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95-532: The plain of Anta contains some of the best communal cultivated lands of the Department of Cusco. It is located about 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) above sea level and is used to cultivate mainly high altitude crops such as potatoes , tarwi (edible lupin ), barley and quinoa . According to the 2007 Peru Census , the language learnt first by most of the residents was Quechua (51.40%), followed by Spanish (46.86%). The Quechua variety spoken in this department

190-652: A Yukon Gold potato or a red potato, called gold creamers or red creamers respectively. In the UK, the Jersey Royal is a famous type of new potato. Dozens of potato cultivars have been selectively bred specifically for their skin or flesh color , including gold, red, and blue varieties. These contain varying amounts of phytochemicals , including carotenoids for gold/yellow or polyphenols for red or blue cultivars. Carotenoid compounds include provitamin A alpha-carotene and beta-carotene , which are converted to

285-670: A diploid , is the closest wild relative of the sweet potato, which originated with an initial cross between a tetraploid and another diploid parent, followed by a second complete genome duplication event. The oldest radiocarbon dating remains of the sweet potato known today were discovered in caves from the Chilca Canyon, in the south-central zone of Peru , and yield an age of 8080 ± 170 BC. The genome of cultivated sweet potatoes contains sequences of DNA from Agrobacterium ( sensu lato ; specifically, one related to Rhizobium rhizogenes ), with genes actively expressed by

380-484: A common street food in winter, when street vendors with carts fitted with ovens sell them to people passing time by the Nile or the sea. The cultivars used are an orange-fleshed one as well as a white/cream-fleshed one. They are also baked at home as a snack or dessert, drenched with honey . In Ethiopia , the commonly found cultivars are black-skinned, cream-fleshed and called bitatis or mitatis . They are cultivated in

475-440: A draft sequence of the potato genome was made, containing 12 chromosomes and 860 million base pairs, making it a medium-sized plant genome. It had been thought that most potato cultivars derived from a single origin in southern Peru and extreme Northwestern Bolivia , from a species in the S. brevicaule complex. DNA analysis however shows that more than 99% of all current varieties of potatoes are direct descendants of

570-718: A feed and food from the EFSA. In 2012, GMO development in Europe was stopped by BASF. In November 2014, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved a genetically modified potato developed by Simplot , which contains genetic modifications that prevent bruising and produce less acrylamide when fried than conventional potatoes; the modifications do not cause new proteins to be made, but rather prevent proteins from being made via RNA interference . Genetically modified varieties have met public resistance in

665-552: A free-draining compost. Potatoes are sensitive to heavy frosts , which damage them in the ground or when stored. The historically significant Phytophthora infestans , the cause of late blight , remains an ongoing problem in Europe and the United States. Other potato diseases include Rhizoctonia , Sclerotinia , Pectobacterium carotovorum (black leg), powdery mildew , powdery scab and leafroll virus . Insects that commonly transmit potato diseases or damage

760-460: A garlic and soy sauce mixture, or simply salted before serving. They, as well as dishes featuring the sweet potato root, are commonly found at bento ( Pe̍h-ōe-jī : piān-tong ) restaurants. In northeastern Chinese cuisine , sweet potatoes are often cut into chunks and fried, before being drenched into a pan of boiling syrup. In some regions of India, sweet potato is roasted slowly over kitchen coals at night and eaten with some dressing, while

855-465: A large iron drum and sold as street food during winter. In Korea, sweet potatoes, known as goguma , are roasted in a drum can, baked in foil or on an open fire, typically during winter. In Japan, a dish similar to the Korean preparation is called yaki-imo (roasted sweet potato), which typically uses either the yellow-fleshed "Japanese sweet potato" or the purple-fleshed "Okinawan sweet potato", which

950-473: A minimum of 500 mm (20 in) in the growing season. The crop is sensitive to drought at the tuber initiation stage 50–60 days after planting, and it is not tolerant to waterlogging, which may cause tuber rots and reduce the growth of storage roots if aeration is poor. Depending on the cultivar and conditions, tuberous roots mature in two to nine months. With care, early-maturing cultivars can be grown as an annual summer crop in temperate areas, such as

1045-410: A shorter hem, can be lavender to purple-lavender in color, the throat is usually darker in color, but white crowns can also appear. The enclosed stamens are of unequal length with glandular filaments. The two-chamber ovary is upper constant with a relatively short stylus. Seeds are only produced from cross-pollination. The flowers open before sunrise and stay open for a few hours. They close again in

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1140-592: A staple food for people in northeastern Uganda. Amukeke is mainly served for breakfast, eaten with peanut sauce. Inginyo is mixed with cassava flour and tamarind to make atapa . People eat atapa with smoked fish cooked in peanut sauce or with dried cowpea leaves cooked in peanut sauce. Emukaru (earth-baked root) is eaten as a snack anytime and is mostly served with tea or with peanut sauce. Similar uses are also found in South Sudan . The young leaves and vine tips of sweet potato leaves are widely consumed as

