Potato: Origin, Nutritional Value and Cultivation | Crop Plants

In this article we will discuss about:- 1. Origin of Potato 2.  Nutritional Value of Potato 3. Cultivation.

Origin of Potato:

Potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of Solanace family (Nightshade family).

The word Potato comes from Spanish word patata. The Spanish word is a compound of the Taino batata (Sweet potato) and the Quechua papa (potato). The name potato originally referred to a type of sweet potato. In many of the chronicles detailing agriculture and plants, no distinction is made between the two plants.

In 16^th century English herbalist John Gerard used the term bastard potatoes and Virginia potatoes for this species and referred sweet potatoes as common potatoes. Some times these are referred also as Irish potatoes or white potatoes to distinguish potatoes from sweet potatoes.

The name spud for a small potato comes from the digging of soil (or hole) prior to the planting of potatoes. The word spud traces back to the 16^th Century. It was subsequently transferred over to a variety of digging tools. Around 1845 it transferred over to the tuber itself. The origin of spud has erroneously been attributed to a 19^th century activist group dedicated to keeping the potato out of Britain.

The annual diet of an average global citizen in the first decade of the 21^st Century included about 35 kg of potato. The local importance of potato is extremely variable and changing rapidly. It is an essential crop of Europe where per capita production is very high or highest in the world. The most rapid expansion over the past four decades has occurred in southern and eastern Asia.

China is now the world’s largest potato producing country and nearly one third of the world’s potatoes are harvested from China and India.

Potatoes contain vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals (Carotenoids and natural phenols) etc. Chlorogenic acid constitutes upto 90 percent of the potato tuber natural phenols. Others are crypto chlorogenic acids (4-0-caffeoylquinic acid), neo. Chlorogenic acid (5-0-caffeoylquinic acid), dicaffeoylquinic or 3, 5 dicaffeoylquinic acids.

A medium size potato (150 gm) with skin provides 27 mg of Vitamin C (45% of daily value DV), 620 mg Potassium (18% of DV), 0.2 mg Vitamin B₆(10%DV) and traces of Thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, Mg, P, Fe, Zn etc. The fiber content of potato with skin (2 gm) is equivalent to that of many whole grain breads, Pasta and Cereals.

It has a good amount of carbohydrate (26 gm in medium potato). The carbohydrate is in the form of starch. Starch is resistant to digestion by enzymes in stomach and small intestine and reaches large intestine essentially intact. This resistant starch is considered to be having similar effects and health benefits like fiber.

It provides bulk, protects against colon cancer, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, lowers plasma cholesterol and triglycerides concentration, and reduces fat storage.

But the main problem is the amount of resistant starch in potatoes depends upon preparation methods. Cooking and then cooling potatoes significantly increases resistant starch e.g. cooked potatoes contain about 7 % resistant starch, which increase to about 13% after cooling.

Potatoes are often broadly classified as high on glycemic index (GI) and often excluded from the diets of individuals following low GI diet. The GI of potato depends upon the type (e.g., red, white, russet, prince Edward etc.), Origin (where it was grown), preparation method {i.e. cooking method, hot or cold, mashed or cubed or consumed whole etc.) and with what it is consumed {i.e. addition of various high fat or high protein substances). In UK potatoes are not considered by NHS as counting towards the five portions of fruit and vegetable diet.

Nutritional Value of Potato:

The nutritional value is as follows:

Potato raw, with skin:

Nutritional value per 100 gm.

Energy — 321 KJ (77 Kcal)

Carbohydrate — 17.47 gm

Starch — 15.44 gm

Dietary fibre — 2.2 gm

Fat —0.1 gm

Protein — 2 gm

Water — 75 gm

Other vitamins and minerals are as follows:

Vitamin (Vit B₁) — 0.08 mg (7%)

Riboflavin (Vit B₂) — 0.03 mg (3%)

Niacin (Vit B₃) — 1.05 mg (7%)

Pantothenic acid (Vit B₅) — 0.296 mg (6%)

Vit. B₆ — 0.295 mg (23%)

Folate (Vit. B₉) — 16 µg (4 %)

Vit. C — 19.7 mg (24%)

Vit. E —0.01 mg (0%)

Vit. K — 1.9 mg (2%)

Calcium (Ca) — 12 mg (1%)

Iron (Fe) — 0.78 mg (6%)

Magnesium (Mg) — 23 mg (6%)

Manganese (Mn) — 0.153 mg (7%)

Phosphorus (P) — 57 mg (8%)

Potassium (K) — 421 mg (9%)

Sodium (Na) — 6 mg (0%)

Zinc (Zn) — 0.29 mg (3%)

Cultivation of Potato:

Wild Potato species occur throughout America from U States to Southen Chile. Potato was originally believed to have been domesticated independently, is multiple locations, but later on genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivated and wild species proved a single origin of potato in the area of present day Peru and extreme North west Bolivia (from a species is the Solanum brevicaule complex) where they were domesticated 7000—1000 years ago.

After centuries of selective breeding, there are now over a thousand different types of potatoes. Of these subspecies a variety that at one point of time grew is the Chiloe Archipelago (Chilean sub-center of origin) left its germplasm on over 99 % of the cultivated potatoes world wide?

According to conservative estimates, the introduction of potato was responsible for a quarter of the growth in Old world population and urbanization between 1700—1900 following the Spanish conquests of Inca Empire, the Spanish introduced potato to Europe in late 16^th century.

European mariners introduced it to territories and ports throughout the world. Potato was slowly adopted by Europeans but soon enough it became an important food staple and field crop is the 19^th century population boom. Lack of genetic diversity and very limited number of varieties, initially introduced, and left the crop vulnerable to diseases.

In 1845 the late blight caused by fungus— Phytophthora infestans spread rapidly through poorer communities of western Ireland, resulting in the crop failure leading to the Great Irish famine.

Thousands of varieties still persist in the Andes however, over 100 Cultivars might be found is a single valley and a dozen or more might be maintained by a single agriculture household.

In the region of Andes there are some closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes were introduced outside the Andes region four centuries ago and have become an integral part of much of the world’s cusine. It is world’s largest food crop following rice, wheat and maize. Long term storage of potatoes requires specialized care in cold warehouses.