashbrowns]], [[tater tots]], [[mashed potato]], and a [[baked potato]]|alt=|332x332px]]
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 chip|potato chips (crisps)]]. Common dishes are: [[mashed potato]]es, which are first boiled (usually peeled), and then mashed with milk or [[yogurt]] and butter; whole [[baked potato]]es; [[boiling|boiled]] or [[steaming|steamed]] potatoes; [[French fries|French-fried potatoes or chips]]; cut into cubes and [[roasting|roasted]]; [[scalloped potatoes|scalloped]], diced, or sliced and fried ([[home fries]]); grated into small thin strips and fried ([[hash browns]]); grated and formed into [[dumpling]]s, [[Rösti]] or [[potato pancake]]s. Unlike many foods, potatoes can also be easily cooked in a [[microwave oven]] and still retain nearly all of their nutritional value, provided they are covered in ventilated [[plastic wrap]] to prevent moisture from escaping; this method produces a meal very similar to a steamed potato, while retaining the appearance of a conventionally baked potato. Potato chunks also commonly appear as a [[stew]] ingredient. Potatoes are boiled between 10 and 25<ref>[[b:Cookbook:Potato]]</ref> minutes, depending on size and type, to become soft.
 
=== Other than for eating ===
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]]. 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 [[silage|ensiled]].<ref name="Halliday_2015">{{Citation |last=Halliday |first=Les |display-authors=etal |title=Ensiling Potatoes |work=Prince Edward Island Agriculture and Fisheries |date=2015 |url=http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/af_fact_ensipot.pdf |access-date=27 January 2018 |postscript=.}}</ref> Some farmers prefer to steam them rather than feed them raw and are equipped to do so efficiently.
* [[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.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Grant M. Campbell |author2=Colin Webb |author3=Stephen L. McKee |title=Cereals: Novel Uses and Processes |year=1997 |publisher=Springer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4o7lUKSxyQC&pg=PA22|isbn=978-0-306-45583-4|page=22}}</ref><ref name="jai">{{cite book |title=Handbook of Potato Production, Improvement, and Postharvest |author1=Jai Gopal |author2=S.M. Paul Khurana |year=2006 |publisher=[[Haworth Press]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxy8pkP26NEC&pg=PA544| isbn=978-1-56022-272-9|page=544}}</ref>
* [[Maine]] companies are exploring the possibilities of using waste potatoes to obtain [[polylactic acid]] for use in plastic products; other research projects seek ways to use the starch as a base for [[biodegradable]] packaging.<ref name="jai" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Potatoes to Plastics |publisher=[[University of Maine]] |url=http://www.umaine.edu/mcsc/reports/potatoesExecSum.pdf |access-date=8 January 2009}}</ref>
* Potato skins, along with honey, are a folk remedy for burns in India. Burn centres in India have experimented with the use of the thin outer skin layer to protect burns while healing.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mark Leyner|author2=Billy Goldberg, M.D.|title=Why Do Men Have Nipples?: Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMSfSx1MDkcC&pg=PA104|date=2005|publisher=Crown/Archetype|isbn=978-0-307-33704-7|page=105}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.medbc.com/annals/review/vol_17/num_1/text/vol17n1p50.asp |title=International Abstracts |publisher=Medbc.com |access-date=16 October 2012}}</ref>
* Potatoes (mainly Russets) are commonly used in plant research. The consistent parenchyma tissue, the clonal nature of the plant and the low metabolic activity provide a very nice "model tissue" for experimentation. Wound-response studies are often done on potato tuber tissue, as are electron transport experiments. In this respect, potato tuber tissue is similar to ''Drosophila melanogaster'', ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' and ''Escherichia coli'': they are all "standard" research organisms.
* Potatoes have been delivered with personalized messages as a novelty. Potato delivery services include [[Potato Parcel]] and Mail A Spud.<ref name="Atkins 2016">{{cite web|first1=Amy|last1=Atkins|url=http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/potato-parcel/Content?oid=3739387|title=Potato Parcel|work=[[Boise Weekly]]|publisher=Boise Weekly|date=16 March 2016|access-date=11 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808070630/http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/potato-parcel/Content?oid=3739387|archive-date=8 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Burke 2015">{{cite web|first1=Kathleen|last1=Burke|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/people-are-spending-14-to-send-message-bearing-potatoes-2015-08-26|title=People are spending $14 to send message-bearing potatoes|work=[[MarketWatch]]|publisher=[[Dow Jones & Company]]|date=26 August 2015|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref><ref name="Swanson 2016">{{cite web|first1=Lauren|last1=Swanson|url=http://www.revelist.com/weird/revenge-gifts-list/2684|title=6 gifts you can anonymously send to your mortal enemies|work=Revelist|publisher=Revelist Media|date=1 June 2016|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref><ref name="Vare 2015">{{cite web|first1=Rosie|last1=Vare|url=http://money.aol.co.uk/2015/08/21/new-company-lets-you-send-messages-on-potatoes/|title=New company lets you send messages on potatoes|work=AOL Money UK|publisher=[[AOL]]|date=21 August 2015|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref>
{{Anchor|Latin America}}
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===Latin America===
[[File:Peru PapasRellenas2.jpg|thumb|[[Papa rellena]]]]
 
[[Peruvian cuisine]] naturally contains the potato as a primary ingredient in many dishes, as around 3,000 varieties of this tuber are grown there.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/24/AR2007062400727.html |title=''Peru Celebrates Potato Diversity'' |work=The Washington Post |date= 24 June 2007|access-date=16 July 2010 | first=Monte | last=Hayes}}</ref>
Some of the more notable dishes include boiled potato as a base for several dishes or with [[ají (sauce)|ají]]-based sauces like in [[Papa a la Huancaína]] or ocopa, diced potato for its use in soups like in cau cau, or in [[Carapulca]] with dried potato (papa seca). Smashed condimented potato is used in causa Limeña and [[papa rellena]]. French-fried potatoes are a typical ingredient in Peruvian stir-fries, including the classic dish [[lomo saltado]].
 
[[Chuño]] is a [[freeze-drying|freeze-dried]] potato product traditionally made by [[Quechuas|Quechua]] and [[Aymara people|Aymara]] communities of [[Peru]] and [[Bolivia]],<ref>Timothy Johns: With bitter Herbs They Shall Eat it : Chemical ecology and the origins of human diet and medicine, The University of Arizona Press, Tucson 1990, {{ISBN|0-8165-1023-7}}, pp. 82–84</ref>  and is known in various countries of South America, including [[Peru]], Bolivia, [[Argentina]], and [[Chile]]. In Chile's [[Chiloé Archipelago]], potatoes are the main ingredient of many dishes, including milcaos, chapaleles, [[curanto]] and chochoca. In [[Ecuador]], the potato, as well as being a staple with most dishes, is featured in the hearty ''locro de papas'', a thick soup of potato, squash, and cheese.
 
===Europe===
[[File:Baked Potato (3662019664).jpg|thumb|Baked potato with sour cream and chives]]
In the [[UK]], potatoes form part of the traditional staple, [[fish and chips]]. Roast potatoes are commonly served as part of a [[Sunday roast|Sunday roast dinner]] and mashed potatoes form a major component of several other traditional dishes, such as [[shepherd's pie]], [[bubble and squeak]], and [[bangers and mash]]. New potatoes may be cooked with [[mentha|mint]] and are often served with butter.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-25213655 |title=Pembrokeshire Early Potato gets protected European status |work=BBC News |date=4 December 2013 |access-date=11 October 2018}}</ref>
 
The [[Tattie scone]] is a popular Scottish dish containing potatoes. [[Colcannon]] is a traditional Irish food made with mashed potato, shredded [[kale]] or cabbage, and onion; [[champ (food)|champ]] is a similar dish. [[Boxty]] pancakes are eaten throughout Ireland, although associated especially with the North, and in Irish diaspora communities; they are traditionally made with grated potatoes, soaked to loosen the starch and mixed with flour, buttermilk and baking powder. A variant eaten and sold in [[Lancashire]], especially [[Liverpool]], is made with cooked and mashed potatoes.
 
