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CULTURAL AND WILD PLANTS
Potato. Legends, myths, symbolism, description, cultivation, methods of application
Directory / Cultivated and wild plants Content
Potato, Solanum tuberosum. Photos of the plant, basic scientific information, legends, myths, symbolism
Basic scientific information, legends, myths, symbolism Sort by: Potato (Solanum). Family: Nightshade (Solanaceae). Origin: Southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia. Area: The potato is distributed throughout the world as a cultivated plant. Chemical composition: Tubers contain carbohydrates (up to 20%), proteins (up to 2%), fats (up to 0,2%), as well as B, C, PP vitamins, carotene, starch, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and other minerals . It also contains solanine, a toxic substance that can cause poisoning at high concentrations. Economic value: The potato is one of the main and most important crop plants in the world. It is used in the food industry, for the production of starch, alcohol and starch syrups, and as livestock feed. Potatoes are also a valuable source of nutrition for humans because they contain many nutrients and are easily available for cooking. Legends, myths, symbolism: In some cultures, potatoes are associated with abundance and wealth. For example, in Ireland the potato was so important to national survival that its crop became a symbol of national power and independence. In American Indian culture, potatoes were associated with abundance and the gift of the earth, which gave them strength and nourishment. In addition, potatoes can be associated with the concepts of comfort and homeliness. In many cultures, potatoes are a basic part of the diet that is associated with family dinners and other social gatherings that bring people together. Also in some cultures, potatoes are associated with simplicity and democracy. During the French Revolution, the potato was a symbol of the common people who rebelled against the aristocratic elites. The potato can be associated with various symbolic meanings in different cultures, including abundance, comfort, simplicity, and democracy.
Potato, Solanum tuberosum. Description, illustrations of the plant Potato, Solanum tuberosum L. Botanical description, history of origin, nutritional value, cultivation, use in cooking, medicine, industry
Perennial, cultivated as an annual, herbaceous self-pollinating tuberous plant. The stem is erect, branched, up to 1 m high. The leaves are alternate, dissected, dark green. The flowers are whitish or pink-bluish, collected in a forked curl. The fruit is a spherical multi-seeded berry. Seeds are very small and yellow. The root system consists of many roots (stolons), on which edible tubers of white, red or purple color are formed. Blooms in June-July. The homeland of the plant is South America, where it was introduced into culture in ancient times. Potatoes came to Europe in the XNUMXth century - first to Spain, and then to Italy and other countries. Potato tubers struggled to make their way to our table. They were called devil's apples, unclean peanuts from the underworld, since cases of poisoning by the fruits (seeds) of the plant or green tubers were known. In mid-latitudes, early and mid-ripening varieties are grown. A plant in a cool, humid climate, the potato grows best at 18-22°C. It is planted in holes when the soil warms up to 8-10 ° C. The distance between the holes is 60-70 cm, the planting depth is 10-12 cm. Potatoes prefer light and soft soils (sandy and sandy loam, black soil). During germination, it requires a little moisture, but during the period of flowering and tuber formation, the need for it increases. To maintain soil moisture, it is necessary to hill the bushes. Potatoes respond well to fertilizers. After watering or rain, the soil must be loosened, weeds are removed. The growing season lasts from 60 to 150 days. For summer consumption, potatoes are harvested upon reaching economic ripeness, sometimes 40 days after germination. When the tops dry and the skin coarsens, all the potatoes are removed. The chemical composition of tubers is rich and varied. Among the nutrients they contain the most starch, but its content depends on the variety and growing conditions. Early-ripening varieties are poorer in starch, in late-ripening tubers it is much more. Although there are few proteins in tubers, they are absorbed almost completely, which is very valuable. The tubers contain vitamins C, D, E, K, H, P, B1, B2, B6, PP, U, carotene, pantothenic acid, etc. There are organic acids, sugars, iron, phosphorus and calcium. There is especially a lot of potassium in potatoes: one and a half to two times more than in most vegetables and fruits, and even in bread, meat and fish. According to the content of the most valuable substances, especially vitamins, potatoes rank first among vegetables. Even in ancient times, people noticed that potato tubers have medicinal properties, and began to use them for burns, inflammation of the breast, and skin diseases. Raw potatoes were used to treat children for rickets and scrofula. Raw potato juice was used for gastrointestinal diseases. To this day, it is used as a home remedy for colds. Potato tubers have a diuretic, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory effect, so they are widely used in the treatment of a number of diseases. Potatoes are also used in diet food. It is recommended for people suffering from cardiovascular diseases, diseases of metabolism and digestive organs. Potato juice is especially effective for gastritis, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer. In terms of calories, potatoes are three times more than any other vegetables, and in terms of nutritional value, they are close to bread. Potato is one of the most popular food products. What kind of dishes are not prepared from it: mashed potatoes, and fried potatoes, and baked, and pancakes, and much more. The food industry produces dried potatoes, fried potatoes (chips), quick-frozen potatoes, and potato flakes. Gradually, this valuable food and medicinal plant gained fame as a fodder, and then as a technical one. Potato tubers are used in industry to produce starch, molasses, alcohol and other valuable substances from which textiles, paper, glue, etc. are produced. In cosmetics, jacket-cooked potatoes mixed with sour cream and cream are used. Such masks are especially effective for dry skin, for the treatment of sunburn. We should not forget about the poisoning that can cause glycoalkaloids contained in potatoes, especially solanine. It accumulates mainly in seeds. However, tubers that turn green in the light also contain this substance, so when peeling potatoes, the green parts must be removed. The bitter taste and sore throat that occurs when eating low-quality potato tubers indicate the content of solanine in them in significant quantities. Authors: Kretsu L.G., Domashenko L.G., Sokolov M.D.
