How old are the potatoes. The history of potatoes in Russia and the world

Solanum tuberosum
Taxon: Solanaceae family
Other names: tuberous nightshade, European potato, Chilean potato
English: potatoes

The Russian word "potato" comes from the German Kartoffel, which, in turn, comes from the Italian tartufo, tartufolo - truffle.

Description of potatoes

- perennial (annual in culture) herbaceous, bushy plant up to 60 cm high with a taproot, strongly developed root. Underground roots are white, forming fleshy edible tubers at the ends. Stems numerous, erect or ascending, faceted.
Leaves pinnately dissected, with several ovate leaflets. Potato flowers are large, white, purple, 2-4 cm in diameter, with a spicate star-shaped corolla, collected in an inflorescence consisting of 2-3 curls. The fruit is a poisonous, spherical multi-seeded black-violet berry. seeds yellow color, very small. The color of potato tubers is different - white, yellow, red, purple.

Places of growth

how garden crops grow throughout Russia.

Collection and preparation

With therapeutic purpose flowers, potato shoots, its peel and underground tubers are used, which are harvested during their ripening period, on the waning moon from noon to sunset. One feature of potato tubers should be remembered: they must be stored in a dark place. Otherwise (if the tubers lie in the light, especially in the sun), they take green color and become poisonous, unsuitable for food, let alone for medicinal use.

The chemical composition of potatoes

According to some studies potato contains a small amount of protein, which is extremely valuable, with a rich set of essential amino acids. Potato tubers on average contain about 76% water and 24% dry matter, including about 17.5% starch, 0.5% sugars (sucrose and sucrose), 2% proteins, about 1% mineral salts, trace elements: 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, etc. Potato protein is called tuberin. It belongs to the group of globulins. All organs of the plant contain the steroidal alkaloid solanine. Most of all it is contained in the sprouts formed by the illumination of potatoes, flowers and peel.
Nutritional value and chemical composition of potatoes.

Pharmacological properties of potatoes

Fresh juice of potato tubers and starch obtained from potatoes are used as an enveloping anti-inflammatory agent in gastrointestinal diseases. Starch has a pronounced antiulcer effect, the basis of the mechanism of which is blocking the action of pepsin on the gastric mucosa.

Potato application

Because potatoes are alkaline, they make a great addition to all vegetables, milk, and cheese.
Potatoes are introduced into the diet of kidney and heart patients: the high content of potassium determines its good diuretic properties, and hence the prevention of edema. Especially effective are red and pink varieties potatoes.
Potato juice helps to reduce the secretion of acid by the gastric glands, slightly "muffles" the pain, accelerates the scarring of ulcers on the mucous membrane of the digestive tract. In addition, it somewhat weakens, which is extremely important for gastritis and ulcer patients, who usually suffer from constipation. It relieves belching well and helps with various dyspeptic disorders.
Potato starch is used for chronic diseases gastrointestinal tract as an enveloping, emollient and anti-inflammatory agent.
Potato starch is also used as a base for powders and filler for powders and tablets.
In folk medicine, potato juice is drunk to reduce high blood pressure.
Potato juice lowers blood sugar levels, so it is useful in the initial stages of diabetes.
Raw potato juice is used for gastric and duodenal ulcers. It inhibits the secretion of the stomach and has an anti-inflammatory effect.
Substances that have a positive effect on the human body in case of allergies, tachycardia, hypertension and painful shock were found in the potato peel.