In the UK, [[game chips]] are a traditional accompaniment to roast [[gamebird]]s such as [[pheasant]], [[grouse]], [[partridge]] and [[quail]].
 
''[[Bryndzové halušky]]'' is the [[Slovakia|Slovak]] national dish, made of a batter of flour and finely grated potatoes that is boiled to form dumplings. These are then mixed with regionally varying ingredients.
[[File:Bauernfrühstück-01.jpg|thumb|German ''Bauernfrühstück'' ("farmer's breakfast")]]
In Germany, [[Northern Europe|Northern]] (Finland, Latvia and especially [[Scandinavia|Scandinavian countries]]), Eastern Europe (Russia, [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]]) and Poland, newly harvested, early ripening varieties are considered a special delicacy. Boiled whole and served un-peeled with [[dill]], these "new potatoes" are traditionally consumed with [[pickled herring|Baltic herring]]. Puddings made from grated potatoes ([[kugel]], [[kugelis]], and [[potato babka]]) are popular items of [[Ashkenazi cuisine|Ashkenazi]], [[Lithuanian cuisine|Lithuanian]], and [[Belarusian cuisine|Belarusian]] cuisine.<ref name="Bremzen90">{{cite book|author1=von Bremzen, Anya|author2=Welchman, John|title=Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook|publisher=Workman Publishing|location=New York|year=1990|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pleasetotablethe00vonb/page/319 319–20]|isbn=978-0-89480-845-6|url=https://archive.org/details/pleasetotablethe00vonb/page/319}}</ref> [[German fries]] and various version of Potato salad are part of [[German cuisine]]. [[Bauernfrühstück]] (literally ''farmer's breakfast'') is a warm German dish made from fried potatoes, [[Egg (food)|eggs]], ham and vegetables.
 
[[File:Cepelinai 2, Vilnius, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg|thumb|[[Cepelinai]]]]
 
[[Cepelinai]] is [[Lithuania]]n national dish. They are a type of [[dumpling]] made from grated raw potatoes boiled in water and usually stuffed with [[Ground meat|minced meat]], although sometimes dry cottage cheese ([[curd]]) or mushrooms are used instead.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.delac.eu/stories/40?back=|title=D.E.L.A.C.|work=delac.eu|access-date=25 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305044428/http://www.delac.eu/stories/40?back=|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In Western Europe, especially in Belgium, sliced potatoes are fried to create ''frieten'', the original [[French fried potatoes]]. ''[[Stamppot]]'', a traditional Dutch meal, is based on mashed potatoes mixed with vegetables.
 
In France, the most notable potato dish is the ''[[Hachis Parmentier]]'', named after [[Antoine-Augustin Parmentier]], a French pharmacist, nutritionist, and agronomist who, in the late 18th century, was instrumental in the acceptance of the potato as an edible crop in the country. ''[[Pâté aux pommes de terre]]'' is a regional potato dish from the central [[Allier]] and [[Limousin (region)|Limousin]] regions. ''[[Gratin dauphinois]]'', consisting of baked thinly sliced potatoes with cream or milk, and ''[[tartiflette]]'', with Reblochon cheese, are also widespread.
 
In the north of Italy, in particular, in the [[Friuli]] region of the northeast, potatoes serve to make a type of pasta called [[gnocchi]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Roden|first=Claudia|title=The Food of Italy|publisher=Arrow Books|location=London|year=1990|page=72|isbn=978-0-09-976220-1}}</ref> Similarly, cooked and mashed potatoes or [[potato flour]] can be used in the [[Knödel]] or [[dumpling]] eaten with or added to meat dishes all over central and Eastern Europe, but especially in [[Bavaria]] and [[Luxembourg]]. Potatoes form one of the main ingredients in many soups such as the [[vichyssoise]] and Albanian potato and cabbage soup. In western Norway, [[komle]] is popular.
 
A traditional [[Canary Islands]] dish is [[Canarian wrinkly potatoes]] or ''papas arrugadas''. ''[[Tortilla de patatas]]'' (potato omelette) and ''[[patatas bravas]]'' (a dish of fried potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce) are near-universal constituent of Spanish [[tapas]].
 
===North America===
[[File:Burger and fries (1).jpg|thumb|[[French fries]] served with a hamburger]]
[[File:OriginalPoutineLaBanquise.jpg|thumb|[[Poutine]], a Canadian dish of fried potatoes, cheese curds, and gravy]]
In the US, potatoes have become one of the most widely consumed crops and thus have a variety of preparation methods and condiments. [[French fries]] and often [[hash browns]] are commonly found in typical American fast-food burger "joints" and cafeterias. One popular favourite involves a baked potato with cheddar cheese (or sour cream and [[chives]]) on top, and in [[New England]] "smashed potatoes" (a chunkier variation on mashed potatoes, retaining the peel) have a great popularity. Potato flakes are popular as an instant variety of mashed potatoes, which reconstitute into mashed potatoes by adding water, with butter or oil and salt to taste. A regional dish of [[Central New York]], [[salt potatoes]] are bite-size new potatoes boiled in water saturated with salt then served with melted butter. At more formal dinners, a common practice includes taking small red potatoes, slicing them, and roasting them in an iron skillet. Among [[American Jews]], the practice of eating [[latkes]] (fried potato pancakes) is common during the festival of [[Hanukkah]].
 
A traditional [[Acadian]] dish from [[New Brunswick]] is known as ''poutine râpée''. The Acadian poutine is a ball of grated and [[mashed potato]], salted, sometimes filled with pork in the centre, and boiled. The result is a moist ball about the size of a [[baseball (ball)|baseball]]. It is commonly eaten with salt and pepper or [[brown sugar]]. It is believed to have originated from the German ''[[Klöße]]'', prepared by early German settlers who lived among the Acadians. ''[[Poutine]]'', by contrast, is a hearty serving of French fries, fresh [[cheese curd]]s and hot gravy. Tracing its origins to [[Quebec]] in the 1950s, it has become a widespread and popular dish throughout Canada.
 
Potato grading for [[Idaho]] potatoes is performed in which No. 1 potatoes are the highest quality and No. 2 are rated as lower in quality due to their appearance (e.g. blemishes or bruises, pointy ends).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.idahopotato.com/faqs#63 | title=Frequently Asked Questions | publisher=Idaho Potato Commission | access-date=6 December 2013}}</ref> Potato density assessment can be performed by floating them in brines.<ref name=Sivasankar>{{cite book |last=Sivasankar |first=B. |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbxGHBUY0BcC&pg=PA175 |title=Food Processing and Preservation |publisher=PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. |pages=175–77 |isbn=81-203-2086-7 }}</ref> High-density potatoes are desirable in the production of dehydrated mashed potatoes, potato crisps and french fries.<ref name=Sivasankar/>
 
===South Asia===
In [[South Asia]], the potato is a very popular traditional staple. In India, the most popular potato dishes are ''aloo ki sabzi'', [[batata vada]], and [[samosa]], which is spicy mashed potato mixed with a small amount of vegetable stuffed in conical dough, and deep fried. Potatoes are also a major ingredient as fast food items, such as aloo chaat, where they are deep fried and served with [[chutney]]. In Northern India, alu dum and alu paratha are a favourite part of the diet; the first is a spicy curry of boiled potato, the second is a type of stuffed chapati.
 
A dish called [[masala dosa]] from South India is very notable all over India. It is a thin pancake of rice and [[legume|pulse]] batter rolled over spicy smashed potato and eaten with sambhar and chutney. Poori in south India in particular in Tamil Nadu is almost always taken with smashed potato masal. Other favourite dishes are alu tikki and pakoda items.
 
[[Vada pav]] is a popular vegetarian fast food dish in Mumbai and other regions in the Maharashtra in India.
 
Aloo posto (a curry with potatoes and poppy seeds) is immensely popular in East India, especially Bengal. Although potatoes are not native to India, it has become a vital part of food all over the country especially North Indian food preparations. In Tamil Nadu this tuber acquired a name based on its appearance 'urulai-k-kizhangu' (உருளைக் கிழங்கு) meaning cylindrical tuber.
 