Potato, Solanum tuberosum L. Classification, synonyms, botanical description, nutritional value, cultivation
Potato is the most important food, industrial and fodder crop. Potato is native to South America. However, its production is almost entirely concentrated in the northern hemisphere (the southern hemisphere accounts for only about 1% of world production). More than 200 species belong to the genus Solanum. For more than 400 years, only one tuberous potato species, 5. tuberosum L., has been known. Several dozen new tuberous Solanum species have been found in South America. The vast majority of wild tuberous species grow in the Andean highlands. At present, thanks to the work of the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing, more than 150 types of potatoes are known. Many of these species are of great breeding interest, as they have qualities that are absent in cultivated potatoes (for example, frost resistance, etc.). The subgenus, or section, Tuberarium, which now includes potatoes, according to S. M. Bukasov, is divided into the following subsections and groups of species. In total, S. M. Bukasov has 155 wild species, not counting cultivated potatoes. The species are distributed by him into 25 groups. 1. Subsection Commersoniana Buk. Its species grow in South America (from the Atlantic Ocean and the islands adjacent to Argentina and Uruguay, to Paraguay and the foothills of the Argentine pampas). The subsection is characterized by a stellate corolla. It is divided into subgroups: a) Eu-Commersoniana Buk., whose species are common in the Laplata lowland, and b) glabrescentia Buk., whose species live on low mountains bordering the Laplata lowland (from 400 to 1500 m above sea level). The first subgroup includes the species Solanum Commer soniana Buk. with 2n=36 and closely related diploid species (2n = 24) S. Ohrandii Car., S. Henryi Buk. i Lech., S. Sorianum Buk., S. mercedence Buk. These species are common in Uruguay. In Argentina (the southern part of the Laplata Lowland), the diploid species S. mechonguense Buk is widespread. All species of this subgroup are hardy, although they grow in the subtropical zone. The glabrescentia subgroup includes the following species: S. gibberulosum Juz. 5. Parodii Juz. et Buk., S. Harovitzii Buk. and others. Species of this subgroup are common in the hot and rather humid climate of Northern Argentina. 2. Subsection Cuneoalata Hawkes. Potatoes of its species grow in the highland zone of Northern Argentina and the adjacent regions of Bolivia and Chile (at an altitude of 2450 m above sea level). These include the following species: S. platypterum Haw., S. glanduliosum Hawkes., S. infundibulifortne Phil. The leaf lobes in these species are directed from the top to the base, narrow (2n = 24). 3, Subsection Articola Buk. Its species are common in Northern Argentina and Bolivia, usually at an altitude of 3500-4300 m above sea level. These include Argentine species: Solanum articolum Bitt, S. Tilcarense Hawkes, S. megistacrolobum Bitt. Plants are tuberous, form surface rosettes of leaves; peduncles short, few flowers. 4. Subsection Acaula Juz. Its species occupy the highest mountainous floristic zone (puna of Northwestern Argentina, Bolivia and Peru) at an altitude of 3800 - 4500 m above sea level (2n = 28). This includes particularly hardy species: S. acaule Bitt., S. punae nse Hawk., 5. depexum Juz. and partly cultivated hybrid species S. Juzepczukii (2n = 36). The species S. acaule endures frosts at -8°C and is found even at an altitude of 5000 m; it should be noted that hybrids with it of cultivated varieties of potatoes have not yet produced either tubers or berries. Plants form near-ground rosettes of leaves. Inflorescences few-flowered. Peduncles with abundant berries lie down, partially covered with soil. 5. Subsection Tuberosa Rydb. divided by Yuzepchuk into two groups: Acaula and Eu-tuberosa. This subsection includes Chilean species: S. Maglia, S. Molinae Juz., S. leptostigtna Juz., S. tuberosum L.; Peruvian: S. medians Bitt., S. Wittmackii Bitt. and etc. Solatium nigrum L. Black nightshade Synonym: crowberry. "Names: German Nachtschatten; French Torelle noire; Az. Gush Uzgomu; Armenian Sev Mora; cargo, dzaglukurdzena. An annual herbaceous plant, sometimes (in Siberia) the lower part of the stem becomes woody. The stem is branched, about 50 cm high; flowers are small, white; berries are green, ripening, turn black. The leaves are entire, with a large-toothed edge. Grows in Europe and Siberia; common weed in gardens. Ripe fruits are edible, quite tasty and sweet. However, they are eaten in small quantities, as they contain corned beef. Boiled young leaves serve as spinach. The leaves also contain an alkaloid (corned beef), although it is not very active. Author: Ipatiev A.N.
Potato, Solanum tuberosum. Methods of application, origin of the plant, range, botanical description, cultivation
Potato: plant with tubers, flower, fruit, tuber Potato occupies one of the first places in world crop production along with rice, wheat, and corn. The area under potatoes in the world is about 2 million hectares, gross production is 280-290 million tons, with an average yield of 14-15 tons/ha. The main plantings of potatoes are located in a temperate climate. In areas of the tropics and subtropics, potatoes occupy 4 million hectares - about 20% of the world's area. In the tropics, it is grown in the dry season with irrigation, or in mountainous areas in any season. There are significant areas under potatoes in the subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Africa and America: in India, North Korea, the Republic of Korea, China, Egypt, Syria, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and other countries. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) - an annual herbaceous plant of the Solanaceae family - comes from regions of South America. The root system of plants is fibrous, the stem is erect, ribbed. The leaves are simple, pinnately dissected. Inflorescence - curl. The flowers have 5 fused petals of white, blue or pink color. The fruit is a 2-celled multi-seeded berry, the seeds are small, flat. The commercial part of the potato is tubers, which are formed as a result of thickening of the tops of underground lateral shoots - stolons. There are 8-12 eyes on the tuber, consisting of leaf primordia and dormant buds. With the end of the dormant period, shoots are formed from the buds of tubers, a stem is formed. The average weight of a tuber is 80-120g. Potatoes are propagated by tubers or parts of them; seed propagation is used in the breeding process, especially to obtain virus-free and cancer-resistant varieties. Potato grows well at air temperatures of 20-25 ° C, soil moisture 68-80% HB, on light fertile loamy or sandy loamy soils. The above-ground mass of plants grows intensively under conditions of a long, moderately sunny day, and a short day is needed for the formation of tubers. The difficulty of growing potatoes in tropical regions lies primarily in the fact that, under the influence of high temperatures, the plants undergo premature aging of the resulting tubers, and they degenerate. Tubers introduced from temperate areas in the tropics give a good harvest, but the tubers of this crop are practically not suitable for seed purposes. When planting them under the same conditions, seedlings are formed in the form of filamentous sprouts, the leaves are twisted, and small non-marketable tubers are formed. Potatoes are placed after vegetables, legumes, cereals, with good fertilization of the fields with manure and mineral fertilizers, repeated plantings are possible. In the tropics of Cuba, for example, they practice the cultivation of potatoes in the dry season, alternating it with corn, beans, pumpkin or green manure crops in the same fields in the rainy season.
