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Today you can find over 4,000 varieties of native potatoes grown in the Andean highlands of Peru. They come in every shape and colour, including blue, yellow, red, pink and even bright purple Peruvian potatoes.
How many varieties of potatoes are there?
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.
How many varieties of potatoes did the Incas have?
The Incas were masters of plant domestication, especially potatoes. Their development of the potato was remarkable: from 8 species of weeds having toxic tubers to more than 3000 distinct potato varieties.
Do all potatoes come from Peru?
Most modern potatoes grown in North America arrived through European settlement and not independently from the South American sources, although at least one wild potato species, Solanum fendleri, naturally ranges from Peru into Texas, where it is used in breeding for resistance to a nematode species that attacks.
What is the rarest potato in the world?
A rare species of potato, the Bonnotte de Noirmoutie, are found off the French Atlantic coast in the Bay of Biscay. This variety goes back to the 1920s when they were brought here from Barfleur in Manche in northwestern France. Acclimatising well to the climate and soil here, they came to be known as the Bonnotte.
How many varieties of potatoes are there in the UK?
In the UK alone there are over 500 varieties of the humble potato, but most of us only need to be familiar with the main ones that we use for everyday cooking.
What types of potatoes did the Incas grow?
Around 2,500 varieties are native to the Peruvian Andes. Potatoes were dried and prepared in the form of chuño. Cassava (yuca), sweet potatoes (camote), oca, olluco, arracacha, maka, mashua and yacon were other tubers consumed and cooked in the same way as the potato.
Did the Incas make potatoes?
The Incas are believed to have been the first to cultivate potatoes all the way up in the Andes mountain range, at 3,800 metres above sea level. Wild potato plants already grew around the lake, and communities of Inca farmers began domesticating the potato and learning how to preserve this sturdy veggie.
How many varieties of potatoes exist in Peru?
More than 4,000 varieties of native potatoes grow in the Andean highlands of Peru, Boliva, and Ecuador. well adapted to the harsh conditions that prevail in the high Andes, at altitudes ranging from 3,500 to 4,200 meters. Farmers generally produce these native varieties with minimal or no use of agrochemicals.
Where are potatoes native?
The humble potato was domesticated in the South American Andes some 8,000 years ago and was only brought to Europe in the mid-1500s, from where it spread west and northwards, back to the Americas, and beyond.
Where are most potatoes grown?
China is now the biggest potato producer, and almost a third of all potatoes is harvested in China and India.
Where do potatoes naturally grow?
The potato was the first domesticated vegetable in the region of modern-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia between 8000 and 5000 BC. Cultivation of potatoes in South America may go back 10,000 years, but tubers do not preserve well in the archaeological record, making identification difficult.
What is the most valuable potato?
Bonnotte, the most expensive potato variety in the world, is harvested on the island of Noirmoutier, in the Vendée department in the northwest of the country. Bonnotte has an unmistakable salty taste, due to the water and seaweed that farmers fertilize it with.
Why is La Bonnotte potato so expensive?
La Bonnotte – the world’s most expensive potato It’s only grown on a tiny plot of land and just a few tons are produced each year, which is one of the reasons it is so pricey. The soils of Noirmoutier are sandy and not easy to cultivate and La Bonnotte is so delicate that it must be harvested by hand.
How much do La Bonnotte potatoes cost?
Grown in France, the La Bonnotte potato sometimes achieves a market price of an astounding €500/kilo (US $300/lb). It is cultivated exclusively on the Isle of Noirmoutier, where seaweed is added to the soil in which it’s grown.
What types of potatoes are grown in the UK?
Varieties Anya. Waxy potatoes perfect for boiling and adding to a salad. Apache. Eye-catching, slightly waxy potatoes that should be roasted with the skin on for maximum effect. Ayrshire. Charlotte. Cornish Kings. Desiree. Elfe. Jersey Royals.
What potatoes are grown in the UK?
The top 10 most widely grown varieties account for more than 40% of the overall potato area. The top three varieties – Maris Piper, Markies and Maris Peer – have held their current positions.
What kind of potatoes grow in UK?
Potato types/varieties: ‘Duke of York’ a waxy, salad potato particularly when first harvested, if left they are a good general purpose potato. ‘Red Duke of York’ AGM – A good all round potato with red skin and yellow flesh. ‘Rocket’ a good disease resistance and produces a large crop or round white skinned potatoes.
What did the Incas do with potatoes?
Potatoes started quite small and narrow—kind of like our fingerlings, just a little gnarlier. The Incas learned how to preserve this durable veggie for storage by dehydrating and mashing them into a substance called chuñu. They could store it for up to 10 years, and it provided great insurance against crop failures.
Why were potatoes a good crop for the Inca?
The Incas had learned to preserve the potato for storage by dehydrating and mashing potatoes into a substance called chuñu. As well as using the food as a staple crop, the Incas thought potatoes made childbirth easier and used it to treat injuries.
What type of food did the Inca eat?
Crops cultivated across the Inca Empire included maize, coca, beans, grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes, ulluco, oca, mashwa, pepper, tomatoes, peanuts, cashews, squash, cucumber, quinoa, gourd, cotton, talwi, carob, chirimoya, lúcuma, guayabo, and avocado.