Potato medicines

Potato juice helps with headaches - because of the acetylcholine contained in it, which has a hypotensive effect. For a headache, dip both hands up to the elbow in hot water and hold them until the pain stops, adding hot water. Tie thin slices to the forehead raw potatoes. Potato juice, squeezed from tubers ripened in September-October, should be taken for 2-3 weeks 2-3 times a day, 100 ml each (with tolerance - up to 200 ml) for uterine myoma.
Fresh potato juice mixed with skimmed milk, sour cream is used to get rid of freckles and cracks from exposed parts of the skin.
Raw potato juice cleanses the entire body well. Mixed with carrot juice and celery juice, it helps a lot with digestive disorders, nervous disorders- for example, with sciatica and goiter. In these cases, daily consumption of 500 ml of carrot, cucumber, beetroot and potato juice very often gives positive result in a short time, provided that all meat and fish products are excluded
Juice squeezed from fresh raw tubers is taken 2-3 times a day for half a glass half an hour before meals for gastritis with high acidity, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer.
Raw potato tubers, crushed on a grater, are considered a good healing agent for burns, eczema and various other skin lesions. The pounded mass is simply applied to the affected areas of the skin.
For heartburn, peel a medium-sized potato, cut into small pieces and slowly chew one by one.
Potato is an effective means of cleansing the joints of toxins and is considered a good remedy with polyarthritis. To do this, within 3 days you need to eat 2-3 kg of potatoes, boiled with peel in in large numbers water. Potatoes are mashed in broth and eaten with the peel. Do not take any other food during this time. To eat potatoes with skin, you need to cook it for a long time.
Mashed potatoes or gruel from raw potatoes relieve swelling, if applied to them 3 times a day in the form of compresses.
Steam from boiled unpeeled (in uniform) potatoes as inhalations are treated colds respiratory tract, accompanied by cough, runny nose and headache.
To lengthen the session, i.e. not to let the pan cool down quickly, the patient throws some kind of cloth cover over his head, covering the pan as well. The effect of the treatment is quite high, because here both the volatile secretions of potatoes and the heat of water vapor act as therapeutic factors. It is important only after the inhalation session not to go out into the cold.
Warming up with potato steam is very useful for sciatica and sciatica.
Pour 1 liter of water with one medium-sized potato, one medium-sized onion and an apple, cook until the water is reduced by half. Drink 3 times a day for 1 tsp. with chronic cough.
Potatoes with a greenish thick layer are peeled, which are finely chopped. A crushed, fresh, mushy mass is applied as a compress to damaged ligaments, muscles, tendons.
Cut long potato sprouts into small slices of 0.5 cm and dry in a dark, well-ventilated area. Put 200 g of these sprouts in a glass mortar, pour 200 ml of 70% alcohol, close tightly, insist in a dark place for 8 days, periodically shaking the contents, strain, squeeze. Store in a dark cool place. For various oncological diseases, take 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals (in 1/2 cup warm water drip tincture, starting with 1 drop, bring the intake to 25 drops and continue to take them in this amount).
Dry the potato flowers in the shade. Brew in 0.5 liters of boiling water 1 tbsp. l. flowers, insist in a thermos for 3-4 hours. Drink 1/2 cup 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals for various malignant neoplasms. The course of treatment - 4 liters of infusion.
A decoction of the flowers is used to reduce blood pressure and stimulation of respiration.

Contraindications

In the light, under the skin of tubers, glycoalkaloids accumulate, which can cause poisoning for humans and animals; during cooking, these compounds partially pass into water.
Potato berries containing solanine are also poisonous. This alkaloid is formed in leaves, young shoots, fruits and skins, especially during long-term storage. Children who have eaten potato berries experience severe poisoning, scratching in the throat, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, hand tremors. When providing first aid, it is necessary to wash the stomach, before the doctor arrives, give them sour or fresh milk or egg white.
It is impossible to prepare juice from tubers that have turned green and contain sprouted eyes - this is very dangerous.
When livestock are grazing potato fields and animals eat green leaves and fruits, they may experience diarrhea, vomiting, severe poisoning, convulsions, and disturbances in the functioning of the heart and respiratory systems.
Poisonous substances are formed only in this greenish surface part of the tuber, not penetrating into the depth at all. Therefore, you should not throw away green potatoes, it is enough to cut off only the green parts (they, as a rule, occupy a small fraction of the total mass).
The white shoots of potatoes are also poisonous, so when cooking potatoes “in their uniforms”, the shoots must be broken off.

Potato Information

There are about 200 wild and cultivated potato species growing mainly in the South and Central America. There are two main cultural species: Indian (since ancient times grown in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia) and Chilean (homeland - Central Chile), which are widespread in countries with temperate climate. Potatoes began to be cultivated about 14 thousand years ago by the Indians of South America, and they were brought to Europe around 1565. Potatoes came to Russia thanks to Peter I, who sent a bag of tubers from Holland in 1698. As a result of the violent tsarist measures to introduce potato crops in 1834-1844, unrest among the peasants of the Vyatka and Vladimir provinces, the regions of the Urals, the Lower and Middle Volga regions took place.

Conspiracy faces

Potatoes are used to conspire faces. Take a knife and drive it around the face in a clockwise direction, saying: “Mug, mug, you are not pretty here. Aspen is waiting for you in the forest at the edge, mug, you will be very beautiful on the aspen, you will sing, have fun and burn. And leave the servant of God (name) alone. Amen. Amen. Amen". You can't touch your face with your hands!
Saying the last three words, baptize the face three times, then take two potatoes, grate them. The patient should put this mass on his leg or other sore spot, bandage it and go to bed.

Solanum tuberosum
Taxon: Solanaceae family ( Solanaceae)
Other names: tuberous nightshade, European potato, Chilean potato
English: potatoes

The Russian word "potato" comes from the German Kartoffel, which, in turn, comes from the Italian tartufo, tartufolo- truffle.