The [[Aloo gosht]], Potato and meat [[curry]], is one of the popular dishes in [[South Asia]], especially in [[Pakistan]].
 
===East Asia===
In East Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, rice is by far the predominant starch crop, with potatoes a secondary crop, especially in China and Japan. However, it is used in northern China where rice is not easily grown, with a popular dish being {{lang|zh-Hans|青椒土豆丝}} (''qīng jiāo tǔ dòu sī''), made with green pepper, vinegar and thin slices of potato. In the winter, roadside sellers in northern China will also sell roasted potatoes. It is also occasionally seen in Korean and Thai cuisines.<ref name=Solomon>{{cite book |title=Charmaine Solomon's Encyclopedia of Asian Food |author=Solomon, Charmaine |year=1996 |publisher=William Heinemann Australia |location=Melbourne |isbn=978-0-85561-688-5|page=293}}</ref>
 
== Cultural significance ==
===In art===
The potato has been an essential crop in the [[Andes]] since the [[pre-Columbian]] Era. The [[Moche (culture)|Moche]] culture from Northern [[Peru]] made ceramics from the earth, water, and fire. This pottery was a sacred substance, formed in significant shapes and used to represent important themes. Potatoes are represented anthropomorphically as well as naturally.<ref>Berrin, Katherine & [[Larco Museum]]. The Spirit of Ancient Peru: Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera. New York:Thames and Hudson, 1997.</ref>
[[File:Van-willem-vincent-gogh-die-kartoffelesser-03850.jpg|thumb|left|''[[The Potato Eaters]]'' by [[Van Gogh]], 1885 ([[Van Gogh Museum]])]]
During the late 19th century, numerous images of potato harvesting appeared in European art, including the works of [[Willem Witsen]] and [[Anton Mauve]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Steven Adams |author2=Anna Gruetzner Robins |title=Gendering Landscape Art |year=2000 |publisher=[[University of Manchester]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dY7xwrA-ibQC&pg=PA67|isbn=978-0-7190-5628-4|page=67}}</ref>
 
[[Van Gogh]]'s 1885 painting ''[[The Potato Eaters]]'' portrays a family eating potatoes. Van Gogh said he wanted to depict peasants as they really were. He deliberately chose coarse and ugly models, thinking that they would be natural and unspoiled in his finished work.<ref name="vgg">{{cite web|url=http://www.vggallery.com/visitors/004.htm|title=The Potato Eaters by Vincent van Gogh|last=van Tilborgh|first=Louis |year=2009|work=The Vincent van Gogh Gallery|access-date=11 September 2009}}</ref>
[[File:Jean-François Millet - The Potato Harvest - Walters 37115.jpg|thumb|right|''[[The Potato Harvest]]'' by [[Jean-François Millet]], 1855 ([[Walters Art Museum]])]]
[[Jean-François Millet]]'s ''The Potato Harvest'' depicts peasants working in the plains between Barbizon and Chailly. It presents a theme representative of the peasants' struggle for survival.  Millet's technique for this work incorporated paste-like pigments thickly applied over a coarsely textured canvas.
 
===In popular culture===
Invented in 1949, and marketed and sold commercially by [[Hasbro]] in 1952, [[Mr. Potato Head]] is an American toy that consists of a plastic potato and attachable plastic parts, such as ears and eyes, to make a face. It was the first toy ever advertised on television.<ref name="VAC">{{cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/moc/collections/toys/construction_toys/mr_potato_head/index.html|title=Mr Potato Head|website=Museum of Childhood |publisher=V&A Museum of Childhood|access-date=11 September 2009}}</ref>
 
==See also==
* [[Climate change and potatoes]]
* [[Irish potato candy]]
* [[List of potato cultivars]]
* [[List of potato dishes]]
* [[List of potato museums]]
* [[Loy (spade)]], a form of early spade used in Ireland for the cultivation of potatoes
* [[New World crops]]
* [[Potato battery]]
 
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
 
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
 
=== Sources ===
{{Refbegin|2}}
* ''Economist''. "Llamas and mash", [http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10766599 ''The Economist'' 28 February 2008 online]
* ''Economist''. "The potato: Spud we like", (leader) [http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10766030 ''The Economist'' 28 February 2008 online]
* {{cite journal | last1 = Boomgaard | first1 = Peter | year = 2003 | title = In the Shadow of Rice: Roots and Tubers in Indonesian History, 1500–1950 | journal = Agricultural History | volume = 77 | issue = 4| pages = 582–610 | jstor=3744936 | doi=10.1525/ah.2003.77.4.582}}
* Hawkes, J.G. (1990). ''The Potato: Evolution, Biodiversity & Genetic Resources'', Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC
* {{cite book | last1 = Lang | first1 = James | year = 1975 | title = Notes of a Potato Watcher | series = Texas A&M University Agriculture series | isbn = 978-1-58544-138-9 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/notesofpotatowat0000lang }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Langer |first=William L |title=American Foods and Europe's Population Growth 1750–1850 | journal = Journal of Social History | volume = 8 | issue = 2| pages = 51–66 | jstor=3786266 | doi=10.1353/jsh/8.2.51|year=1975 }}
* McNeill, William H. "How the Potato Changed the World's History." ''Social Research'' (1999) 66#1 pp.&nbsp;67–83. {{ISSN|0037-783X}} Fulltext: [[Ebsco]], by a leading historian
* {{cite journal | author = McNeill William H | year = 1948 | title = The Introduction of the Potato into Ireland | journal = Journal of Modern History | volume = 21 | issue = 3| pages = 218–21 | jstor=1876068 | doi=10.1086/237272| s2cid = 145099646 }}
* Ó Gráda, Cormac. ''Black '47 and Beyond: The Great Irish Famine in History, Economy, and Memory.'' (1999). 272 pp.
* Ó Gráda, Cormac, Richard Paping, and Eric Vanhaute, eds. ''When the Potato Failed: Causes and Effects of the Last European Subsistence Crisis, 1845–1850.'' (2007). 342 pp.&nbsp; {{ISBN|978-2-503-51985-2}}. 15 essays by scholars looking at Ireland and all of Europe
* Reader, John. ''Propitious Esculent: The Potato in World History'' (2008), 315pp a standard scholarly history
* Salaman, Redcliffe N. (1989). ''The History and Social Influence of the Potato'', Cambridge University Press (originally published in 1949; reprinted 1985 with new introduction and corrections by J.G. Hawkes).
* Stevenson, W.R., Loria, R., Franc, G.D., and Weingartner, D.P. (2001)  ''Compendium of Potato Diseases'', 2nd ed, Amer. Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN.
* Zuckerman, Larry. ''The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World.'' (1998). 304 pp. Douglas & McIntyre. {{ISBN|0-86547-578-4}}.
{{Refend}}
 
== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |editor =Bohl, William H. |editor2 =Johnson, Steven B. |title =Commercial Potato Production in North America: The Potato Association of America Handbook |publisher =The Potato Association of America |series =Second Revision of American Potato Journal Supplement Volume 57 and USDA Handbook 267 |year =2010 |url =http://potatoassociation.org/documents/A_ProductionHandbook_Final_000.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120816144218/http://potatoassociation.org/documents/A_ProductionHandbook_Final_000.pdf |archive-date =16 August 2012 |df =dmy-all }}
* {{Cite news |agency=Reuters |title='Humble' Potato Emerging as World's Next Food Source |work=column |location=Japan |page=20 |date=11 May 2008 }}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Spooner |first1=David M.|first2=Karen|last2=McLean|first3=Gavin|last3=Ramsay|first4=Robbie|last4=Waugh|first5=Glenn J.|last5=Bryan|date=October 2005 |title=A single domestication for potato based on multilocus amplified fragment length polymorphism genotyping |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA |volume=102 |issue=41 |pages=14694–14699 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0507400102 |pmid=16203994 |pmc=1253605|bibcode=2005PNAS..10214694S}}
* The World Potato Atlas at [http://research.cip.cgiar.org/confluence/display/wpa/ Cgiar.org]{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, released by the International Potato Center in 2006 and regularly updated. Includes current chapters of 15 countries:
** South America: (English and Spanish): Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
** Africa: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya
** Eurasia: Armenia, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan
** 38 others as brief "archive" chapters
** Further information links at [https://web.archive.org/web/20170705172750/https://research.cip.cgiar.org/confluence/display/wpa/Potato+Info+Links Cgiar.org].
* World Geography of the Potato at [https://web.archive.org/web/20060604061759/http://www.lanra.uga.edu/potato/ UGA.edu], released in 1993.
* Gauldie, Enid (1981). The Scottish Miller 1700–1900. Pub. John Donald. {{ISBN|0-85976-067-7}}.
 
