Potatoes-tasty, nutritious and popular around the world. I did a little reading on this popular tuber as I was interested in exactly where it came from and how it became such a popular food item, beyond it being really tasty (which always helps).
Where do potatoes come from?
From my reading, the approximately 140 species of the humble spud would potentially not exist if it wasn’t for the hybridisation between tomato ancestors and the ancestors of Solanum etuberosum. It’s thought that this occurred around nine million years ago in the foothills of the Andes in South America. Without both original plants and their genetics, we would not have potatoes.
As mentioned already, potatoes come from South America around the Andes. There are two strands of evidence that suggest this is the origin. The first is that there is the highest diversity in wild species in the Andes. The second is evidence of potato domestication from 7,000 years ago by societies based around Lake Titicaca.
Over time potatoes became a staple food of the regions indigenous peoples.
When did potatoes get to Europe?
Europe has the Spanish to thank for taking the potato across the Atlantic Ocean, along with tomatoes, corn and avocados-all fine vegetables in my opinion too. The year was 1532.
When potatoes were first grown in Europe, they struggled to adapt to the growing conditions on the European mainland. Part of this was due to the fact that tropical region days are of a consistent length across the year, which they are not in Europe.
The tubers were growing in autumn when the frosty winter weather was approaching, so didn’t have time to grow. Ireland had a good climate with an autumn that was frost free and allowed tubers to mature.
Over time, as with many plants, farmer selection produced a variety of potato where tubers set earlier in the summer. This allowed the potato to become known as a staple crop for peasants.
Why are potatoes such a success story around the world?
One key reason why the potato is such a successful crop is because they are very nutritious. They contain calcium, iron, vitamins B and C, potassium and nicotinamide. In Ireland, a family of up to eight people could be well fed by an acre of potatoes and a single milk cow-something cereal crops are unable to provide.
Potatoes can also store really well. All the way through my childhood, I ate potatoes from my grandparents root cellar and loved them.
Another factor in their success as a crop was the fact that potatoes could be hidden from the tax man in days gone by. The tubers could be kept in the ground and remain invisible.
Potatoes have also fed people through war-apparently in every military campaign since 1560 including the Second World War.
Today, potatoes are the third or fourth most important food crop after rice, wheat and corn. Millions of people rely on this crop for sustenance.
They can also grow in more marginal land, which is an important quality to have in a crop.
Why do I like potatoes?
I really enjoy eating potatoes because they are tasty, otherwise I wouldn’t eat them. They are also versatile-I have potatoes in Thai curries, Italian food and of course in my native English cuisine-mashed or roast, chips (fries) or hash browns. There is never I time when I get bored of them.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/srticle/20200302-the-true-origins-of-the-humble-potato
3 responses to “Potatoes-how they came to be such a big crop across the world”
Interesting fact about the potato. When you plant the tuber, you get clones of the original, but if you collect and plant the seeds, you will get different potatoes, much like with grafting apples v apple seeds.
It’s important to note that the potato berries are toxic, too.
My blog post could have been at least three times as long-I find potatoes a really interesting plant!
They truly are!