1235-552: A subspecies that once grew in the lowlands of south-central Chile. Most modern potatoes grown in North America arrived through European settlement and not independently from the South American sources. At least one wild potato species, S. fendleri , occurs in North America; it is used in breeding for resistance to a nematode species that attacks cultivated potatoes. A secondary center of genetic variability of

1330-459: A variety of soils, but well-drained, light- and medium-textured soils with a pH range of 4.5–7.0 are more favorable for the plant. They can be grown in poor soils with little fertilizer. However, sweet potatoes are very sensitive to aluminium toxicity and will die about six weeks after planting if lime is not applied at planting in this type of soil. As they are sown by vine cuttings rather than seeds, sweet potatoes are relatively easy to plant. As

1425-481: A vegetable in West African countries (Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia , for example), as well as in northeastern Uganda, East Africa. According to FAO leaflet No. 13 – 1990, sweet potato leaves and shoots are a good source of vitamins A, C, and B 2 (riboflavin), and according to research done by A. Khachatryan, are an excellent source of lutein . In Kenya , Rhoda Nungo of the home economics department of

1520-497: Is Cusco Quechua . The following table shows the results concerning the language learnt first in the Department of Cusco by province: Many of the toponyms of the Department of Cusco originate from Quechua and also Aymara . These names are overwhelmingly predominant throughout the region. Their Spanish-based orthography, however, is in conflict with the normalised alphabets of these languages. According to Article 20 of Decreto Supremo No 004-2016-MC (Supreme Decree) which approves

1615-532: Is S. tuberosum (a tetraploid with 48 chromosomes ), and modern varieties of this species are the most widely cultivated. There are also four diploid species (with 24 chromosomes): S. stenotomum , S. phureja , S. goniocalyx , and S. ajanhuiri . There are two triploid species (with 36 chromosomes): S. chaucha and S. juzepczukii . There is one pentaploid cultivated species (with 60 chromosomes): S. curtilobum . There are two major subspecies of S. tuberosum . The Andean potato, S. tuberosum andigena ,

1710-462: Is native to the tropical regions of South America in what is present-day Ecuador . Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of Convolvulaceae, I. batatas is the only crop plant of major importance—some others are used locally (e.g., I. aquatica "kangkong" as a green vegetable), but many are poisonous. The genus Ipomoea that contains the sweet potato also includes several garden flowers called morning glories , but that term

1805-518: Is 76% water, 21% carbohydrates , 2% protein , and contains negligible fat (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, baked sweet potato provides 90 calories , and rich contents (20% or more of the Daily Value , DV) of vitamin A (120% DV), vitamin C (24% DV), manganese (24% DV), and vitamin B6 (20% DV). It is a moderate source (10–19% DV) of some B vitamins and potassium . Between 50% and 90% of

1900-472: Is adapted to the short-day conditions prevalent in the mountainous equatorial and tropical regions where it originated. The Chilean potato S. tuberosum tuberosum , native to the Chiloé Archipelago , is in contrast adapted to the long-day conditions prevalent in the higher latitude region of southern Chile. Wild potato species occur from the southern United States to southern Chile. The potato

1995-761: Is indigenous to the Chiloé Archipelago , and has been cultivated by the local indigenous people since before the Spanish conquest . Following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire , the Spanish introduced the potato to Europe in the second half of the 16th century as part of the Columbian exchange . The staple was subsequently conveyed by European mariners (possibly including the Russian-American Company ) to territories and ports throughout

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2090-473: Is known as beni-imo . Sweet potato soup , served during winter, consists of boiling sweet potato in water with rock sugar and ginger. In Fujian cuisine and Taiwanese cuisine , sweet potato is often cooked with rice to make congee. Steamed and dried sweet potato is a delicacy from Liancheng County . Sweet potato greens are a common side dish in Taiwanese cuisine, often boiled or sautéed and served with

2185-448: Is not usually extended to I. batatas . Some cultivars of I. batatas are grown as ornamental plants under the name tuberous morning glory, and used in a horticultural context. Sweet potatoes can also be called yams in North America. When soft varieties were first grown commercially there, there was a need to differentiate between the two. Enslaved Africans had already been calling the 'soft' sweet potatoes 'yams' because they resembled

2280-698: Is present-day Ecuador . The domestication of sweet potato occurred in either Central or South America. In Central America, domesticated sweet potatoes were present at least 5,000 years ago, with the origin of I. batatas possibly between the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela . The cultigen was most likely spread by local people to the Caribbean and South America by 2500 BCE. I. trifida ,

