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Potato

Potatoes are a vegetable of the nightshade family. Many people mistake it for a root vegetable (like beets, turnips and carrots), but, in fact, it is a tuber, an underground shoot of the plant. There are many types of potatoes: white, red, yellow, purple. But each contains great potential. There is more potassium in potatoes than in a banana, more vitamin C than in an orange, and more fiber than in an apple! Potatoes can be used to prepare a variety of dishes - from a side dish and soup to sauce and alcohol. It is the fourth most commonly consumed food in the world (after corn, rice and wheat) and is regularly included in the diets of more than a billion people.

Сalories

76 cal

Proteins

2 gr

Fats

0.40 gr

Carbohydrates

16.10 gr

Nutritional value per 100 g. Calories calculated for raw foods.

Glycemic index

30

Common allergen

no

Make sure that you do not have an individual intolerance to this product.

Potato photo

The history of potatoes

Potatoes are native to Latin America, possibly Chile, Bolivia or Peru. About 8-12 thousand years ago, primitive people ate roots and herbs. And, having discovered wild potatoes, they began to cultivate them.

 

Scientists believe that in the sites of ancient people, the soil was rich in nitrogen due to fertilization with waste. So, in place of wild bushes, new bushes grew – even stronger, and the tubers gradually increased in size.

Especially a lot of potatoes were grown on the mountain slopes of the Andes. Thanks to their yield and ease of preparation, potatoes became one of the main products in the Indian diet.

 

Europeans first learned about potatoes in the 16th century, when conquistador Pedro Cieza de Leon described potatoes in his travel notes and brought them to the Canary Islands. It seemed to Pedro that the potatoes were something like a truffle. This is where the name came from in a number of countries: in Italian – Tartufolo, in German – Tartuffel, Kartoffel.

 

In Europe, potatoes did not immediately become popular. Poor people often used unripe fruits and tops for food, which ended in mass poisoning. And the aristocrats refused to eat potatoes, considering them the food of slaves and the poor. The history of potatoes began just as sadly in Russia, under Peter I – for this, people even called potatoes “damn apples.”

 

But kings and emperors did everything they could to make potatoes popular because it could solve the problem of hunger. This happened, but only later – in the 18th century. The common people tasted the potatoes. And in high society they began to consider it a delicacy, planted it in flower beds and even wove flowers into clothes and hairstyles.

 

Today it is impossible to imagine cooking without potatoes – in many countries of the world it has become a national product and is part of favorite dishes in Belgium, Australia, India, China, Jordan, Georgia, Kenya, Lebanon and the USA. And in Russia and Belarus, potatoes became the second bread.

The benefits and harms of potatoes

Potatoes have not earned the best reputation amid the popularity of low-carb diets. But, in fact, it is an excellent product for a balanced diet if prepared correctly.

 

Potatoes contain about 20 essential amino acids and 30 vitamins that are vital for humans.

 

 

Potatoes benefits

 

 

✅ Potatoes normalize blood pressure and heart rate, have a beneficial effect on muscles and nerves, and even improve oxygen supply to the brain due to high potassium content.

 

Strengthens the immune system and the walls of blood vessels, regulates blood clotting, as it contains up to 20% of the daily requirement of vitamin C.

 

✅ Potatoes prevent gastrointestinal diseases due to their high fiber content (especially a lot of dietary fiber in the peel).

 

✅ Thanks to vitamin B6, potatoes can reduce levels of homocysteine, an amino acid whose high levels can lead to cardiovascular disease and even Alzheimer’s disease.

 

✅ Potatoes can stop the development of cancer due to the poisonous glycoalkaloids contained in nightshades. In high concentrations they are toxic, and in small doses they can destroy cancer cells.

 

But still, potatoes have features that should be taken into account by people with excess weight and chronic diseases.

 

 

Potatoes harm

 

 

❌ Potatoes can increase blood sugar levels, having a high glycemic index – after eating them, the level of insulin and glucose in the blood quickly increases, and then drops just as quickly. This increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and hypertension.

 

❌ Potatoes can promote weight gain due to their high content of simple carbohydrates. Sometimes it is even called the white bread of vegetables. According to research from the Harvard School of Public Health, people who frequently eat fried, baked, and mashed potatoes in their diets gain about 3 pounds every four years.