Soil preparation begins with disk peeling after harvesting the predecessor, after 5-7 days plowing is carried out with a disk plow to a depth of 20-25 cm, after 2-3 days plowing is repeated in a perpendicular direction. Furrows are cut or ridges are prepared 1-2 days before planting. Smooth planting is used on light soils, on heavier soils, especially when irrigated, - ridge. The depth of the furrows is 15-18 cm, the ridges are 20-30 cm high. In the process of preparing the soil for potatoes, fertilizers are applied: organic c. doses from 5 to 30 t/ha, nitrogen - 45-120 kg/ha, phosphorus - 90-150, potash - 150-270 kg/ha. In the tropics and subtropics, tubers weighing 70-120 g are used for planting (in the temperate zone - about 50 g). Before planting, the tubers are laid out in a single layer on racks and germinated for 15-20 days under canopies with good aeration. In the subtropics, potatoes can be planted in 2 terms: in early spring and late summer. Early spring plantings at the end of February and in March, when the soil warms up to 8-10 ° C, are practiced in the northern states of India, in Pakistan, Turkey, and the countries of Central Asia. With such plantings, the formation of potato tubers ends before the onset of a hot summer period, and they are suitable for seed purposes in summer plantings. For better germination of freshly harvested tubers, they are treated with thiourea or gibberellin. The temperature regime for summer plantings in the subtropics is less favorable for potatoes, but tuberization can be shifted in the autumn, when temperatures approach the optimum for tuberization. In tropical regions, it is theoretically possible to obtain 3 potato crops per year. The limiting factors in this case are excessively high temperatures, uneven rainfall and high plant susceptibility to diseases and pests in the rainy season, as well as the unsuitability of locally collected tubers for seed purposes. In zones of variable humid tropics (for example, in Cuba, in Brazil), the most suitable temperature conditions for growing potatoes are during the dry season, in November - February. The average daily temperatures during this period are 20-21 ° C, the amount of precipitation does not exceed 35-60 mm per month. Potatoes are planted in furrows or on ridges with distances between them from 45 to 90 cm, in rows the distance between plants is from 15 to 30 cm.
Plant density is, as a rule, 40-60 thousand plants per 1 ha; the planting scheme is determined by the level of mechanization of work, the use of irrigation, and the characteristics of the variety. The depth of embedding tubers into the soil during planting is 8-15 cm, and in the furrows it is deeper than on the ridges. The care system for potato plants during the growing season includes tillage between rows until the rows close, systematic weeding, and irrigation. To improve soil aeration and accelerate germination, the soil is harrowed 5-8 days after planting. After 2-3 days after germination, the soil is again treated with light harrows. When the plants reach a height of 8-10 cm, the soil is loosened by cultivators to a depth of 10 cm. After 10-15 days, the inter-row cultivation is repeated, and 30 days after germination, the plants are hilled. Repeated hilling is carried out a week after the first. Sometimes inter-row tillage is combined with the application of mineral fertilizers. When growing potatoes with irrigation, it is carried out along furrows or by sprinkling. In some countries, various herbicides are used to kill weeds in potato crops. The growing season of most varieties of potatoes grown in the tropics and subtropics does not exceed 3-4 months. In some varieties, by the time the tubers are harvested, the leaves and stems are almost completely dry, while in others they remain green. In such cases, the tops of the plants are mowed, the tubers are dug up manually or by machines. Potato tubers are stored at an air temperature of about 4 ° C, at a humidity of 68-70%. Authors: Baranov V.D., Ustimenko G.V.
Potato, Solanum tuberosum L. Botanical description, area and habitats, chemical composition, use in medicine and industry
Perennial (annual in culture) herbaceous, bushy plant with underground shoots forming tubers, of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Stems are ribbed with discontinuous pinnately dissected leaves. The flowers are white, purple, 2-4 cm in diameter, with a wheel-shaped corolla. The inflorescence consists of 2-3 whorls. The fruit is a spherical multi-seeded berry. Seeds yellow, very small. The color of the tubers is different - white, red, purple. Range and habitats. Potato is native to South America. Cultivated in all regions of the world. Chemical composition. The following were found in the composition of potato tubers: starch, saccharofructose and sucrose, microelements: potassium - 426 mg%, calcium - 8 mg%, magnesium - 17 mg%, phosphorus - 38 mg%, iron - 0,9 mg%; vitamins: thiamine - 0,01 mg%, riboflavin - 0,07 mg%, nicotinic acid - 0,67 mg%, ascorbic acid - 7,5 mg%. Amino acids are also found here: arginine, lysine, leucine, tyrosine, tryptophan, histidine, choline, acetylcholine, allantoin, xanthine, hypoxanthine, guanine, adenine, cadoverine, glutathione. The protein in potatoes is called tuberin. It belongs to the group of globulins.