2375-447: Is problematic for crop breeding, as all sexually-produced plants must be hybrids . The gene responsible for self-incompatibility, as well as mutations to disable it, are now known. Self-compatibility has successfully been introduced both to diploid potatoes (including a special line of S. tuberosum ) by CRISPR-Cas9 . Plants having a 'Sli' gene produce pollen which is compatible to its own parent and plants with similar S genes. This gene

2470-661: Is still the highest in the world, while the most rapid expansion in production during the 21st century was in southern and eastern Asia, with China and India leading the world production as of 2021. Like the tomato and the nightshades, the potato is in the genus Solanum ; the aerial parts of the potato contain the toxin solanine . Normal potato tubers that have been grown and stored properly produce glycoalkaloids in negligible amounts, but, if sprouts and potato skins are exposed to light, tubers can become toxic. The English word "potato" comes from Spanish patata , in turn from Taíno batata , which means " sweet potato ", not

2565-537: Is sufficient water to support their growth. Sweet potatoes became common as a food crop in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, South India, Uganda and other African countries. A cultivar of the sweet potato called the boniato is grown in the Caribbean ; its flesh is cream-colored, unlike the more common orange hue seen in other cultivars. Boniatos are not as sweet and moist as other sweet potatoes, but their consistency and delicate flavor are different from

2660-634: Is the maturation of the tubers: the leaves and stems senesce and the tuber skins harden. New tubers may start growing at the surface of the soil. Since exposure to light leads to an undesirable greening of the skins and the development of solanine as a protection from the sun's rays, growers cover surface tubers. Commercial growers cover them by piling additional soil around the base of the plant as it grows (called "hilling" up, or in British English "earthing up"). An alternative method, used by home gardeners and smaller-scale growers, involves covering

2755-694: The S. brevicaule complex. Many varieties of the potato are cultivated in the Andes region of South America, where the species is indigenous . The Spanish introduced potatoes to Europe in the second half of the 16th century from the Americas. They are a staple food in many parts of the world and an integral part of much of the world's food supply . Following millennia of selective breeding , there are now over 5,000 different varieties of potatoes . The potato remains an essential crop in Europe, especially Northern and Eastern Europe, where per capita production

2850-552: The Andes alone — mainly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia. Over 100 cultivars might be found in a single valley, and a dozen or more might be maintained by a single agricultural household. The European Cultivated Potato Database is an online collaborative database of potato variety descriptions updated and maintained by the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency within the framework of

2945-543: The Colorado potato beetle ; 'New Leaf Plus' and 'New Leaf Y', approved by US regulatory agencies during the 1990s, also include resistance to viruses . McDonald's , Burger King , Frito-Lay , and Procter & Gamble announced they would not use genetically modified potatoes , and Monsanto published its intent to discontinue the line in March 2001. Potato starch contains two types of glucan , amylose and amylopectin ,

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3040-721: The Columbian exchange . It is recorded, for example, in Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book , compiled in England in 1604. Sweet potatoes were first introduced to the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period (1521–1898) via the Manila galleons , along with other New World crops . It was introduced to the Fujian of China in about 1594 from Luzon , in response to a major crop failure. The growing of sweet potatoes

3135-546: The Ministry of Agriculture has written a guide to using sweet potatoes in modern recipes. This includes uses both in the mashed form and as flour from the dried tubers to replace part of the wheat flour and sugar in baked products such as cakes, chapatis, mandazis, bread, buns and cookies. A nutritious juice drink is made from the orange-fleshed cultivars, and deep-fried snacks are also included. In Egypt , sweet potato tubers are known as batata ( بطاطا ‎ ) and are

3230-605: The Māori varieties bore elongated tubers with white skin and a whitish flesh, which points to pre-European cross-Pacific travel. Known as kumara (from the Māori language kūmara ), the most common cultivar now is the red 'Owairaka', but orange ('Beauregard'), gold, purple and other cultivars are also grown. The plant does not tolerate frost . It grows best at an average temperature of 24 °C (75 °F), with abundant sunshine and warm nights. Annual rainfalls of 750–1,000 mm (30–39 in) are considered most suitable, with

3325-577: The Tokugawa bakufu sponsored, published, and disseminated a vernacular Japanese translation of his research monograph on sweet potatoes to encourage their growth more broadly. Sweet potatoes were planted in Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune 's private garden. It was first introduced to Korea in 1764. Kang P'il-ri and Yi Kwang-ryŏ embarked on a project to grow sweet potatoes in Seoul in 1766, using

3420-772: The Zenú , a people inhabiting the Pacific coast of present-day Colombia , indicating that Polynesians could have visited South America and taken sweet potatoes prior to European contact. Dutch linguists and specialists in Amerindian languages Willem Adelaar and Pieter Muysken have suggested that the word for sweet potato is shared by Polynesian languages and languages of South America: Proto-Polynesian * kumala (compare Rapa Nui kumara , Hawaiian ʻuala , Māori kūmara ) may be connected with Quechua and Aymara k'umar ~ k'umara . Adelaar and Muysken assert that