== External links ==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q10998|b=Cookbook:Potato|wikt=potato|c=Solanum tuberosum|species=Solanum tuberosum|n=no|v=no|voy=no|q=no}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080927013208/http://glks.ipk-gatersleben.de/home.php GLKS Potato Database]
* [http://www.cipotato.org/ Centro Internacional de la Papa]: CIP (International Potato Center)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080926114238/http://www.potatocongress.org/ World Potato Congress]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080916192950/http://www.potato.org.uk/ British Potato Council]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071113023215/http://www.plantbreeding.wur.nl/potatopedigree/ Online Potato Pedigree Database for cultivated varieties]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081020084253/http://potatoes.wsu.edu/ Potato Information & Exchange]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110110060013/http://www.gmo-safety.eu/topic/122 GMO Safety: Genetic engineering on potatoes] Biological safety research projects and results
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070921111051/http://www.potato2008.org/ International Year of the Potato 2008]
* [http://www.geochembio.com/biology/organisms/potato/ Solanum tuberosum (potato, papas): life cycle, tuber anatomy at GeoChemBio]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090901131250/http://www.potatogenome.net/ Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium]
* [http://crosstree.info/Documents/POTATO%20STORAGE.pdf Potato storage and value Preservation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806192307/http://www.crosstree.info/Documents/POTATO%20STORAGE.pdf |date=6 August 2020 }}: Pawanexh Kohli, CrossTree techno-visors.
* [http://www.tumbledownfarm.com/drupal/Cyclopedia_of_American_Agriculture/Crops/Potato Potato, in Cyclopedia of American Agriculture]
 
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Potato cultivars|state=expanded}}
{{Agriculture country lists|state=collapsed}}
{{Bioenergy}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q10998}}
{{Authority control}}
 
[[Category:Crops originating from Bolivia]]
[[Category:Crops originating from indigenous Americans]]
[[Category:Crops originating from Peru]]
[[Category:Crops originating from South America]]
[[Category:Cuisine of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Edible Solanaceae]]
[[Category:Flora of the Andes]]
[[Category:Irish cuisine]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Potatoes| ]]
[[Category:Root vegetables]]
[[Category:Solanum]]
[[Category:Staple foods]]
[[Category:Stoloniferous plants]]
[[Category:Tubers]]

Revision as of 04:43, 15 March 2021

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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.[1]

Wild potato species, originating in modern-day Peru, can be found throughout the Americas, from Canada to southern Chile.[2] The potato was originally believed to have been domesticated by indigenous peoples of the Americas independently in multiple locations,[3] 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, from a species in the Solanum brevicaule complex, potatoes were domesticated approximately 7,000–10,000 years ago.[4][5][6] In the Andes region of South America, where the species is indigenous, some close relatives of the potato are cultivated.

Potatoes were introduced to Europe from the Americas in the second half of the 16th century by the Spanish. Today they are a staple food in many parts of the world and an integral part of much of the world's food supply. As of 2014, potatoes were the world's fourth-largest food crop after maize (corn), wheat, and rice.[7]

Following millennia of selective breeding, there are now over 5,000 different types of potatoes.[5] Over 99% of presently cultivated potatoes worldwide descended from varieties that originated in the lowlands of south-central Chile.[8][9]

The importance of the potato as a food source and culinary ingredient varies by region and is still changing. It remains an essential crop in Europe, especially Northern and Eastern Europe, where per capita production is still the highest in the world, while the most rapid expansion in production over the past few decades has occurred in southern and eastern Asia, with China and India leading the world in overall production as of 2018.

Like the tomato, the potato is a nightshade in the genus Solanum, and the vegetative and fruiting parts of the potato contain the toxin solanine which is dangerous for human consumption. Normal potato tubers that have been grown and stored properly produce glycoalkaloids in amounts small enough to be negligible to human health, but if green sections of the plant (namely sprouts and skins) are exposed to light, the tuber can accumulate a high enough concentration of glycoalkaloids to affect human health.[10][11]

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Etymology

The English word potato comes from Spanish Template:Lang (the name used in Spain). The Royal Spanish Academy says the Spanish word is a hybrid of the Taíno Template:Lang ('sweet potato') and the Quechua Template:Lang ('potato').[12]Template:R 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 we now call potato.[13] In many of the chronicles detailing agriculture and plants, no distinction is made between the two.[14] Potatoes are occasionally referred to as Irish potatoes or white potatoes in the United States, to distinguish them from sweet potatoes.[13]

The name spud for a potato comes from the digging of soil (or a hole) prior to the planting of potatoes. The word has an unknown origin and was originally (c. 1440) used as a term for a short knife or dagger, probably related to the Latin Template:Lang a word root meaning "sword"; compare Spanish Template:Lang, English "spade", and spadroon. It subsequently transferred over to a variety of digging tools. Around 1845, the name transferred to the tuber itself, the first record of this usage being in New Zealand English.[15] The origin of the word spud has erroneously been attributed to an 18th-century activist group dedicated to keeping the potato out of Britain, calling itself The Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet (S.P.U.D.). It was Mario Pei's 1949 The Story of Language that can be blamed for the word's false origin. Pei writes, "the potato, for its part, was in disrepute some centuries ago. Some Englishmen who did not fancy potatoes formed a Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet. The initials of the main words in this title gave rise to spud." Like most other pre-20th century acronymic origins, this is false, and there is no evidence that a Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet ever existed.[16][17]

Characteristics

File:Potato flowers.jpg
Flowers of a potato plant

Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow about Template:Convert 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. In general, the tubers of varieties with white flowers have white skins, while those of varieties with colored flowers tend to have pinkish skins.[18] Potatoes are mostly cross-pollinated by insects such as bumblebees, which carry pollen from other potato plants, though a substantial amount of self-fertilizing occurs as well. Tubers form in response to decreasing day length, although this tendency has been minimized in commercial varieties.[19]

After flowering, potato plants produce small green fruits that resemble green cherry tomatoes, each containing about 300 seeds. Like all parts of the plant except the tubers, the fruit contain the toxic alkaloid solanine and are therefore unsuitable for consumption. All new potato varieties are grown from seeds, also called "true potato seed", "TPS" or "botanical seed" to distinguish it from seed tubers. New varieties grown from seed can be propagated vegetatively by planting tubers, pieces of tubers cut to include at least one or two eyes, or cuttings, a practice used in greenhouses for the production of healthy seed tubers. Plants propagated from tubers are clones of the parent, whereas those propagated from seed produce a range of different varieties.