All organs of the plant contain the steroidal alkaloid solanine. Based on the dry mass of raw materials, solanine is contained in the following quantities: in the peel 270 mg%, in the pulp of the tuber 6-40 mg%, in the whole tuber 27 mg%, sprouts formed by the illumination of potatoes, 565-4070 mg%, flowers 1580- 3540 mg%, leaves 506-620 mg%, stems 25-55 mg%. Application in medicine. Starch obtained from potatoes is used as an enveloping anti-inflammatory agent for gastrointestinal diseases; also used as a base for powders and filler for powders and tablets. Polish authors who studied the antiulcer effect of sulfated starch found that it has a pronounced antiulcer effect, the basis of the mechanism of which is the blocking of the peptic effect of pepsin on the gastric mucosa. A number of diets have been proposed for the prevention and treatment of various diseases. For example, the potato-egg diet is used in the complex treatment of patients with mild forms of chronic renal failure. The use of a potato-egg diet allows you to limit protein intake with adequate administration of electrolytes and water. Raw potato juice was used for peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum. It inhibits the secretion of the stomach and has an anti-inflammatory effect. Other uses. Widely used in cooking. Authors: Turova A.D., Sapozhnikova E.N.
Ground apples called poteitos. Featured article
Imagine that you are a conquistador - that was the name of the sailors and soldiers who arrived from Spain to the shores of Central and South America to conquer rich territories inhabited by Indians. Having set foot on the land of the Inca state, the conquistadors moved deep into the countries that we now call Peru and Chile. They rode horses - the locals had never seen such animals before. The conquerors held muskets in their hands - firearms, also unknown to the Indians. But the conquerors themselves learned a lot of new things on these fertile lands, which were not previously known. Take at least a wonderful plant, which the locals called "dad" - herbaceous, with dark green leaves, small green fruits and, most importantly, with underground tubers. Apparently, the Indians valued them very much: they put them in burials, gave the shape of tubers to various vessels. And besides, they used papa's tubers for food - fried or boiled, or dried in the sun in a special way. These delicacies were especially common in the foothills, where the climate is quite harsh - small bushes were not afraid of either heat or cold. The first written evidence of a remarkable plant belongs to a Spaniard named Pedro Chiesa de Leon. When he was thirteen years old, he sneaked onto a conquistador ship bound for South America and ended up in Peru. There, in 1538, he saw "Papa". This plant, according to de Leon, is a genus of peanut that turns white when boiled, like a chestnut, but does not have a hard rind and resembles an underground truffle fungus. The Spaniards liked the plant very much. The conquered Indians were obliged to pay part of the taxes in tubers and included new food in the diet of Spanish sailors. Thus, the South American plant came to Spain, and from there to Italy. There it received its first European name - "tartuffoli", truffle: in honor of the underground fungus mentioned by de Leon. From Italy, "tartuffoli" spread throughout Europe: they came to France, England, Holland. But they did not take root right away. Very often, the population treated the novelty with great distrust. And there were some reasons for this. One English captain (maybe it was even the famous pirate Francis Drake, who met our plant while sailing off the coast of Chile in 1578) brought several bushes to his homeland and presented them to a familiar lord. He, having landed a curiosity on his estate, decided one day to treat guests with an overseas product. The cook did not know how to cook it properly and did not fry the tubers in oil, but the leaves and stems. The dish turned out disgusting, bitter in taste. And after the feast, the guests also got sick. But the cook is not to blame: he did not know that the tops of "tartuffoli" contain a vegetable poison - solanine ... The very same story with a feast at the Lord's turned out for the "tartuffoli" in the most successful way. By order of the angry owner, all the planted bushes were uprooted and burned, but baked tubers were found in the ashes. They turned out to be very tasty. And a wonderful plant began to spread rapidly in England, having received the name potatoes - "poteytos". But not only conquistadors, pirates and lords contributed to the spread of "tartuffoli" throughout the earth, even kings and emperors did this! For example, Peter the Great, who was very fond of everything new, sent the first bag of wonderful tubers to Russia from his trip to Holland. We do not know what happened to this bag, but after a few decades, "tartufel" in Russia was considered a very refined and expensive dish. It was served at ceremonial palace dinners - and in very small quantities. Just imagine: for a court banquet on July 23, 1741, "half a pound" was released to "tartufel". And a pound, by the way, is a little more than 400 grams! Here are sitting in the palace of the ruler Anna Leopoldovna, princes and counts, maids of honor and pages, and for all - 200-odd grams of "tartufel"! And on August 12, for the celebration of the birthday of the young emperor John Antonovich, "tartufel" one and a quarter pound was released for a banquet. And for a dinner in honor of the headquarters and chief officers of the Semenovsky Guards Regiment on November 20, 1741 - only a quarter of a pound! Calculate for yourself how much it turns out in terms of grams. What kind of yummy is this? And you try from / guess, if not from / guessed until now. Say several times in a row: "tartufel, tartufel, tartufel" ... Well, of course, these are potatoes! Our usual potatoes.