3515-643: The diversity found in Solanum ancestral and wild relatives is found outside the original South American range. This makes these South American species highly valuable in breeding. The importance of the potato to humanity is recognised in the United Nations International Day of Potato, to be celebrated on 30 May each year, starting in 2024. Potatoes, both S. tuberosum and most of its wild relatives, are self-incompatible : they bear no useful fruit when self-pollinated. This trait

3610-560: The essential nutrient , vitamin A , during digestion. Anthocyanins mainly responsible for red or blue pigmentation in potato cultivars do not have nutritional significance, but are used for visual variety and consumer appeal. In 2010, potatoes were bioengineered specifically for these pigmentation traits. Genetic research has produced several genetically modified varieties. 'New Leaf', owned by Monsanto Company , incorporates genes from Bacillus thuringiensis (source of most Bt toxins in transcrop use ), which confers resistance to

3705-464: The monocot family Dioscoreaceae . A different crop plant, the oca ( Oxalis tuberosa , a species of wood sorrel), is called a "yam" in many parts of the world. Although the sweet potato is not closely related botanically to the common potato, they have a shared etymology. The first Europeans to taste sweet potatoes were members of Christopher Columbus 's expedition in 1492. Later explorers found many cultivars under an assortment of local names, but

3800-628: The Americas, sweet potato was grown in Polynesia , generally spread by vine cuttings rather than by seeds. Sweet potato has been radiocarbon-dated in the Cook Islands to 1210–1400 CE. A common hypothesis is that a vine cutting was brought to central Polynesia by Polynesians who had traveled to South America and back, and spread from there across Polynesia to Easter Island, Hawaii and New Zealand. Genetic similarities have been found between Polynesian peoples and indigenous Americans including

3895-539: The Eastern United States and China. Sweet potatoes rarely flower when the daylight is longer than 11 hours, as is normal outside of the tropics. They are mostly propagated by stem or root cuttings or by adventitious shoots called "slips" that grow out from the tuberous roots during storage. True seeds are used for breeding only. They grow well in many farming conditions and have few natural enemies; pesticides are rarely needed. Sweet potatoes are grown on

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3990-623: The European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks—which is run by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute . Around 80 varieties are commercially available in the UK. For culinary purposes, varieties are often differentiated by their waxiness: floury or mealy baking potatoes have more starch (20–22%) than waxy boiling potatoes (16–18%). The distinction may also arise from variation in

4085-495: The Netherlands in subsequent years. The 'Fortuna' GM potato variety developed by BASF was made resistant to late blight by introgressing two resistance genes, blb1 and blb2 , from S. bulbocastanum , a wild potato native to Mexico. Rpi-blb1 is a nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR/NLR), an R-gene-produced immunoreceptor. In October 2011 BASF requested cultivation and marketing approval as

4180-617: The Polynesian name kumara and its regional Oceanic cognates ( kumala , umala , ʻuala , etc. ), which has led some scholars to suspect an instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact . This theory is also supported by genetic evidence. In Australia, about 90% of production is devoted to the orange cultivar 'Beauregard', which was originally developed by the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station in 1981. In New Zealand,

4275-636: The Regulations to Law 29735, published in the official newspaper El Peruano on July 22, 2016, adequate spellings of the toponyms in the normalised alphabets of the indigenous languages must progressively be proposed with the aim of standardising the naming used by the National Geographic Institute The National Geographic Institute realises the necessary changes in the official maps of Peru. The Ministry of Culture additionally proposes to

4370-643: The U.S. and in the European Union. Potatoes are generally grown from "seed potatoes", tubers specifically grown to be free from disease and to provide consistent and healthy plants. To be disease free, the areas where seed potatoes are grown are selected with care. In the US, this restricts production of seed potatoes to only 15 states out of all 50 states where potatoes are grown. These locations are selected for their cold, hard winters that kill pests and summers with long sunshine hours for optimum growth. In

4465-486: The UK, most seed potatoes originate in Scotland , in areas where westerly winds reduce aphid attacks and the spread of potato virus pathogens. Potato growth can be divided into five phases. During the first phase, sprouts emerge from the seed potatoes and root growth begins. During the second, photosynthesis begins as the plant develops leaves and branches above-ground and stolons develop from lower leaf axils on

4560-468: The accumulation of anthocyanins , especially along the leaf veins, can make them purple. Depending on the variety, the total length of a stem can be between 0.5 and 4 metres ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 and 13 feet). Some cultivars also form shoots up to 16 m (52 ft) in length. However, these do not form underground storage organs. The hermaphrodite , five-fold and short-stalked flowers are single or few in stalked, zymous inflorescences that arise from

