100 Funny Facts About Potatoes

Potatoes are sometimes called spuds.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains 147 calories.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains no fat.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains no cholesterol.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains 34 milligrams of sodium.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains 34 grams of carbohydrates.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains 5 grams of dietary fiber.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains 3 grams of sugar.
The potato originated in the region of southern Peru where it was first domesticated between 3000 BC and 2000 BC.
The potato was first introduced in Europe by Spain in 1536, and the Spanish claim that Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada was the first to introduce the potato to Europe. Potatoes were not accepted at once in Europe because clerics said they were not mentioned in the bible, while others believed potatoes can cause some diseases.
Potato still remains an essential crop in Europe, where per capita production is still the highest in the world.
The world’s largest potato-producing country is China.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains 4 grams of protein.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains 20 milligrams of calcium.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains 1 milligram of iron.
One medium potato (213 grams) contains 865 milligrams of potassium
One hectare of potato can yield two to four times the food quantity of grain crops. Potatoes produce more food per unit of water than any other major crop and are up to seven times more efficient in using water than cereals. They are produced in over 100 countries worldwide.
Since the early 1960s, the growth in potato production area has rapidly overtaken all other food crops in developing countries. It is a fundamental element in the food security for millions of people across South America, Africa, and Asia, including Central Asia.
Presently, more than half of global potato production now comes from developing countries.
CIP maintains the largest collection of potato in the world, including more than 7,000 accessions of native, wild, and improved varieties. CIP’s genebank ensures that they are both securely conserved for the long-term and also available for use by farmers, breeders, and researchers.
Of the potatoes sown in Peru for commercial consumption, 40 percent are the Canchan variety developed by CIP. Field-tested by the Instituto Nacional de Innovacion Agraria (INIA), the variety’s early maturation, high yield, pleasing tuber color, and above all, initial resistance to late blight disease made it a top choice 20 years ago. Today Peru harvests over 1.4 million tons of Canchan annually. The tuber is a favorite for french fries.
Potatoes don’t store very well after purchase but they are relatively easy to grow.
Potato storage facilities are kept at temperatures above 4 °C (39 °F) as potato starch turns into sugar and alters the taste below this temperature.
Potatoes are prepared and served in many different ways, including boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, French fries and hash browns.
French fries contain a lot of fat so don’t eat too many!
Potatoes are usually served hot, but sometimes cold in the form of potato chips or potato salad.
Despite health concerns, potato chips are one of the most common snack foods in the world with billions of packets being consumed every year.
The word potato comes from the Spanish word patata.
Potato plants are usually pollinated by insects such as bumblebees.
Potatoes contain a variety of vitamins and minerals.
There are thousands of different potato varieties but not all are commercially available, popular ones include Russet, Yukon Gold, Kennebec, Desiree and Fingerling.
While the role of genetic modification is up for debate, research has led to genetically modified potato varieties that have potential benefits such as increased protein and resistance to viruses.
One of the main causes of the Great Famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1852 was a potato disease known as potato blight. The shortage of potatoes led to the death of around 1 million people who were dependent on them as a food source.
An 8 ounce baked or boiled potato has only about 100 calories.
The average American eats about 124 pounds of potatoes per year while Germans eat about twice as much.