Meanwhile, on November 25, 1741, a palace coup was carried out, Anna Leopoldovna was overthrown, the daughter of Peter the Great, Elizabeth Petrovna, reigned on the throne, and what? "November 30th: tartuffel released - 1 pound"... Years passed, and Catherine II began to rule. She was an energetic empress who enlightened the country and promoted culture. Potato culture - too. By this time it was called "earth apples". Agronomic scientists were sure that "Russia would have any benefit from it if earthen apples were bred in all provinces and provinces, so that ordinary people could use them." They just argued whether it was necessary to peel the potatoes when cooking or not. Some said: "Definitely." Others: "No way"... Be that as it may, on March 31, 1765, at the initiative of the queen, the Senate issued the "Instruction on the cultivation of earthen apples called poteytos." Fulfilling it, tubers suitable for planting were given to large landowners through the St. Petersburg Provincial Chancellery. They were distributed according to a special list with an exact indication of the number: to whom - 71 tubers, to whom - 52 tubers. In the fall, the provincial office provided a report. It turned out that things went differently for everyone. For example, in the estate of Abraham Petrovich Gannibal, Peter the Great's arap, one bunch of earthen apples, a little more than a kilogram, was planted. The harvest is received - almost 27 kilograms! But in Suide, the patrimony of his brother, Artamon Petrovich, 40 tubers were planted - and nothing was received. But already the great-grandson of Hannibal, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, wrote about one of his heroes, the poet Charsky, that he "secretly preferred baked potatoes to all kinds of inventions of French cuisine." It must be said that in France the most senior government officials were engaged in the propaganda of the potato. The pharmacist and gardener Antoine Auguste Parmentier, a big fan of the potato, reached King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette with a request for assistance in introducing the French to the new vegetable. The royal couple reacted to the idea very sympathetically. But each of them approached the matter in their own way. The queen at one of the balls, of which there were many at that time, decorated her hair with potato flowers. Nice modest decoration - umbrellas of white, reddish or yellow flowers. And since the first lady of the kingdom did so, the rest followed her example. Potato flowers immediately entered an extraordinary fashion. Potatoes began to be planted as a garden plant; lush vegetable beds flourished at Versailles and Fontainebleau. And still there were not enough flowers. In Paris, they even began to make artificial potato flowers from velvet and silk. But the people did not plant potatoes and did not eat them.
The king did otherwise. Near his palace in the Petit Trianon near Paris, he ordered a whole field to be planted with potatoes and guarded to him. A huge fine was announced for stealing bushes from this plantation. However, behind the scenes, Louis XVI ordered sentries to pay no attention to violators. Probably the king was not very well versed in the nature of the potato. But he had a great knowledge of human nature. The locals, attracted by the atmosphere of mystery, quickly took the plantings from the royal field to their gardens. This was the beginning of the development of potato growing in France. However, it developed rather slowly. The French were more interested in other innovations. In 1789 a revolution broke out, to which the gardener Parmentier joined; in 1792 the royal family was arrested; in 1793 - beheaded. But even in 1797, in the book "Economic Plants Growing in the Outskirts of Paris", the potato was described as a weed plant and harmful to the body. In Russia, potatoes also did not immediately become a universally favorite product. Although the government continued to involve farmers in every possible way in growing a wonderful plant - after all, an unpretentious potato could, in the event of grain crop failures, which were frequent in those days, save people from starvation. Tubers for planting were given out free of charge. Those who planted potatoes were encouraged by award sheets and even medals with the inscription: "For Useful". In one of the remote places of the Nizhny Novgorod province, in the Knyaginsky district, the local police officer acted exactly like Louis XVI, organizing an allegedly guarded field for plunder by the curious. And yet... The more actively people were forced to grow potatoes, the stronger the peasants resisted in some areas. Even the awards aroused their distrust: if the authorities claim that potatoes are only good, why reward those who plant potatoes? Something is wrong here. Probably some kind of danger and harm to humans lurks in earthen apples! The authorities stood their ground. The peasants resisted. Some especially devout enemies of the potato said that it was food for evil spirits. One such preacher, put on trial, testified as follows: - It is unsuitable for a Christian to eat potatoes. The tubers will be born with a head and eyes, like a man, and therefore the one who eats potatoes eats human souls. And the potato is that forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate, so whoever eats it does not obey God, violates the holy commandments. The government issued more and more decrees, forcing them to plant potatoes. And then in many provinces - Perm, Tambov, Orenburg, Vyatka, Kazan, Saratov - real uprisings broke out, called "potato riots". Troops were sent against the rebels. Fields that could have been potato fields were turned into battlefields. There were shots. Buckshot rumbled. Shed blood. The peasants armed themselves with axes and scythes. "Instead of repentance," the Governor-General of Tambov reported, "the rebels rushed with shouts of 'Hurrah' at me and the soldiers standing nearby." The uprisings were, of course, suppressed. Year after year, more and more potatoes began to be planted. It was steamed and boiled in boiling water - peeled and in uniform, fried, baked. But not only: they added it to candles for better burning, extracted starch and sweet molasses from potatoes, used dried tops as livestock feed. And in the 60s of the XIX century, when potatoes began to be processed for alcohol, plantings began to increase especially. “This plant,” noted one scientist of that time, “always truly and abundantly rewards the work of the farmer with its nutritious products. After wheat, rye and rice, there is hardly another plant that could equal its benefits with potatoes.” Now potatoes grow in almost all latitudes, in all countries. It is even called sometimes the second bread. And everywhere they consider it their own, domestic product. Author: Gol N.
Potato. reference Information
The most ordinary potato ... However, potatoes have a long and interesting history! A detailed account of him would require a separate book. The homeland of the potato is the coast of Chile and the mountains of Peru. On the mountain plateaus, the Peruvians cultivated potatoes, called "pappa" there. Only frost-resistant potatoes could withstand the cold and wind of the high mountains. Potatoes served as the main food of the mountain Indians. The fact that the potato was an ancient culture is evidenced by the vessels found during excavations, which have the shape of potato tubers. In Europe, the potato was not known until 1536, when the Spaniards first visited South America. The potato was not immediately recognized by Europeans and traveled from country to country for a long time as an outlandish plant. First he appeared in Spain, then in Italy, where he received the name "tartufoli", which later turned into "kartufoli" and "potato". Potatoes came to France at the end of the XNUMXth century, having received the name "pom de terre", that is, "earth apple".