4655-427: The basic requirements of similar varietal characteristics, being firm, fairly clean, and fairly well-shaped. Immature potatoes may be sold fresh from the field as " creamer " or " new " potatoes and are particularly valued for their taste. They are typically small in size and tender, with a loose skin, and flesh containing a lower level of starch than other potatoes. In the United States they are generally either

4750-501: The below-ground stem. In the third phase the tips of the stolons swell, forming new tubers , and the shoots continue to grow, with flowers typically developing soon after. Tuber bulking occurs during the fourth phase, when the plant begins investing the majority of its resources in its newly formed tubers. At this phase, several factors are critical to a good yield: optimal soil moisture and temperature, soil nutrient availability and balance, and resistance to pest attacks . The fifth phase

4845-508: The centre, and are insect-pollinated. The plant develops tubers to store nutrients. These are not roots but stems that form from thickened rhizomes at the tips of long thin stolons . On the surface of the tubers there are "eyes," which act as sinks to protect the vegetative buds from which the stems originate. The "eyes" are arranged in helical form. In addition, the tubers have small holes that allow breathing, called lenticels . The lenticels are circular and their number varies depending on

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4940-707: The common orange-colored sweet potato. Sweet potatoes have been a part of the diet in the U.S. for most of its history, especially in the Southeast. The average per capita consumption of sweet potatoes in the United States is only about 1.5–2 kg (3.3–4.4 lb) per year, down from 13 kg (29 lb) in 1920. "Orange sweet potatoes (the most common type encountered in the US) received higher appearance liking scores compared with yellow or purple cultivars." Purple and yellow sweet potatoes were not as well liked by consumers compared to orange sweet potatoes "possibly because of

5035-526: The comparative ratio of two different potato starch compounds: amylose and amylopectin . Amylose, a long-chain molecule, diffuses from the starch granule when cooked in water, and lends itself to dishes where the potato is mashed. Varieties that contain a slightly higher amylopectin content, which is a highly branched molecule, help the potato retain its shape after being boiled in water. Potatoes that are good for making potato chips or potato crisps are sometimes called "chipping potatoes", which means they meet

5130-426: The earth. The chain deposits into an area where further separation occurs. The most complex designs use vine choppers and shakers, along with a blower system to separate the potatoes from the plant. The result is then usually run past workers who continue to sort out plant material, stones, and rotten potatoes before the potatoes are continuously delivered to a wagon or truck. Further inspection and separation occurs when

5225-512: The easier way in the south is simply boiling or pressure cooking before peeling, cubing and seasoning for a vegetable dish as part of the meal. In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, it is known as sakkara valli kilangu . It is boiled and consumed as evening snack. In some parts of India, fresh sweet potato is chipped, dried and then ground into flour; this is then mixed with wheat flour and baked into chapatti (bread). Between 15 and 20 percent of

5320-548: The eastern and southern lower highlands and harvested during the rainy season (June/July). In recent years, better yielding orange-fleshed cultivars were released for cultivation by Haramaya University as a less sugary sweet potato with higher vitamin A content. Sweet potatoes are widely eaten boiled as a favored snack. In South Africa, sweet potatoes are often eaten as a side dish such as soetpatats . In East Asia, roasted sweet potatoes are popular street food . In China, sweet potatoes, typically yellow cultivars, are baked in

5415-669: The familiarity of orange color that is associated with sweet potatoes." In the Southeastern U.S., sweet potatoes are traditionally cured to improve storage , flavor, and nutrition, and to allow wounds on the periderm of the harvested root to heal. Proper curing requires drying the freshly dug roots on the ground for two to three hours, then storage at 29–32 °C (85–90 °F) with 90 to 95% relative humidity from five to fourteen days. Cured sweet potatoes can keep for thirteen months when stored at 13–15 °C (55–59 °F) with >90% relative humidity. Colder temperatures injure

5510-427: The growing area with mulches such as straw or plastic sheets. At farm scale, potatoes require a well-drained neutral or mildly acidic soil ( pH 6 or 7) such as a sandy loam . The soil is prepared using deep tillage, for example with a chisel plow or ripper. In areas where irrigation is needed, the field is leveled using a landplane so that water can be supplied evenly. Manure can be added after initial irrigation;

5605-460: The knowledge of Japanese cultivators they learned in Tongnae starting in 1764. The project succeeded for a year but ultimately failed in winter 1767 after Kang's unexpected death. Although the soft, orange sweet potato is often called a " yam " in parts of North America, the sweet potato is very distinct from the botanical yam ( Dioscorea ), which has a cosmopolitan distribution, and belongs to

