Where do potatoes grow?
In this brief article, we are going to answer the question, “Where do potatoes grow?”
Where do potatoes grow?
Potatoes grow in Idaho, followed by Washington. Potatoes are also grown in North Dakota, Wisconsin, & Colorado. In 2020, the U.S. harvested one million square miles of potatoes.
Potatoes are a hot season crop produced in the North and are susceptible to frost and mild freezes.
Despite its Andean origins, it’s a successful worldwide cuisine. It’s produced everywhere, and people consider this one of “our foods.”
What is the origin of potatoes?
Around 7,000–10,000 years ago, a species of the Solanum brevicaule complex domesticated potatoes, leading to today’s widespread use of potatoes as a staple food.
Some related cousins of the potato were grown in the Andes area of South America, in which the species are indigenous.
In the second part of the 16th century, the Spaniards brought potatoes from the Americas back to Europe for consumption.
As a result, they are now a common ingredient in a wide variety of dishes throughout the world. Potatoes were the fourth-largest food crop in the world in 2014, behind corn , wheat, and rice.
Over the course of millennia, potatoes have been selectively bred to produce over 5,000 varieties. There are currently more than 99 percent of potato cultivars in the world’s lowland regions that originated in southern Chile.
As a source of food and culinary elements, the potato’s value varies by area and is always evolving.
A staple crop in Europe, particularly the northern and eastern parts, where output per capita is still the largest, it has seen tremendous growth in the southern and eastern parts of Asia, including China and India dominating the globe as of 2018.
Where did the word potato derive from?
It is the subterranean portion of the plant from whence we derive the name “potato”. A subterranean stolon is where it thrives. Because potato tubers grow underground, they are stems rather than roots, and are referred to as such.
Plant Solanum tuberosum, native to the Americas, yields a starchy tuber known as a potato. Perennial nightshade of the Solanaceae family.
What are the health benefits of potatoes?
Nutrients
Several vitamins and minerals may be found in potatoes.
- At 6.1 ounces , along with the skin, a medium baked potato is enough to satisfy your hunger.
- Nutritional information per serving is161 calories
- 0.2 grams of fat
- Protein content is 4.3 grams per serving
- 36.6 grams of carbs
- 3.8 grams of fibre
- 27 percent of vitamin B6
- 26 percent of potassium
- 19 percent
- 12 percent of Magnesium
- 13 percent of phosphorus.
- 12 percent of niacin.
- 12 percent of Folate
According to the type and method of preparation, potatoes can have vastly different nutritional profiles. Fried potatoes, for example, are higher in fat and calories than baked ones.
There is also a lot of vitamin and mineral content in the skin of potatoes. Peeling potatoes reduces their nutritional value to a great extent.
Antioxidants
Flavonoids, carotenoids, and phenolic acids abound in potatoes.
Free radicals are neutralized by these substances, which are antioxidants in the body. As a result of free radical accumulation, chronic illnesses including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are more likely to occur.
Antioxidants in potatoes, for example, have been shown to inhibit the development of cancerous liver and colon cells in a test tube experiment.
Colored potatoes, such as purple potatoes, have been shown to have three to four times as many antioxidants than white potatoes, according to research. As a result, they may be better able to combat free radicals.
Maintaining a healthy blood sugar level
Resistant starch is a form of starch found in potatoes.
You can’t properly absorb this starch since it hasn’t been broken down. Beneficial gut bacteria use it as food in the large intestine, where it is digested and absorbed there.
Preliminary studies have shown that resistant starch can reduce insulin resistance and hence improve blood sugar management.
Insulin resistance was lowered in mice given resistant starch, according to one study. This suggests that their systems were better able to remove extra sugar from the bloodstream.
Those with type 2 diabetes who ate a meal that included resistant starch had improved blood sugar control thereafter, according to the results of one research.
More than 30 grams of resistant starch per day was given to 10 volunteers in a different trial for four weeks. The researchers discovered a 33% reduction in insulin resistance when resistant starch was added to the mix.
Potatoes have a surprising amount of resistant starch. Overnight in the fridge, cool and serve them as they are
Other FAQs about Potatoes that you may be interested in.
Can potatoes go bad in the fridge?
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Conclusion
In this brief article, we answered the question, “Where do potatoes grow?”
References
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-potatoes#TOC_TITLE_HDR_4