In France, the value of potatoes was understood by the pharmacist Parmentier, who began to write books about potatoes, planted them, arranged dinners from dishes prepared from potatoes alone, talked about him everywhere, and even asked the king and queen to help spread the wonderful plant. The results were unexpected. Queen Marie Antoinette pinned a bunch of potato flowers in her hair, after which all the courtiers began to wear potato flowers in the buttonholes of their camisoles. The demand for bouquets of flowers that they liked so much was such that there were not enough living plants and they began to make flowers from velvet and silk. Following the example of the French king, all the states of Europe began to cultivate potatoes in flowerbeds in front of palaces. At first, they mistakenly began to eat, instead of tubers, bitter and poisonous potato berries, which is why they called the potato "devil's apple." The first sack of potatoes was sent to Russia from Holland by Peter I. Potatoes were distributed extremely slowly among the population. In the middle of the last century, the forced introduction of potato plantings caused the so-called "potato riots" among the peasants. The tsarist troops brutally dealt with the rebellious peasants. Wild types of potatoes growing on mountain heights, near the border of eternal snows, are frost-resistant. It is hot in the sun, cold in the shade and cold at night. Their tops withstand frosts of 10 °. Author: Verzilin N.
Potato. Legends, the birthplace of the plant, the history of distribution
Everyone knows the fairy tale "Tops and Roots" - about how a peasant deceived a bear: he gave him tops from turnips, and roots from wheat. The bear was the loser because he was stupid, did not know which part of the plant was good for food. But people did not immediately learn to understand plants. Especially big confusion occurred with potatoes. In Europe, they first learned about him four hundred years ago from Spanish sailors who visited South America. Returning home, the sailors said that the inhabitants of those places - the Indians grow amazing "earth apples". When baked, they become soft and very tasty. The rumor about wonderful tubers spread throughout Spain, and then to neighboring countries. But not everyone liked the novelty. In some places they tried to eat raw tubers and after that they no longer wanted to plant potatoes. There have been worse cases: in some villages, potato fruits were eaten instead of tubers - small greenish berries that appear in place of faded flowers. And they were poisoned, because these fruits are poisonous. There was an unkind rumor about a new plant, it was nicknamed "damn earthen apple". Only the ladies of the court held the potato in high esteem: they liked the flowers of the new plant, and the ladies began to decorate their hairstyles with them. In France, the first person to help people appreciate potatoes was Parmentier, a Parisian apothecary. To do this, he had to cheat. Parmentier planted potato tubers in his garden. And he begged the king to provide several soldiers for their protection. During the day, the soldiers regularly guarded the landings, and at night they went to sleep. Local peasants decided: since the garden is guarded, it means that something valuable has been planted there. At night, they stole tubers and transplanted them into their fields. So the quick-witted pharmacist taught the French peasants to breed "earthen apples." Potatoes were not immediately appreciated in Russia either. The tsarist officials, instead of explaining to people how to grow a new plant, acted only with an order and a threat: "Plant potatoes! Otherwise, we'll beat everyone!" The peasants refused to obey the orders of the authorities. Potato riots began. The government sent troops against the recalcitrant. It happened that the peasants were fired from cannons with buckshot. But there were wonderful agronomists in Russia, like Andrei Timofeevich Bolotov, who explained to the population the usefulness of a new plant rich in starch. Among the peasants, too, there were skillful people who appreciated the potato. Efim Andreevich Grachev, who lived near St. Petersburg, became especially famous. The new potato softas developed by him were distinguished by their unusual yield and were awarded medals many times at domestic and foreign exhibitions. Gradually, everyone realized the great benefits of the new plant. It was then that proverbs were born among the people: "Potatoes are a help to bread", "Potatoes are a sucker to bread." Author: Osipov N.F.
Long life early rose. Featured article
In the early post-war years, when the Siberians returned from the front and started gardening, they did not have a more fashionable potato variety than Early Rose. Ripened quickly. She gave a fair harvest - twenty-five sacks from one. Its tubers, pink, with a yellowish tint, seemed to glow from the inside, as if they were made of rose quartz. The shape is oblong, oval, like river pebbles. But the most important advantage of the variety was the taste. There was no need to add oil or sour cream to the Early Rose. She's fine without them. It was eaten without any seasoning, like a cake or a biscuit. Then other varieties began to appear, and the Rose somehow imperceptibly began to wane. It was said that it was poorly stored and that it was affected by a contagious disease - potato cancer. The new varieties were fruitful and tasty in their own way, but none had such an exquisite taste as Rosa's. However, Rose did not disappear at all. New varieties also became fashionable for a while, and then disappeared. And soon no one even remembered that they had ever existed. The early Rose was preserved as if the years had no power over her. Breeders puzzled over the secret of its stability, built different versions about the origins of its birth and future fate. Two of them still exist today. The first version is this. 1845 The late blight potato mushroom, which arrived from across the ocean, is falling on Europe. The leaves on the bushes are covered with gray pads. Tubers are pierced by brown rot. The peasants are left without food. Hunger takes many thousands of lives. Biologists are looking for the cause of the potato's instability to the fungus. A fashionable theory of potato aging emerges. Its essence is simple: we have been growing "second bread" for three hundred years - and everything is vegetative. Seeds can be, but troublesome. Gradually, the potato loses its vitality. Loses the ability to resist disease. Including phytophthora. In 1846, an article by breeder C. Goodrich appeared in the Vermont Agricultural Journal. He suggests rejuvenating potatoes. To do this, get wild specimens from their homeland, from South America. Collect seeds from them. Select the best seedlings. The author of the article not only advises, but also acts. At his request, the US Ambassador to Panama extracts a dozen tubers from Chile. True, not wild species, but "semi-cultural" domesticated by the Indians. Goodrich is happy with that too. Of the ten tubers chooses one - purple. In 1852 he receives the first seedlings. Five more years of selection, and there is a new variety - Chilean Pomegranate. Five years later, the Early Rose is obtained from the Pomegranate. Masterpiece of the potato world. It was recently calculated that in America alone 217 varieties (more than half!) were created with the participation of Early Rose. Version two. All this talk about manipulating the Chilean Garnet is a complete joke. In the USA, the Early Rose did not come through Panama, but through California. From that part of it that used to be Russian. Just like Alaska. It is quite possible that it was from the Russian