5700-485: The lack of a /p/ sound in Arabic, while the sweet potato was called batata ḥilwa ( بطاطا حلوة ‎ ); literally ('sweet potato'). The Arabic batata was loaned into Hebrew as designating the sweet potato only, as Hebrew had its own word for the common potato, תפוח אדמה ‎ ( tapuakh adama , literally 'earth apple'; compare French pomme de terre ). Some organizations and researchers advocate for

5795-483: The latter of which is most industrially useful. Waxy potato varieties produce waxy potato starch , which is almost entirely amylopectin, with little or no amylose. BASF developed the ' Amflora ' potato, which was modified to express antisense RNA to inactivate the gene for granule bound starch synthase , an enzyme which catalyzes the formation of amylose. 'Amflora' potatoes therefore produce starch consisting almost entirely of amylopectin , and are thus more useful for

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5890-440: The leaf axils and stand upright. It produces flowers when the day is short . The small sepals are elongated and tapering to a point and spiky and (rarely only 7) 10 to 15 millimetres ( 3 ⁄ 8 to 5 ⁄ 8  in) long, usually finely haired or ciliate . The inner three are a little longer. The 4 to 7 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 to 2 + 3 ⁄ 4  in) long, overgrown and funnel-shaped, folded crown, with

5985-509: The morning and begin to wither. The edible tuberous root is long and tapered, with a smooth skin whose color ranges between yellow, orange, red, brown, purple, and beige. Its flesh ranges from beige through white, red, pink, violet, yellow, orange, and purple. Sweet potato cultivars with white or pale yellow flesh are less sweet and moist than those with red, pink or orange flesh. The sweet potato originates in South America in what

6080-452: The most common cooking methods. Also, the use in vegetable tempura is common. Daigaku-imo ( ja:大学芋 ) is a baked and caramel-syruped sweet potato dessert. As it is sweet and starchy, it is used in imo-kinton and some other traditional sweets , such as ofukuimo . What is commonly called "sweet potato" ( ja:スイートポテト ) in Japan is a cake made by baking mashed sweet potatoes. Shōchū ,

6175-428: The municipalities of the provinces to recover ancient indigenous toponyms and that these names should be spread by the local and communal authorities on posters and other signage. Potato see list The potato ( / p ə ˈ t eɪ t oʊ / ) is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground tubers of

6270-584: The name which stayed was the indigenous Taíno name of batata . The Spanish combined this with the Quechua word for potato, papa , to create the word patata for the common potato. Though the sweet potato is also called batata ( בטטה ‎ ) in Hebrew , this is not a direct loan of the Taíno word. Rather, the Spanish patata was loaned into Arabic as batata ( بطاطا ‎ ), owing to

6365-683: The nightshade family, the Solanaceae . That is a diverse family of flowering plants, often poisonous, that includes the mandrake ( Mandragora ), deadly nightshade ( Atropa ), and tobacco ( Nicotiana ), as shown in the outline phylogenetic tree (many branches omitted). The most commonly cultivated potato is S. tuberosum ; there are several other species. many garden flowers and other species Nicotiana (tobacco) Atropa (nightshades) Mandragora (mandrake)  (sweet and bell peppers) S. lycopersicum (tomato) S. tuberosum (cultivated potato) The major species grown worldwide

6460-403: The plant Solanum tuberosum , a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae . Wild potato species can be found from the southern United States to southern Chile . Genetic studies show that the cultivated potato has a single origin, in the area of present-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia . Potatoes were domesticated there about 7,000–10,000 years ago from a species in

6555-655: The plant now known as simply "potato". The name "spud" for a potato is from the 15th century spudde , a short knife or dagger, probably related to Danish spyd , "spear". From around 1840, the name transferred to the tuber itself. At least six languages—Afrikaans, Dutch, French, (West) Frisian, Hebrew, Persian and some variants of German—use a term for "potato" that means "earth apple" or "ground apple". Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) high. The stems are hairy. The leaves have roughly four pairs of leaflets . The flowers range from white or pink to blue or purple; they are yellow at

6650-404: The plants include the Colorado potato beetle , the potato tuber moth , the green peach aphid ( Myzus persicae ), the potato aphid , Tuta absoluta , beet leafhoppers , thrips , and mites . The Colorado potato beetle is considered the most important insect defoliator of potatoes, devastating entire crops. The potato cyst nematode is a microscopic worm that feeds on the roots, thus causing

6745-420: The plants. The T-DNA transgenes were not observed in closely related wild relatives of the sweet potato. Studies indicated that the sweet potato genome evolved over millennia , with eventual domestication of the crop taking advantage of natural genetic modifications. These observations make sweet potatoes the first known example of a naturally transgenic food crop. Before the arrival of Europeans to

