Potato

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family (also known as the nightshades). The word may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. Wild potato species occur throughout the Americas, from the United States to southern Chile. The potato was domesticated in the area of present-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia (from a species in the Solanum brevicaule complex), where they were domesticated 7,000–10,000 years ago.
Popular varieties of potatoes include: Adirondack Blue, Adirondack Red, Agata, Almond, Alturas, Amandine, Anya, Atlantic, Austrian Crescent, Bamberg, Belle de Fontenay, Bintje, British Queens, Chiloé, Désirée, Fingerling, French Fingerling, Golden Wonder, Home Guard, Jersey Royal, Kennebec, King Edward, Marfona, Megachip, Monalisa, Pink Fir Apple, Ranger Russet, Ratte, Red Norland, Red Pontiac, Russet Burbank, Stobrawa, Villetta Rose, Vitelotte, Yellow Finn, Yukon Gold.