Genetics

There are about 5,000 potato varieties worldwide. Three thousand of them are found in the Andes alone, mainly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia. They belong to eight or nine species, depending on the taxonomic school. Apart from the 5,000 cultivated varieties, there are about 200 wild species and subspecies, many of which can be cross-bred with cultivated varieties. Cross-breeding has been done repeatedly to transfer resistances to certain pests and diseases from the gene pool of wild species to the gene pool of cultivated potato species. Genetically modified varieties have met public resistance in the United States and in the European Union.[20][21]

The major species grown worldwide is Solanum tuberosum (a tetraploid with 48 chromosomes), and modern varieties of this species are the most widely cultivated. There are also four diploid species (with 24 chromosomes): S. stenotomum, S. phureja, S. goniocalyx, and S. ajanhuiri. There are two triploid species (with 36 chromosomes): S. chaucha and S. juzepczukii. There is one pentaploid cultivated species (with 60 chromosomes): S. curtilobum. There are two major subspecies of Solanum tuberosum: andigena, or Andean; and tuberosum, or Chilean.[22] The Andean potato is adapted to the short-day conditions prevalent in the mountainous equatorial and tropical regions where it originated; the Chilean potato, however, native to the Chiloé Archipelago, is adapted to the long-day conditions prevalent in the higher latitude region of southern Chile.[23]

The International Potato Center, based in Lima, Peru, holds an ISO-accredited collection of potato germplasm.[24] The international Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium announced in 2009 that they had achieved a draft sequence of the potato genome.[25] The potato genome contains 12 chromosomes and 860 million base pairs, making it a medium-sized plant genome.[26] More than 99 percent of all current varieties of potatoes currently grown are direct descendants of a subspecies that once grew in the lowlands of south-central Chile.[27] Nonetheless, genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species affirms that all potato subspecies derive from a single origin in the area of present-day southern Peru and extreme Northwestern Bolivia (from a species in the Solanum brevicaule complex).[4][5][6] The wild Crop Wild Relatives Prebreeding project encourages the use of wild relatives in breeding programs. Enriching and preserving the gene bank collection to make potatoes adaptive to diverse environmental conditions is seen as a pressing issue due to climate change.[28]

Most modern potatoes grown in North America arrived through European settlement and not independently from the South American sources, although at least one wild potato species, Solanum fendleri, naturally ranges from Peru into Texas, where it is used in breeding for resistance to a nematode species that attacks cultivated potatoes. A secondary center of genetic variability of the potato is Mexico, where important wild species that have been used extensively in modern breeding are found, such as the hexaploid Solanum demissum, as a source of resistance to the devastating late blight disease.[29] Another relative native to this region, Solanum bulbocastanum, has been used to genetically engineer the potato to resist potato blight.[30]

Potatoes yield abundantly with little effort, and adapt readily to diverse climates as long as the climate is cool and moist enough for the plants to gather sufficient water from the soil to form the starchy tubers. Potatoes do not keep very well in storage and are vulnerable to moulds that feed on the stored tubers and quickly turn them rotten, whereas crops such as grain can be stored for several years with a low risk of rot. The food energy yield of potatoes—about Template:Convert—is higher than that of maize (Template:Convert), rice (Template:Convert), wheat (Template:Convert), or soybeans (Template:Convert).[31]

Varieties

Template:Further

There are close to 4,000 varieties of potato including common commercial varieties, each of which has specific agricultural or culinary attributes.[32] Around 80 varieties are commercially available in the UK.[33] 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.[34] 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.[35]

The European Cultivated Potato Database (ECPD) is an online collaborative database of potato variety descriptions that is updated and maintained by the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency within the framework of the European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks (ECP/GR)—which is run by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI).[36]

Pigmentation

File:Papas de colores de Chiloe.jpg
Potatoes with different pigmentation
File:BlauerSchwede02.JPG
Potato variety 'Blue Swede'

Dozens of potato cultivars have been selectively bred specifically for their skin or, more commonly, flesh color, including gold, red, and blue varieties[37] that contain varying amounts of phytochemicals, including carotenoids for gold/yellow or polyphenols for red or blue cultivars.[38] Carotenoid compounds include provitamin A alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, which are converted to the essential nutrient, vitamin A, during digestion. Anthocyanins mainly responsible for red or blue pigmentation in potato cultivars do not have nutritional significance, but are used for visual variety and consumer appeal.[39] In 2010, potatoes were bioengineered specifically for these pigmentation traits.[40]

Genetically engineered potatoes

Main article: Genetically engineered potato

Genetic research has produced several genetically modified varieties. 'New Leaf', owned by Monsanto Company, incorporates genes from Bacillus thuringiensis, which confers resistance to the Colorado potato beetle; 'New Leaf Plus' and 'New Leaf Y', approved by US regulatory agencies during the 1990s, also include resistance to viruses. McDonald's, Burger King, Frito-Lay, and Procter & Gamble announced they would not use genetically modified potatoes, and Monsanto published its intent to discontinue the line in March 2001.[41]

Waxy potato varieties produce two main kinds of potato starch, amylose and amylopectin, the latter of which is most industrially useful. BASF developed the Amflora potato, which was modified to express antisense RNA to inactivate the gene for granule bound starch synthase, an enzyme which catalyzes the formation of amylose.[42] Amflora potatoes therefore produce starch consisting almost entirely of amylopectin, and are thus more useful for the starch industry. In 2010, the European Commission cleared the way for 'Amflora' to be grown in the European Union for industrial purposes only—not for food. Nevertheless, under EU rules, individual countries have the right to decide whether they will allow this potato to be grown on their territory. Commercial planting of 'Amflora' was expected in the Czech Republic and Germany in the spring of 2010, and Sweden and the Netherlands in subsequent years.[43] Another GM potato variety developed by BASF is 'Fortuna' which was made resistant to late blight by adding two resistance genes, blb1 and blb2, which originate from the Mexican wild potato Solanum bulbocastanum.[44][45] In October 2011 BASF requested cultivation and marketing approval as a feed and food from the EFSA. In 2012, GMO development in Europe was stopped by BASF.[46][47]

In November 2014, the USDA approved a genetically modified potato developed by J.R. Simplot Company, which contains genetic modifications that prevent bruising and produce less acrylamide when fried than conventional potatoes; the modifications do not cause new proteins to be made, but rather prevent proteins from being made via RNA interference.[48][49][50]

History

Main article: History of the potato

The potato was first domesticated in the region of modern-day southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia[4] by pre-Columbian farmers, around Lake Titicaca.[5] 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.[51][52] The most widely cultivated variety, Solanum tuberosum tuberosum, is indigenous to the Chiloé Archipelago, and has been cultivated by the local indigenous people since before the Spanish conquest.[23][53]

According to conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato was responsible for a quarter of the growth in Old World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900.[54] In the Altiplano, potatoes provided the principal energy source for the Inca civilization, its predecessors, and its Spanish successor. Following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the Spanish introduced the potato to Europe in the second half of the 16th century, part of the Columbian exchange. The staple was subsequently conveyed by European mariners to territories and ports throughout the world. The potato was slow to be adopted by European farmers, but soon enough it became an important food staple and field crop that played a major role in the European 19th century population boom.[6] However, lack of genetic diversity, due to the very limited number of varieties initially introduced, left the crop vulnerable to disease. In 1845, a plant disease known as late blight, caused by the fungus-like oomycete Phytophthora infestans, spread rapidly through the poorer communities of western Ireland as well as parts of the Scottish Highlands, resulting in the crop failures that led to the Great Irish Famine.[29] Thousands of varieties still persist in the Andes however, where over 100 cultivars might be found in a single valley, and a dozen or more might be maintained by a single agricultural household.[55]

Production

Main article: List of countries by potato production
Potato production – 2018
Country Production (millions of tonnes)
Template:CHN 98.3
Template:IND 48.5
Template:RUS 22.5
Template:UKR 22.5
Template:USA 20.6
World 368.2
Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations[56]
File:PotatoYield.png
Global production of potatoes in 2008

In 2018, world production of potatoes was 368 million tonnes, led by China with 27% 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 southern and eastern Asia.[7][56]

Nutrition

A raw potato is 79% water, 17% carbohydrates (88% is starch), 2% protein, and contains negligible fat (see table). In a Template:Convert portion, raw potato provides Template:Convert 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 vitamins or minerals in significant amount (see table). The potato is rarely eaten raw because raw potato starch is poorly digested by humans.[57] When a potato is baked, its contents of vitamin B6 and vitamin C decline notably, while there is little significant change in the amount of other nutrients.[58]

Potatoes are often broadly classified as having a high glycemic index (GI) and so are often excluded from the diets of individuals trying to follow a low-GI diet. The GI of potatoes can vary considerably depending on the cultivar or cultivar category (such as "red", russet, "white", or King Edward), growing conditions and storage, preparation methods (by cooking method, whether it is eaten hot or cold, whether it is mashed or cubed or consumed whole), and accompanying foods consumed (especially the addition of various high-fat or high-protein toppings).[59] In particular, consuming reheated or cooled potatoes that were previously cooked may yield a lower GI effect.[59]