6840-493: The potato is Mexico, where important wild species that have been used extensively in modern breeding are found, such as the hexaploid S. demissum , used as a source of resistance to the devastating late blight disease ( Phytophthora infestans ). Another relative native to this region, Solanum bulbocastanum , has been used to genetically engineer the potato to resist potato blight. Many such wild relatives are useful for breeding resistance to P. infestans . Little of

6935-421: The potato plants to wilt. Since its eggs can survive in the soil for several years, crop rotation is recommended. On a small scale, potatoes can be harvested using a hoe or spade, or simply by hand. Commercial harvesting is done with large potato harvesters , which scoop up the plant and surrounding earth. This is transported up an apron chain consisting of steel links several feet wide, which separates some of

7030-419: The potatoes are unloaded from the field vehicles and put into storage. Sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato ( Ipomoea batatas ) is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae . Its large, starchy , sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable . The young shoots and leaves are sometimes eaten as greens . Cultivars of

7125-520: The rapidly growing vines shade out weeds, little weeding is needed. A commonly used herbicide to rid the soil of any unwelcome plants that may interfere with growth is DCPA , also known as Dacthal. In the tropics, the crop can be maintained in the ground and harvested as needed for market or home consumption. In temperate regions, sweet potatoes are most often grown on larger farms and are harvested before first frosts. Sweet potatoes are cultivated throughout tropical and warm temperate regions wherever there

7220-967: The relative performance of sweet potato (in column) to other staple foods on a dry weight basis to account for their different water contents. While sweet potato provides less edible energy and protein per unit weight than cereals, it has higher nutrient density than cereals. According to a study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization , sweet potatoes are the most efficient staple food to grow in terms of farmland, yielding approximately 70,000 kcal per hectare (28,000/acre) / day. raw yellow dent corn raw unenriched long-grain white rice raw hard red winter wheat raw potato with flesh and skin raw cassava raw green soybeans raw sweet potato raw sorghum raw yam raw plantains unofficial The starchy tuberous roots of

7315-583: The roots. In 2020, global production of sweet potatoes was 89 million tonnes , led by China with 55% of the world total (table). Secondary producers were Malawi , Tanzania , and Nigeria . Sweet potato suffers from Sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus (a Crinivirus ). In synergy with other any of a large number of other viruses, Untiveros et al., 2007 finds SPCSV produces an even more severe symptomology . I. batatas suffers from several Phytophthora s including P. carotovorum , P. odoriferum , and P. wasabiae . Cooked sweet potato (baked in skin)

7410-560: The similarity in the word for sweet potato is proof of either incidental contact or sporadic contact between the Central Andes and Polynesia. Some researchers, citing divergence time estimates, suggest that sweet potatoes might have been present in Polynesia thousands of years before humans arrived there. However, the present scholarly consensus favours the pre-Columbian contact model. The sweet potato arrived in Europe with

7505-402: The size of the tuber and environmental conditions. Tubers form in response to decreasing day length, although this tendency has been minimized in commercial varieties. After flowering, potato plants produce small green fruits that resemble green cherry tomatoes , each containing about 300 very small seeds . Like the tomato , potatoes belong to the genus Solanum , which is a member of

7600-413: The soil is then broken up with a disc harrow . The potatoes are planted using a potato planter machine in rows 80 centimetres (31 in) apart. At garden scale, potatoes are planted in trenches or individual holes some 15 centimetres (5.9 in) deep in soil, preferably with additional organic matter such as garden compost or manure. Alternatively, they can be planted in containers or bags filled with

7695-557: The starch industry. In 2010, the European Commission cleared the way for 'Amflora' to be grown in the European Union for industrial purposes only—not for food. Nevertheless, under EU rules, individual countries have the right to decide whether they will allow this potato to be grown on their territory. Commercial planting of 'Amflora' was expected in the Czech Republic and Germany in the spring of 2010, and Sweden and

7790-444: The stems. The leaf stalk is 13 to 51 centimetres (5 to 20 inches) long. The leaf blades are very variable, 5 to 13 cm (2 to 5 in) long, the shape is heart-, kidney- to egg-shaped, rounded or triangular and spear-shaped, the edge can be entire, toothed or often three to seven times lobed, cut or divided. Most of the leaf surfaces are bare, rarely hairy, and the tip is rounded to pointed. The leaves are mostly green in color, but

7885-546: The styling of the name as one word— sweetpotato —instead of two, to emphasize the plant's genetic uniqueness from both common potatoes and yams and to avoid confusion of it being classified as a type of common potato. In its current usage in American English , the styling of the name as two words is still preferred. In Argentina , Colombia , Venezuela , Puerto Rico , and the Dominican Republic ,