possessions in California that the Early Rose was taken out when the new railway crossed the American continent from west to east. The grounds for this are as follows. Early Rose is an old Alaskan variety. He still lives there. Apparently, Russian settlers laid the foundation for it. Maybe they got it from the Indians who lived in those northern places? This conclusion is made by an employee of the Institute of Potato Farming V. Cherkasov. And he continues his thought: isn’t it there, in Alaska, that you need to look for the homeland of potatoes? Fantastic? But note: in the nature of the countries of the Bering Sea, there seems to be nothing that would prevent the existence of potatoes in the wild in the past. Even in Kamchatka, potatoes feel good on soils heated by sulfur springs. The same warm soils are found in Alaska. If we assume the northern origin of the potato, it becomes clear why it responds so well to the long northern day. And here's what's wonderful: when they replaced the Early Rose with other varieties, it stayed the longest again in the north, in Yakutia. It turns out that the northern conditions with a long day are more suitable for her than the south? If you believe the first version that the Early Rose came from Chile with its short day, then how, in a hundred years, did it adapt so quickly to a long day? And recently, in 1962, a third version appeared. American biologist D. Corell from Texas said that wild potatoes live ... in the mountains of Africa! He found it there at an altitude of about 2000 meters! He wrote about this in the book "Potatoes and their close relatives." Which version do you prefer? Not a single one of the greatest potato connoisseurs has made a definite statement. The French seed scientist A. Vilmorin considered the history of the potato "rather dark", Academician V. Komarov added that not everything is clear here, and Academician S. Bukasov said that this story is "shrouded in legends". Now take another problem of the Colorado potato beetle. Until 1824, he was not noticed in America. He peacefully grazed in natural thickets, eating wild nightshade. When the potato plantations expanded, the beetle moved to them. And it started! By 1865, he was so bred on gratuitous grubs that he began to move in a living armada. 25 beetles piled up on a bush. For two days they stripped the bush naked. Having finished with the potatoes, the beetles rushed to the cabbage, oats and even to the wild rose. Potato prices have skyrocketed. It has become more expensive than chocolates. By 1975, the beetles had broken out of the countryside and entered the streets of New York. They occupied the city beach, filling it with their mass for several kilometers in length. They climbed over the railroad tracks. They stopped trains. And the farmers thought that the potato crop was done away with forever. But there must have been some simple remedy for the beetle, but no one guessed. Here, for example, is what G. Romashov, a vegetable grower, recently discovered. The beetle did not appear on his site, and the neighbors constantly "smashed" potato plantings. Romashov compared the sites. Everything was the same, except for one thing: at Romashov's, poplars grew next to the potatoes. The neighbors had no poplars. Wishing to be convinced of his assumption, the vegetable grower in the spring of 1979 did an experiment. He collected poplar leaves, boiled them in a bucket of water, and after waiting three days to infuse, sprinkled the neighboring bushes. The beetle immediately disappeared and did not appear for three weeks. But of course, it is much more reliable to develop a special variety that is inedible for the beetle. And here comes to mind one story that happened at the beginning of our century. "The farmer" unexpectedly reported sensational news. The French gardener J. Libergerie introduced a new type of potato in France - solyanum commersoni. The world was surprised. After all, for all four centuries since the discovery of America, in the entire history of the potato, people have used one species - tuberous salt. And just like that, the second one. And what a! The press spared no praise. The yield of the new species exceeds all known varieties of the old one. Withstands temperatures of minus three and a half degrees. He and the pests almost do not touch. And most importantly, the Colorado potato beetle bypasses! Still, the taste is good. What more could you want? Requests were poured into the editorial office of the Farmer: where to get tubers for planting? The editors sent to the gardener N. Ponomarev from the Koi station of the Tver province. Prices for planting material have risen tenfold. When the passions subsided a bit, it turned out that the new type of botany had been known for a long time. It was discovered back in 1767 by the traveler A. Commerson near the city of Montevideo in Uruguay. He grew up there along the sandy banks of the Mercedes River. It had wrinkled leaves, brown stems, and purple flowers. When the river raged and washed away the bushes, oval red-blue tubers remained on the sand. The question arises: why for a century and a half no one tried to introduce this potato into the culture? Agronomist N. Vasiliev decided to find out by experience. I planted three varieties side by side: Early Rose, a good variety Emperor and a Uruguayan look. Autumn has come. The largest of all were the tubers of Commerson's potatoes. For three years Vasiliev planted his varieties - and three times the new species won. Checked for starch. Here, too, the Uruguayan won. Only the taste was mediocre. The flesh was found rough, and even sweetish. Is it good for livestock feed? Here they forgot about the Colorado potato beetle and did not write more about the Uruguayan potato. However, here's what's worrying. The wild Chaco potato belongs to the same clan as the Uruguayan species. Botanists are working hard with him now. Chaco also increases pest resistance when crossed with a cultivar. There is only one drawback: a bit too much poisonous substance - solanine. It is worth biting a boiled tuber, as it starts to hurt in the mouth and tickle in the throat. Also bitterness. Maybe this is what repels pests? True, there is a bit too much solanine in good table varieties. Recently, potato connoisseur N. Lekhnovich found out that sometimes valuable varieties Lorkh and Korenevsky sin with this. When they began to plant Korenevsky in the Sverdlovsk region, everything was fine in wet years, but poisoning was observed in dry years. Solanine! And now let's go back to that clan, which includes the Uruguayan species and the Chaco potato. There are also a few other interesting species. The world learned about one of them - yellow-green potatoes in 1979. The bottom line is that the Peruvian scientist C. Ochoa went to Bolivia to collect wild potatoes. In the virgin forests of the La Paz department, his attention was drawn to a plant that stood out sharply among the gloomy tropical greenery with its yellowish foliage. Maybe the Peruvian would not have noticed the potato bush, but, passing by, he touched it. And immediately smelled a piercing smell. He stopped and saw a meter-high bush with white pentagonal flowers. The smell came from the hairs. They covered both the stem and the leaves. Some are long, others are short. But both of them have bubbles with a sticky liquid at the ends. The yellow-green potato reminded the botanist of the sundew. Just like sundew, glandular hairs glue insects that dared to crawl along the bush. Only potatoes do not use their victims for food. The unfortunate simply lose their mobility and die. We figured it out later. Mostly aphids, the main carriers of viral diseases of potatoes, perish.