In the UK, potatoes are not considered by the National Health Service (NHS) as counting or contributing towards the recommended daily five portions of fruit and vegetables, the 5-A-Day program.[60]

Comparison to other staple foods

This table shows the nutrient content of potatoes next to other major staple foods, each one measured in its respective raw state, even though staple foods are not commonly eaten raw and are usually sprouted or cooked before eating. In sprouted and cooked form, the relative nutritional and anti-nutritional contents of each of these grains (or other foods) may be different from the values in this table. Each nutrient (every row) has the highest number highlighted to show the staple food with the greatest amount in a 100-gram raw portion. Template:Comparison of major staple foods

Toxicity

File:Potato EarlyRose sprouts.jpg
'Early Rose' variety seed tuber with sprouts

Potatoes contain toxic compounds known as glycoalkaloids, of which the most prevalent are solanine and chaconine. Solanine is found in other plants in the same family, Solanaceae, which includes such plants as deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and tobacco (Nicotiana spp.), as well as the food plants eggplant and tomato. These compounds, which protect the potato plant from its predators, are generally concentrated in its leaves, flowers, sprouts, and fruits (in contrast to the tubers).[61] In a summary of several studies, the glycoalkaloid content was highest in the flowers and sprouts and lowest in the tuber flesh. (The glycoalkaloid content was, in order from highest to lowest: flowers, sprouts, leaves, tuber skin, roots, berries, peel [skin plus outer cortex of tuber flesh], stems, and tuber flesh).[10]

Exposure to light, physical damage, and age increase glycoalkaloid content within the tuber.[11] Cooking at high temperatures—over Template:Convert—partly destroys these compounds. The concentration of glycoalkaloids in wild potatoes is sufficient to produce toxic effects in humans. Glycoalkaloid poisoning may cause headaches, diarrhea, cramps, and, in severe cases, coma and death. However, poisoning from cultivated potato varieties is very rare. Light exposure causes greening from chlorophyll synthesis, giving a visual clue as to which areas of the tuber may have become more toxic. However, this does not provide a definitive guide, as greening and glycoalkaloid accumulation can occur independently of each other.

Different potato varieties contain different levels of glycoalkaloids. The Lenape variety was released in 1967 but was withdrawn in 1970 as it contained high levels of glycoalkaloids.[62] Since then, breeders developing new varieties test for this, and sometimes have to discard an otherwise promising cultivar. Breeders try to keep glycoalkaloid levels below 200 mg/kg (200 ppmw). However, when these commercial varieties turn green, they can still approach solanine concentrations of 1000 mg/kg (1000 ppmw). In normal potatoes, analysis has shown solanine levels may be as little as 3.5% of the breeders' maximum, with 7–187 mg/kg being found.[63] While a normal potato tuber has 12–20 mg/kg of glycoalkaloid content, a green potato tuber contains 250–280 mg/kg and its skin has 1500–2200 mg/kg.[64]

Growth and cultivation Template:Anchor

Seed potatoes

Potatoes are generally grown from seed potatoes,Template:Anchor 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.[65] These locations are selected for their cold, hard winters that kill pests and summers with long sunshine hours for optimum growth. In the UK, most seed potatoes originate in Scotland, in areas where westerly winds reduce aphid attack and the spread of potato virus pathogens.[66]

Phases of growth

Potato growth can be divided into five phases. During the first phase, sprouts emerge from the seed potatoes and root growth begins. During the second, photosynthesis begins as the plant develops leaves and branches above-ground and stolons develop from lower leaf axils on the below-ground stem. In the third phase the tips of the stolons swell forming new tubers and the shoots continue to grow and flowers typically develop soon after. Tuber bulking occurs during the fourth phase, when the plant begins investing the majority of its resources in its newly formed tubers. At this phase, several factors are critical to a good yield: optimal soil moisture and temperature, soil nutrient availability and balance, and resistance to pest attacks. The fifth phase is the maturation of the tubers: the plant canopy dies back, the tuber skins harden, and the sugars in the tubers convert to starches.[67][68]

File:Culture de la pomme de terre.jpg
Preparation of a potato crop in Hesbaye, Belgium

Challenges

File:Potato bag cultivation.JPG
Potatoes grown in a tall bag are common in gardens as they minimize the amount of digging required at harvest

New tubers may start growing at the surface of the soil. Since exposure to light leads to an undesirable greening of the skins and the development of solanine as a protection from the sun's rays, growers cover surface tubers. Commercial growers cover them by piling additional soil around the base of the plant as it grows (called "hilling" up, or in British English "earthing up"). An alternative method, used by home gardeners and smaller-scale growers, involves covering the growing area with organic mulches such as straw or plastic sheets.[69]

Correct potato husbandry can be an arduous task in some circumstances. Good ground preparation, harrowing, plowing, and rolling are always needed, along with a little grace from the weather and a good source of water.[70] Three successive plowings, with associated harrowing and rolling, are desirable before planting. Eliminating all root-weeds is desirable in potato cultivation. In general, the potatoes themselves are grown from the eyes of another potato and not from seed. Home gardeners often plant a piece of potato with two or three eyes in a hill of mounded soil. Commercial growers plant potatoes as a row crop using seed tubers, young plants or microtubers and may mound the entire row. Seed potato crops are rogued in some countries to eliminate diseased plants or those of a different variety from the seed crop.

Potatoes are sensitive to heavy frosts, which damage them in the ground. Even cold weather makes potatoes more susceptible to bruising and possibly later rotting, which can quickly ruin a large stored crop.

Pests

Main article: List of potato diseases

The historically significant Phytophthora infestans (late blight) remains an ongoing problem in Europe[29][71] and the United States.[72] Other potato diseases include Rhizoctonia, Sclerotinia, black leg, powdery mildew, powdery scab and leafroll virus.

Insects that commonly transmit potato diseases or damage the plants include the Colorado potato beetle, the potato tuber moth, the green peach aphid (Myzus persicae), the potato aphid, beet leafhoppers, thrips, and mites. The potato cyst nematode is a microscopic worm that thrives on the roots, thus causing the potato plants to wilt. Since its eggs can survive in the soil for several years, crop rotation is recommended.

During the crop year 2008, many of the certified organic potatoes produced in the United Kingdom and certified by the Soil Association as organic were sprayed with a copper pesticide[73] to control potato blight (Phytophthora infestans). According to the Soil Association, the total copper that can be applied to organic land is 6 kg/ha/year.[74]

According to an Environmental Working Group analysis of USDA and FDA pesticide residue tests performed from 2000 through 2008, 84% of the 2,216 tested potato samples contained detectable traces of at least one pesticide. A total of 36 unique pesticides were detected on potatoes over the 2,216 samples, though no individual sample contained more than 6 unique pesticide traces, and the average was 1.29 detectable unique pesticide traces per sample. The average quantity of all pesticide traces found in the 2,216 samples was 1.602 ppm. While this was a very low value of pesticide residue, it was the highest amongst the 50 vegetables analyzed.[75]

Harvest

File:Potato plant prior to harevest.jpg
Potato plant prior to harvest
File:Potato flower close-up. Eastern Siberia.jpg
Potato flower close-up. Eastern Siberia

At harvest time, gardeners usually dig up potatoes with a long-handled, three-prong "grape" (or graip), i.e., a spading fork, or a potato hook, which is similar to the graip but with tines at a 90° angle to the handle. In larger plots, the plow is the fastest implement for unearthing potatoes. Commercial harvesting is typically done with large potato harvesters, which scoop up the plant and surrounding earth. This is transported up an apron chain consisting of steel links several feet wide, which separates some of the dirt. The chain deposits into an area where further separation occurs. Different designs use different systems at this point. The most complex designs use vine choppers and shakers, along with a blower system to separate the potatoes from the plant. The result is then usually run past workers who continue to sort out plant material, stones, and rotten potatoes before the potatoes are continuously delivered to a wagon or truck. Further inspection and separation occurs when the potatoes are unloaded from the field vehicles and put into storage.

