Potato

The tuber that conquered the world from the Andes

A potato is the plant's underground 'storeroom', where it keeps food for next year. It comes from the Andes mountains of South America, where 4,000 kinds grow: purple, red, yellow! The Spanish brought it to Europe 500 years ago. Potatoes have saved many people from hunger. Today it is the world's main food after rice and wheat.

The potato (Solanum tuberosum), a nightshade (relative of tomato and aubergine), was domesticated 8,000 years ago near Lake Titicaca (Peru–Bolivia); Peru has over 4,000 native varieties. The tuber is a modified stem (not a root), a starch store. It reached Spain in the 1570s and by the 18th century was Europe's staple — fuelling a population boom and the Irish Famine (1845–1849, potato blight, 1 million dead — a lesson on monoculture). Now 375 million tonnes a year (China, India, Russia, Ukraine lead), the 4th largest food crop. It has vitamin C, potassium and 20% starch; green parts and sprouts contain toxic solanine. It was the first vegetable grown in space (1995). In Uzbekistan it is grown in Samarkand, Surkhandarya and Andijan.

Fun facts

• Peru has over 4,000 potato varieties — even purple and blue ones.
• A potato tuber is a stem, not a root.
• The potato was the first vegetable grown in space (1995).