 

In order to reduce the negative impact of potatoes and get maximum benefits, nutritionists advise following simple rules:

 

  • eat potatoes not every day and in moderation,
  • remember that potatoes are a carbohydrate, not a separate vegetable, they should only occupy part of the plate,
  • add other vegetables to potatoes to increase the amount of fiber – and help the blood sugar rise more slowly,
  • give up fried, baked in oil and hot boiled potatoes in favor of steamed, chilled, baked in their skins,
  • remember that potatoes contain water-soluble vitamins – C, potassium, calcium, group B – and when boiling and soaking they can lose up to 80% of their beneficial substances, so it is better to use such water for broth.

What do potatoes taste like?

Potatoes do not have a distinct taste or smell. In its raw form, it is almost neutral, but you can detect the aroma of earthy and nutty notes. When people talk about the taste of potatoes, they often mean consistency: soft, crumbly, crispy, watery, dry.

 

Tubers often acquire a sweet taste after freezing, and a bitter taste when they spoil or contain harmful substances. The taste of potatoes is also affected by the amount of starch and linoleic acid it contains. The more of them, the tastier the potatoes.

How to eat potatoes

Potatoes are best eaten cooked, especially if they are not grown on your own plot, but purchased in a store. Raw store-bought potatoes may be contaminated with harmful microorganisms and treated with chemicals. In addition, any potato can accumulate the poison solanine (especially leaves and stems) – and a temperature of about 170 ° C helps get rid of it. But it is also not recommended to fry and overcook potatoes, because… At temperatures above 170 °C, another poison is formed – acrylamide.

 

It is best to boil potatoes and bake them in their skins. And for different dishes, it’s tastier to choose different varieties: for example, yellow potatoes are suitable for boiling, white for mashing, and red for frying. And to make the neutral taste of potatoes more expressive, seasonings, vegetable and butter oils, sauces and broths are used.

 

If you’re watching your diet, try refrigerating your potatoes after cooking. According to nutritionists, this is how resistant starch is formed, which is not digested by humans, but supports peristalsis and is an excellent food for the intestinal microbiome.

How and how long to store potatoes

👉 Raw potatoes are recommended to be stored for up to 8 months. If the storage temperature is below 3 °C, the potatoes may acquire a sweetish taste. At temperatures above 6 °C, potatoes can germinate. If the tubers are exposed to light, the potatoes may turn green. And if the tubers are not well dried before storage, the soil is not cleared and stored with access to moisture, fungus and mold may appear.

 

👉 The most favorable conditions for storage: temperature 3-6 °C, air humidity 85-95%, absence of light and good air ventilation (since potatoes emit carbon dioxide). Cellars and underground floors usually meet these conditions.

 

If you don’t have a cellar, you can store raw potatoes on a glassed-in balcony (insulating the boxes during cold weather). Or choose the coldest and darkest place in the apartment – away from heat sources such as a radiator, stove and water pipes. But this significantly reduces the shelf life.

 

 

Potato storage

 

 

You can leave raw potatoes in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks: it is better in paper bags on the bottom shelf for vegetables to prevent them from rotting.

 

👉 Potatoes will last longer in the freezer, up to 4-5 months. But before freezing, it is better to cut it into cubes or strips, blanch and dry with paper towels to avoid a sweetish taste.

 

👉 Cooked potatoes are stored in the refrigerator for 1-3 days: less – mashed potatoes with milk, longer – fried potatoes or boiled in their skins. Well, if you peeled a lot of potatoes and didn’t have time to cook them, you can store them in the refrigerator in cling film for up to 2 days.

Curious facts

  • Potatoes were the first vegetable grown in space. The project was implemented in October 1995 by NASA and the University of Wisconsin. Everything to feed astronauts during long space travel.
  • Potatoes have their own red days on the calendar. Thus, in Peru, National Potato Day is celebrated annually on May 30th. On April 26, in Russia and a number of European countries, Potato Boiling Day is celebrated. And on July 13, French fries are celebrated in Canada.
  • During the Great Depression in the United States and Canada, new clothes were often made from grocery bags, including potato sacks. Even now, some designers are repeating this fashion, creating dresses made of burlap in the Potato Sack Dress style.
  • In the late 1800s, during the Gold Rush, prospectors traded potatoes for gold because they valued their high vitamin C content. And on the most remote inhabited island in the world, Tristan de Cunha, potatoes were essentially an unofficial currency, i.e. To. due to the remoteness of the island (2816 km from Africa and 3360 km from South America), food was of great value.
  • In the modern world, the energy potential of potatoes is being studied. Israeli scientists have found that one tuber (as a salt medium, with the participation of zinc and copper) can provide power to one mobile phone, replacing an AA battery (the cost is 10 times more profitable). Bold plans include using potatoes to provide energy to poor regions disconnected from the electrical grid.