Immature potatoes may be sold as "creamer potatoes"Template:Anchor and are particularly valued for taste. These are often harvested by the home gardener or farmer by "grabbling", i.e. pulling out the young tubers by hand while leaving the plant in place. A creamer potato is a variety of potato harvested before it matures to keep it small and tender. It is generally either a Yukon Gold potato or a red potato, called gold creamers[76] or red creamers respectively, and measures approximately Template:Convert in diameter.[77] The skin of creamer potatoes is waxy and high in moisture content, and the flesh contains a lower level of starch than other potatoes. Like potatoes in general, they can be prepared by boiling, baking, frying, and roasting.[77] Slightly older than creamer potatoes are "new potatoes"Template:Anchor, which are also prized for their taste and texture and often come from the same varieties.[78]

Potatoes are usually cured after harvest to improve skin-set. Skin-set is the process by which the skin of the potato becomes resistant to skinning damage. Potato tubers may be susceptible to skinning at harvest and suffer skinning damage during harvest and handling operations. Curing allows the skin to fully set and any wounds to heal. Wound-healing prevents infection and water-loss from the tubers during storage. Curing is normally done at relatively warm temperatures (Template:Convert) with high humidity and good gas-exchange if at all possible.[79]

Storage

File:Potato transportation to cold storage in India (1).jpg
Potato transportation to cold storage in India
File:Potato farming in India.jpg
Potato farming in India

Storage facilities need to be carefully designed to keep the potatoes alive and slow the natural process of decomposition, which involves the breakdown of starch. It is crucial that the storage area is dark, ventilated well and, for long-term storage, maintained at temperatures near Template:Convert. For short-term storage, temperatures of about Template:Convert are preferred.[80]

On the other hand, temperatures below Template:Convert convert the starch in potatoes into sugar, which alters their taste and cooking qualities and leads to higher acrylamide levels in the cooked product, especially in deep-fried dishes. The discovery of acrylamides in starchy foods in 2002 has led to international health concerns. They are believed to be probable carcinogens and their occurrence in cooked foods is being studied for potentially influencing health problems.Template:Efn[81]

Under optimum conditions in commercial warehouses, potatoes can be stored for up to 10–12 months.[80] The commercial storage and retrieval of potatoes involves several phases: first drying surface moisture; wound healing at 85% to 95% relative humidity and temperatures below Template:Convert; a staged cooling phase; a holding phase; and a reconditioning phase, during which the tubers are slowly warmed. Mechanical ventilation is used at various points during the process to prevent condensation and the accumulation of carbon dioxide.[80]

If potatoes develop green areas or start to sprout, trimming or peeling those green-colored parts is inadequate to remove copresent toxins, and such potatoes are no longer edible.[82][83]

Yield

The world dedicated Template:Convert to potato cultivation in 2010; the world average yield was Template:Convert. The United States was the most productive country, with a nationwide average yield of Template:Convert.[84] United Kingdom was a close second.

New Zealand farmers have demonstrated some of the best commercial yields in the world, ranging between 60 and 80 tonnes per hectare, some reporting yields of 88 tonnes potatoes per hectare.[85][86][87]

There is a big gap among various countries between high and low yields, even with the same variety of potato. Average potato yields in developed economies ranges between 38 and 44 tonnes per hectare. China and India accounted for over a third of world's production in 2010, and had yields of 14.7 and 19.9 tonnes per hectare respectively.[84] The yield gap between farms in developing economies and developed economies represents an opportunity loss of over 400 million tonnes of potato, or an amount greater than 2010 world potato production. Potato crop yields are determined by factors such as the crop breed, seed age and quality, crop management practices and the plant environment. Improvements in one or more of these yield determinants, and a closure of the yield gap, can be a major boost to food supply and farmer incomes in the developing world.[88][89]

Climate change

Template:Excerpt

Uses

Template:See also

File:PreparedPotatoes.jpg
Various potato preparations: (clockwise from top left) potato chips, hashbrowns, tater tots, mashed potato, and a baked potato

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 mashed with milk or yogurt and butter; whole baked potatoes; boiled or steamed potatoes; French-fried potatoes or chips; cut into cubes and roasted; scalloped, diced, or sliced and fried (home fries); grated into small thin strips and fried (hash browns); grated and formed into dumplings, Rösti or potato pancakes. Unlike many foods, potatoes can also be easily cooked in a microwave oven and still retain nearly all of their nutritional value, provided they are covered in ventilated plastic wrap to prevent moisture from escaping; this method produces a meal very similar to a steamed potato, while retaining the appearance of a conventionally baked potato. Potato chunks also commonly appear as a stew ingredient. Potatoes are boiled between 10 and 25[90] minutes, depending on size and type, to become soft.

Other than for eating

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. 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.[91] Some farmers prefer to steam them rather than feed them raw and are equipped to do so efficiently.
  • 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.[92][93]
  • Maine companies are exploring the possibilities of using waste potatoes to obtain polylactic acid for use in plastic products; other research projects seek ways to use the starch as a base for biodegradable packaging.[93][94]
  • Potato skins, along with honey, are a folk remedy for burns in India. Burn centres in India have experimented with the use of the thin outer skin layer to protect burns while healing.[95][96]
  • Potatoes (mainly Russets) are commonly used in plant research. The consistent parenchyma tissue, the clonal nature of the plant and the low metabolic activity provide a very nice "model tissue" for experimentation. Wound-response studies are often done on potato tuber tissue, as are electron transport experiments. In this respect, potato tuber tissue is similar to Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans and Escherichia coli: they are all "standard" research organisms.
  • Potatoes have been delivered with personalized messages as a novelty. Potato delivery services include Potato Parcel and Mail A Spud.[97][98][99][100]

Template:Anchor

Latin America

Peruvian cuisine naturally contains the potato as a primary ingredient in many dishes, as around 3,000 varieties of this tuber are grown there.[101] Some of the more notable dishes include boiled potato as a base for several dishes or with ají-based sauces like in Papa a la Huancaína or ocopa, diced potato for its use in soups like in cau cau, or in Carapulca with dried potato (papa seca). Smashed condimented potato is used in causa Limeña and papa rellena. French-fried potatoes are a typical ingredient in Peruvian stir-fries, including the classic dish lomo saltado.

Chuño is a freeze-dried potato product traditionally made by Quechua and Aymara communities of Peru and Bolivia,[102] and is known in various countries of South America, including Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. In Chile's Chiloé Archipelago, potatoes are the main ingredient of many dishes, including milcaos, chapaleles, curanto and chochoca. In Ecuador, the potato, as well as being a staple with most dishes, is featured in the hearty locro de papas, a thick soup of potato, squash, and cheese.

Europe

File:Baked Potato (3662019664).jpg
Baked potato with sour cream and chives

In the UK, potatoes form part of the traditional staple, fish and chips. Roast potatoes are commonly served as part of a Sunday roast dinner and mashed potatoes form a major component of several other traditional dishes, such as shepherd's pie, bubble and squeak, and bangers and mash. New potatoes may be cooked with mint and are often served with butter.[103]

The Tattie scone is a popular Scottish dish containing potatoes. Colcannon is a traditional Irish food made with mashed potato, shredded kale or cabbage, and onion; champ is a similar dish. Boxty pancakes are eaten throughout Ireland, although associated especially with the North, and in Irish diaspora communities; they are traditionally made with grated potatoes, soaked to loosen the starch and mixed with flour, buttermilk and baking powder. A variant eaten and sold in Lancashire, especially Liverpool, is made with cooked and mashed potatoes.

In the UK, game chips are a traditional accompaniment to roast gamebirds such as pheasant, grouse, partridge and quail.

Bryndzové halušky is the Slovak national dish, made of a batter of flour and finely grated potatoes that is boiled to form dumplings. These are then mixed with regionally varying ingredients.