Scientific Facts About Potato

In 1974, an Englishman named Eric Jenkins grew 370 pounds of potatoes from one plant.
Thomas Jefferson gets the credit for introducing “french fries” to America when he served them at a White House dinner.
The world’s largest potato chip crisp (on exhibit at the Potato Museum) was produced by the Pringle’s Company in Jackson, TN, in 1990. It measures 23″ x 14.5″.
In October 1995, the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space. NASA and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, created the technology with the goal of feeding astronauts on long space voyages, and eventually, feeding future space colonies.
The growth of a potato plant is divided into five phases.
There are over 4,000 different types of potatoes produced around the world.
According to FAOSTAT, the world produced over 415 million tons of potatoes in 2016.
According to FAOSTAT, over 100 countries worldwide individually produced more than 100,000 tons of potatoes in 2016.
Potatoes can be eaten peeled or with the skin on, cut up into pieces or whole and with or without seasoning.
Common ways potatoes are cooked and served are baked, boiled, mashed or as hash browns or French fries.
Potatoes are used to create different types of alcoholic drinks, like vodka.
Potatoes are used as feed for livestock.
Potatoes can be used as a binder and thickener for soups, sauces and other food products.
Potatoes can be used as an adhesive in the textile industry.
A potato is a vegetable obtain from the roots of a plant (Solanum genus).
Potato is also called a spud.
Potatoes come in a wide variety of colors, including but not limited to brown, yellow, red, and pink.
Potatoes are considered domesticated crop plants.
Potatoes are believed to have been domesticated between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago.
A mold known as late blight (Phytophthora infestans) has plagued potato growth in the USA and Europe.
According to the Guinness World Records, the heaviest potato ever grown weighed 10 pounds and 14 ounces. It was grown in the United Kingdom by Peter Glazebrook.
The world’s largest potato weighed in at 18 pounds, 4 ounces according to the Guinness Book of World Records. That’s enough for 73 portions of medium fries at McDonalds.
The “French fry” was allegedly served in the U.S. for the first time by Thomas Jefferson at a presidential dinner.
Potatoes are among the most environmentally friendly vegetables. They’re easy to grow and don’t require massive amounts of fertilizer and chemical additives to thrive like many other vegetables do.
The potato is considered as the fourth most important crop behind the corn, wheat, and rice.
The average American eats 140 pounds of potatoes per year. Germans are among the biggest potato lovers as they eat more than 200 pounds of potato per year.
Potatoes are also used to brew alcoholic beverages such as vodka, potcheen, or akvavit.
August 19th and October 27th are National Potato Day.
Today potatoes are grown in all 50 states of the USA and in about 125 countries throughout the world.
The sweet potato belongs in the same family as morning glories while the white potato belongs to the same group as tomatoes, tobacco, chile pepper, eggplant, and the petunia.
The potato is about 80% water and 20% solids.
Potato blossoms used to be a big hit in royal fashion. Potatoes first became fashionable when Marie Antoinette paraded through the French countryside wearing potato blossoms in her hair.
Potatoes are vegetables but they contain a lot of starch (carbohydrates) that make them more like rice, pasta and bread in terms of nutrition.
Much like rice, wheat and maize (corn), potato crops are an important part the world’s diet.
Although it shares the same name, the sweet potato is a root vegetable and only loosely related to the potato.
Potato is vegetatively propagated, meaning that a new plant can be grown from a potato or piece of potato, called a “seed”. The new plant can produce 5-20 new tubers, which will be genetic clones of the mother seed plant. Potato plants also produce flowers and berries that contain 100-400 botanical seeds. These can be planted to produce new tubers, which will be genetically different from the mother plant.
Potatoes can grow from sea level up to 4,700 meters above sea level; from southern Chile to Greenland.
From 1997 to 2007, the potato cultivation in developing countries increased by 25 percent. In this same period, the percentage of CIP-related varieties increased from 6.4 to 13.1 percent, making CIP-related varieties the largest source of potato material in developing countries.
The potato (Solanum tuberosum) belongs to the solanaceae family of flowering plants. It originated and was first domesticated in the Andes mountains of South America.
The potato is the third most important food crop in the world after rice and wheat in terms of human consumption. More than a billion people worldwide eat potatoes, and global total crop production exceeds 300 million metric tons.
There are more than 4,000 varieties of native potatoes, mostly found in the Andes. They come in many sizes and shapes. There are also over 180 wild potato species. Though they are too bitter to eat, their important biodiversity includes natural resistances to pests, diseases, and climatic conditions.

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