7980-585: The sugar content is sucrose . Maltose content is very low, but baking can increase the maltose content from between 10% and 20%. Sweet potato cultivars with dark orange flesh have more beta-carotene (converted to a higher vitamin A content once digested) than those with light-colored flesh, and their increased cultivation is being encouraged in Africa where vitamin A deficiency is a serious health problem. Sweet potato leaves are edible and can be prepared like spinach or turnip greens. The table below presents

8075-421: The sweet potato have been bred to bear tubers with flesh and skin of various colors. Sweet potato is only distantly related to the common potato ( Solanum tuberosum ), both being in the order Solanales . Although darker sweet potatoes are often referred to as "yams" in parts of North America, the species is even more distant from the true yams , which are monocots in the order Dioscoreales . The sweet potato

8170-658: The sweet potato are by far the most important product of the plant. In some tropical areas, the tubers are a staple food crop . The tuber is often cooked before consumption as this increases its nutrition and digestibility, although the American colonists in the Southeast ate raw sweet potatoes as a staple food. The vines' tips and young leaves are edible as a green vegetable with a characteristic flavor. Older growths may be used as animal fodder . Amukeke (sun-dried slices of root) and inginyo (sun-dried crushed root) are

8265-529: The sweet potato harvest is converted by some Indian communities into pickles and snack chips. A part of the tuber harvest is used in India as cattle fodder. In Pakistan , sweet potato is known as shakarqandi and is cooked as a vegetable dish and also with meat dishes ( chicken , mutton or beef). The ash-roasted sweet potatoes are sold as a snack and street food in Pakistani bazaars especially during

8360-716: The sweet potato is called batata . In Brazil, the sweet potato is called batata doce . In Mexico, Bolivia , Peru , Chile, Central America, and the Philippines , the sweet potato is known as camote (alternatively spelled kamote in the Philippines), derived from the Nahuatl word camotli . In Peru and Bolivia , the general word in Quechua for the sweet potato is apichu , but there are variants used such as khumara , kumar ( Ayacucho Quechua ), and kumara (Bolivian Quechua), strikingly similar to

8455-406: The unrelated yams in Africa. Thus, 'soft' sweet potatoes were referred to as 'yams' to distinguish them from the 'firm' varieties. The plant is a herbaceous perennial vine , bearing alternate triangle-shaped or palmately lobed leaves and medium-sized sympetalous flowers . The stems are usually crawling on the ground and form adventitious roots at the nodes . The leaves are screwed along

8550-737: The very limited number of varieties initially introduced, left the crop vulnerable to disease. In 1845, a plant disease known as late blight, caused by the fungus-like oomycete Phytophthora infestans , spread rapidly through the poorer communities of western Ireland as well as parts of the Scottish Highlands , resulting in the crop failures that led to the Great Irish Famine . The International Potato Center , based in Lima , Peru, holds 4,870 types of potato germplasm , most of which are traditional landrace cultivars. In 2009

8645-686: The winter months. In Sri Lanka, it is called bathala , and tubers are used mainly for breakfast (boiled sweet potato is commonly served with sambal or grated coconut) or as a supplementary curry dish for rice. The tubers of this plant, known as kattala in Dhivehi , have been used in the traditional diet of the Maldives . The leaves were finely chopped and used in dishes such as mas huni . In Japan , both sweet potatoes (called satsuma-imo ) and true purple yams (called daijo or beni-imo ) are grown. Boiling, roasting and steaming are

8740-580: The world, especially their colonies. European and colonial farmers were slow to adopt farming potatoes, but after 1750 they became an important food staple and field crop and played a major role in the European 19th century population boom. According to conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato was responsible for a quarter of the growth in Old World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900. However, lack of genetic diversity , due to

8835-487: Was cloned by Wageningen University and Solynta in 2021, which would allow for faster and more focused breeding. Diploid hybrid potato breeding is a recent area of potato genetics supported by the finding that simultaneous homozygosity and fixation of donor alleles is possible. Wild potato species useful for breeding blight resistance include Solanum desmissum and S. stoloniferum , among others. There are some 5,000 potato varieties worldwide, 3,000 of them in

8930-656: Was encouraged by the Governor Chin Hsüeh-tseng (Jin Xuezeng). Sweet potatoes were also introduced to the Ryukyu Kingdom , present-day Okinawa , Japan, in the early 1600s by the Portuguese . Sweet potatoes became a staple in Japan because they were important in preventing famine when rice harvests were poor. Aoki Konyō helped popularize the cultivation of the sweet potato in Japan, and

9025-450: Was first domesticated in southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia by pre-Columbian farmers, around Lake Titicaca . Potatoes were domesticated there about 7,000–10,000 years ago from a species in the S. brevicaule complex. The earliest archaeologically verified potato tuber remains have been found at the coastal site of Ancon (central Peru ), dating to 2500 BC. The most widely cultivated variety, Solanum tuberosum tuberosum ,

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