Potato | OtterKnow Kids Encyclopedia

What Are Potatoes?

Potatoes are one of the world’s most important food crops, eaten by billions of people in almost every country. Their scientific name is Solanum tuberosum, and the part we eat is called a tuber, which is a swollen underground stem where the plant stores energy as starch. It is important to know that potatoes are not roots, even though they grow underground. The little dents on a potato’s surface, called “eyes,” are actually buds that can sprout into new plants if you leave a potato in a warm, dark place long enough.

Where They Come From

Potatoes were first grown by Indigenous peoples in the Andes Mountains of South America, in what is now Peru and Bolivia, about 7,000 years ago. The Inca people developed thousands of potato varieties suited to the harsh mountain climate, and they invented a way to freeze-dry potatoes called chuño that could last for years. Spanish explorers brought potatoes back to Europe in the 1500s, but many Europeans were suspicious of this strange new food at first. It took over 200 years for potatoes to become widely accepted across Europe, but once they did, they became a staple food for millions of people.

The Irish Potato Famine

Potato plants with green leaves growing in garden soil

One of the most devastating events in potato history was the Irish Potato Famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1852. Ireland had become so dependent on potatoes that when a plant disease called late blight destroyed the potato crops year after year, about one million people died of starvation and disease. Another million or more people fled Ireland, many coming to the United States and other countries. The famine taught an important lesson about the dangers of depending too heavily on a single crop, which scientists call a monoculture.

Why They Are Good for You

Potatoes are packed with nutrients including vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin B6, and they are an excellent source of energy from their starch content. One important safety fact about potatoes is that you should never eat green potatoes. When potatoes are exposed to sunlight, they produce a toxic compound called solanine that turns the skin green and can make you sick. Potatoes were even the first food ever grown in space, when NASA and the University of Wisconsin created the technology in 1995. There are over 4,000 varieties of potatoes in the world, ranging from tiny fingerlings to large russets.

Fun Facts About Potatoes

The world’s fourth most important food crop (after corn, wheat, and rice), potatoes are grown in more than 100 countries. French fries are one of the most popular ways to eat potatoes, and Americans alone eat about 30 pounds of french fries per person every year. The world’s largest potato on record weighed nearly 11 pounds, about the size of a small watermelon. In 1995, potato plants were grown aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, making the potato the first vegetable ever grown in space.