File:Bauernfrühstück-01.jpg
German Bauernfrühstück ("farmer's breakfast")

In Germany, Northern (Finland, Latvia and especially Scandinavian countries), Eastern Europe (Russia, Belarus and Ukraine) and Poland, newly harvested, early ripening varieties are considered a special delicacy. Boiled whole and served un-peeled with dill, these "new potatoes" are traditionally consumed with Baltic herring. Puddings made from grated potatoes (kugel, kugelis, and potato babka) are popular items of Ashkenazi, Lithuanian, and Belarusian cuisine.[104] German fries and various version of Potato salad are part of German cuisine. Bauernfrühstück (literally farmer's breakfast) is a warm German dish made from fried potatoes, eggs, ham and vegetables.

Cepelinai is Lithuanian national dish. They are a type of dumpling made from grated raw potatoes boiled in water and usually stuffed with minced meat, although sometimes dry cottage cheese (curd) or mushrooms are used instead.[105] In Western Europe, especially in Belgium, sliced potatoes are fried to create frieten, the original French fried potatoes. Stamppot, a traditional Dutch meal, is based on mashed potatoes mixed with vegetables.

In France, the most notable potato dish is the Hachis Parmentier, named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, a French pharmacist, nutritionist, and agronomist who, in the late 18th century, was instrumental in the acceptance of the potato as an edible crop in the country. Pâté aux pommes de terre is a regional potato dish from the central Allier and Limousin regions. Gratin dauphinois, consisting of baked thinly sliced potatoes with cream or milk, and tartiflette, with Reblochon cheese, are also widespread.

In the north of Italy, in particular, in the Friuli region of the northeast, potatoes serve to make a type of pasta called gnocchi.[106] Similarly, cooked and mashed potatoes or potato flour can be used in the Knödel or dumpling eaten with or added to meat dishes all over central and Eastern Europe, but especially in Bavaria and Luxembourg. Potatoes form one of the main ingredients in many soups such as the vichyssoise and Albanian potato and cabbage soup. In western Norway, komle is popular.

A traditional Canary Islands dish is Canarian wrinkly potatoes or papas arrugadas. Tortilla de patatas (potato omelette) and patatas bravas (a dish of fried potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce) are near-universal constituent of Spanish tapas.

North America

File:OriginalPoutineLaBanquise.jpg
Poutine, a Canadian dish of fried potatoes, cheese curds, and gravy

In the US, potatoes have become one of the most widely consumed crops and thus have a variety of preparation methods and condiments. French fries and often hash browns are commonly found in typical American fast-food burger "joints" and cafeterias. One popular favourite involves a baked potato with cheddar cheese (or sour cream and chives) on top, and in New England "smashed potatoes" (a chunkier variation on mashed potatoes, retaining the peel) have a great popularity. Potato flakes are popular as an instant variety of mashed potatoes, which reconstitute into mashed potatoes by adding water, with butter or oil and salt to taste. A regional dish of Central New York, salt potatoes are bite-size new potatoes boiled in water saturated with salt then served with melted butter. At more formal dinners, a common practice includes taking small red potatoes, slicing them, and roasting them in an iron skillet. Among American Jews, the practice of eating latkes (fried potato pancakes) is common during the festival of Hanukkah.

A traditional Acadian dish from New Brunswick is known as poutine râpée. The Acadian poutine is a ball of grated and mashed potato, salted, sometimes filled with pork in the centre, and boiled. The result is a moist ball about the size of a baseball. It is commonly eaten with salt and pepper or brown sugar. It is believed to have originated from the German Klöße, prepared by early German settlers who lived among the Acadians. Poutine, by contrast, is a hearty serving of French fries, fresh cheese curds and hot gravy. Tracing its origins to Quebec in the 1950s, it has become a widespread and popular dish throughout Canada.

Potato grading for Idaho potatoes is performed in which No. 1 potatoes are the highest quality and No. 2 are rated as lower in quality due to their appearance (e.g. blemishes or bruises, pointy ends).[107] Potato density assessment can be performed by floating them in brines.[108] High-density potatoes are desirable in the production of dehydrated mashed potatoes, potato crisps and french fries.[108]

South Asia

In South Asia, the potato is a very popular traditional staple. In India, the most popular potato dishes are aloo ki sabzi, batata vada, and samosa, which is spicy mashed potato mixed with a small amount of vegetable stuffed in conical dough, and deep fried. Potatoes are also a major ingredient as fast food items, such as aloo chaat, where they are deep fried and served with chutney. In Northern India, alu dum and alu paratha are a favourite part of the diet; the first is a spicy curry of boiled potato, the second is a type of stuffed chapati.

A dish called masala dosa from South India is very notable all over India. It is a thin pancake of rice and pulse batter rolled over spicy smashed potato and eaten with sambhar and chutney. Poori in south India in particular in Tamil Nadu is almost always taken with smashed potato masal. Other favourite dishes are alu tikki and pakoda items.

Vada pav is a popular vegetarian fast food dish in Mumbai and other regions in the Maharashtra in India.

Aloo posto (a curry with potatoes and poppy seeds) is immensely popular in East India, especially Bengal. Although potatoes are not native to India, it has become a vital part of food all over the country especially North Indian food preparations. In Tamil Nadu this tuber acquired a name based on its appearance 'urulai-k-kizhangu' (உருளைக் கிழங்கு) meaning cylindrical tuber.

The Aloo gosht, Potato and meat curry, is one of the popular dishes in South Asia, especially in Pakistan.

East Asia

In East Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, rice is by far the predominant starch crop, with potatoes a secondary crop, especially in China and Japan. However, it is used in northern China where rice is not easily grown, with a popular dish being Template:Lang (qīng jiāo tǔ dòu sī), made with green pepper, vinegar and thin slices of potato. In the winter, roadside sellers in northern China will also sell roasted potatoes. It is also occasionally seen in Korean and Thai cuisines.[109]

Cultural significance

In art

The potato has been an essential crop in the Andes since the pre-Columbian Era. The Moche culture from Northern Peru made ceramics from the earth, water, and fire. This pottery was a sacred substance, formed in significant shapes and used to represent important themes. Potatoes are represented anthropomorphically as well as naturally.[110]

During the late 19th century, numerous images of potato harvesting appeared in European art, including the works of Willem Witsen and Anton Mauve.[111]

Van Gogh's 1885 painting The Potato Eaters portrays a family eating potatoes. Van Gogh said he wanted to depict peasants as they really were. He deliberately chose coarse and ugly models, thinking that they would be natural and unspoiled in his finished work.[112]

Jean-François Millet's The Potato Harvest depicts peasants working in the plains between Barbizon and Chailly. It presents a theme representative of the peasants' struggle for survival. Millet's technique for this work incorporated paste-like pigments thickly applied over a coarsely textured canvas.

In popular culture

Invented in 1949, and marketed and sold commercially by Hasbro in 1952, Mr. Potato Head is an American toy that consists of a plastic potato and attachable plastic parts, such as ears and eyes, to make a face. It was the first toy ever advertised on television.[113]

See also

Notes

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References

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Sources

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  • Economist. "The potato: Spud we like", (leader) The Economist 28 February 2008 online
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  • Hawkes, J.G. (1990). The Potato: Evolution, Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC
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  • McNeill, William H. "How the Potato Changed the World's History." Social Research (1999) 66#1 pp. 67–83. Template:ISSN Fulltext: Ebsco, by a leading historian
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  • Ó Gráda, Cormac, Richard Paping, and Eric Vanhaute, eds. When the Potato Failed: Causes and Effects of the Last European Subsistence Crisis, 1845–1850. (2007). 342 pp.  Template:ISBN. 15 essays by scholars looking at Ireland and all of Europe
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Further reading

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  • The World Potato Atlas at Cgiar.orgTemplate:Dead link, released by the International Potato Center in 2006 and regularly updated. Includes current chapters of 15 countries:
    • South America: (English and Spanish): Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
    • Africa: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya
    • Eurasia: Armenia, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan
    • 38 others as brief "archive" chapters
    • Further information links at Cgiar.org.
  • World Geography of the Potato at UGA.edu, released in 1993.
  • Gauldie, Enid (1981). The Scottish Miller 1700–1900. Pub. John Donald. Template:ISBN.

External links

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Template:Use dmy dates Template:Potato cultivars Template:Agriculture country lists Template:Bioenergy Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control

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