There was a temptation to use yellow-green to create pest-resistant varieties. After all, sticky hairs in potatoes are a unique phenomenon. So far, only three species have been found: one Mexican and two Bolivian. There is another Achilles heel for potatoes. Many varieties do not store well in winter. They grow quickly. Against this misfortune, they unexpectedly found a simple and reliable remedy. A gardening teacher didn't know where to place winter apples. He placed several crates in storage along with the potatoes. By spring, I found that not a single tuber had sprouted. I guessed that ethylene gas, which is released from apples, inhibits germination. The delighted teacher decided to immediately clarify how many apples are needed for safety. He took a strong paper bag, filled it to the top with potatoes and threw in a dozen apples. The bag is tightly tied so that the ethylene does not evaporate too quickly. The tubers are well preserved. Then I repeated the experiment in an open chest. A dozen apples did not give any effect here. I had to increase the rate to one and a half buckets. And now let's not forget to bring words of gratitude to those to whom the world owes its potato well-being. Those who gave us confidence that nothing will happen to our "second bread". That it will not disappear, will not perish, as it once did in Ireland in the middle of the last century. That it will become even tastier, even more nutritious. We owe all this to our Russian botanists. In 1925, Academician N. Vavilov was the first to set off expeditions to South America, the homeland of wild potatoes. In a few years, sixty wild species and twenty semi-cultivated species have been collected! Only later did scientists from other countries follow in their footsteps. It's funny to remember one curiosity. In 1896, the Farmer magazine published a drawing of a giant potato tuber, the size of a large melon. Weight thirty-five kilograms, length seventy centimeters! I don't know if this information from the magazine has been verified, but in any case, if such a giant existed, then it did not give anything to mankind. Much more important are potatoes of ordinary size, but which do not suffer from pests, ripen quickly and store well. This is exactly what Academician N. Vavilov was striving for, collecting wild tuberous species beyond the seas, beyond the mountains. Author: Smirnov A.
Potato. Usage Tips
Excellent nourishing masks are made from potatoes. A large tuber is boiled in the skin, cleaned and thoroughly kneaded until a homogeneous puree is obtained, which is slightly diluted with milk and egg yolk is added. The resulting mass is heated in a steam bath, for which they put dishes with mashed potatoes in a pot of boiling water. After washing the face with soft warm water, the puree is applied in a thin layer on the face and neck, covered with a thick napkin or terry towel and incubated for 15-20 minutes. The mask is washed off with warm water, then the face is refreshed with cold water. After such a procedure, the skin becomes elastic, smooth and tender, velvety to the touch, fine wrinkles are smoothed out. However, care must be taken not to burn yourself with too hot puree. You can apply puree in a thin layer on gauze, which is applied like a mask to the face. Fresh potatoes are considered one of the best vitamin supplements. Juice treats scurvy, beriberi. A mixture of potato flour with two tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide helps get rid of freckles. Wash off the mixture with lemon juice. With inflamed eyelids, compresses from freshly grated fresh potatoes are healing. For 15 minutes, potato pulp, smeared on gauze, is applied to the face, applied to the eyelids. After that, the inflamed areas are lubricated with a nourishing cream. If the skin on the hands is dry and reddened, starch jelly baths are made at night. A spoonful of starch is brewed in 1 liter of water, hands are dipped into the solution for 15 minutes, after which the skin is wiped with a dry towel and lubricated with a vegetable-based fat cream. At night, clean gloves should be worn on the hands treated in this way. Freshly boiled potato paste is good for whitening hands. Pasta is made from boiled potatoes and hot milk. For the treatment of hands with reddened and weather-beaten cracked skin in the cold, potato compresses are recommended. Well-washed tubers (about a kilogram) are boiled in their skins, peeled and thoroughly crushed. Hot mashed potatoes are laid out in a layer on strips of dense fabric, which are wrapped around the hands. When the potatoes have cooled, the compress is removed. With sunburn, a compress of freshly grated raw potatoes helps well. Potato peels are used to remove scale. One third of the volume of potato peelings is put into a kettle or pan with scale formed and boiled for 40-50 minutes. After the destruction of the scale, the dishes are rinsed with cold water. Since ancient times, bottles contaminated with old oil, fat, and salt precipitation have been washed with potato peels. To get rid of the strong smell when frying fish, put a slice of peeled potato in vegetable oil. To prepare a soft and airy dough for hearth pies, add mashed boiled potatoes to the flour. For 1 kg of flour, take 2-3 medium-sized potatoes. Potato broth is never poured out, but is used either for warm hand baths, which are taken right during kitchen work for 10-15 minutes until the broth cools down. To keep the eggs fresh longer, they are dipped in potato broth and allowed to dry, then placed in a basket, previously wrapped in paper. So that the potatoes in their uniforms do not boil soft and the skin does not crack, they are boiled in salt water. Mashed potatoes are diluted only with hot milk, as the mashed potatoes acquire a grayish tint from cold milk. If you put sliced potatoes in hot water for a few minutes, then take them out and let them dry a little, they fry much faster. Author: Reva M.L.
Potato, Solanum tuberosum. Recipes for use in traditional medicine and cosmetology
Ethnoscience:
Cosmetology:
Attention! Before use, consult with a specialist!
Potato, Solanum tuberosum. Tips for growing, harvesting and storing
Potato (lat. Solanum tuberosum) is one of the most common cultivated plants in the world. Tips for growing, harvesting and storing potatoes: Cultivation:
Workpiece:
Storage:
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