Botanical description

Perennial (annual in cultivation) herbaceous, bushy plant up to 60 cm high with a taproot, strongly developed root. Underground roots are white, forming fleshy edible tubers at the ends. Stems numerous, erect or ascending, faceted.
Leaves pinnately dissected, with several ovate leaflets. Potato flowers are large, white, purple, 2-4 cm in diameter, with a spicate star-shaped corolla, collected in an inflorescence consisting of 2-3 curls. The fruit is a poisonous, spherical multi-seeded black-violet berry. Seeds yellow, very small. The color of potato tubers is different - white, yellow, red, purple.

Places of growth

Potato as a garden crop grows throughout Russia.

Collection and preparation

For medicinal purposes, flowers, potato shoots, its peel and underground tubers are used, which are harvested during their ripening period, on the waning moon from noon to sunset. One feature of potato tubers should be remembered: they must be stored in a dark place. Otherwise (if the tubers lie in the light, especially in the sun), they take on a green color and become poisonous, unsuitable for food, much less for medicinal use.

The chemical composition of potatoes

According to some studies, potatoes contain a small amount of protein, which is extremely valuable, with a rich set of essential amino acids. Potato tubers on average contain about 76% water and 24% dry matter, including about 17.5% starch, 0.5% sugars (sucrose and sucrose), 2% proteins, about 1% mineral salts, trace elements: potassium - 426 mg/%, calcium - 8 mg/%, - 17 mg/%, phosphorus - 38 mg/%, - 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, etc. Potato protein is called tuberin. It belongs to the group of globulins. All organs of the plant contain the steroidal alkaloid solanine. Most of all it is contained in the sprouts formed by the illumination of potatoes, flowers and peel.
.

Pharmacological properties of potatoes

The use of potatoes in medicine

Because potatoes are alkaline, they make a great addition to all vegetables, milk, and cheese.
Potatoes are introduced into the diet of kidney and heart patients: the high content of potassium determines its good properties, and hence the prevention of edema. Red and pink varieties of potatoes are considered especially effective.
Potato juice helps to reduce the secretion of acid by the gastric glands, slightly "muffles" the pain, accelerates the scarring of ulcers on the mucous membrane of the digestive tract. In addition, it somewhat weakens, which is extremely important for gastritis and ulcer patients, usually suffering from. It relieves belching well and helps with various dyspeptic disorders.
Potato starch is used in chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract as an enveloping, emollient and anti-inflammatory agent.
Potato starch is also used as a base for powders and filler for powders and tablets.
In folk medicine, they drink potato juice for.
Potato juice lowers the level, therefore it is useful in the initial stage of diabetes.
Raw potato juice is used for gastric and duodenal ulcers. It inhibits the secretion of the stomach and has an anti-inflammatory effect.
Substances that have a positive effect on the human body in case of allergies, tachycardia, hypertension and painful shock were found in the potato peel.

Potato medicines

Potato juice helps with headaches - because of the acetylcholine contained in it, which has a hypotensive effect. For a headache, dip both hands up to the elbow in hot water and hold them until the pain stops, adding hot water. Tie thin slices of raw potatoes to the forehead.
Potato juice, squeezed from tubers ripened in September-October, should be taken for 2-3 weeks 2-3 times a day, 100 ml each (with tolerance - up to 200 ml) for uterine myoma.
Fresh potato juice mixed with skimmed milk, sour cream is used to get rid of freckles and cracks from exposed parts of the skin.
Raw potato juice cleanses the entire body well. Mixed with carrot juice and celery juice, it helps a lot with digestive disorders, nervous disorders - for example, with sciatica and goiter. In these cases, daily consumption of 500 ml of carrot, cucumber, beet and potato juice very often gives a positive result in a short time, provided that all meat and fish products are excluded.
Juice squeezed from fresh raw tubers is taken 2-3 times a day for half a glass half an hour before meals for gastritis with high acidity, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer.
Raw potato tubers, crushed on a grater, are considered a good healing agent for burns, eczema and various other skin lesions. The pounded mass is simply applied to the affected areas of the skin.
With a medium-sized potato, peel, cut into small pieces and slowly chew one by one.
Potato is an effective means of cleansing the joints of toxins and is considered a good remedy for polyarthritis. To do this, within 3 days you need to eat 2-3 kg of potatoes, boiled with peel in plenty of water. Potatoes are mashed in broth and eaten with the peel. Do not take any other food during this time. To eat potatoes with skin, you need to cook it for a long time.
Mashed potatoes or gruel from raw potatoes relieve swelling, if applied to them 3 times a day in the form of compresses.
Steam from boiled unpeeled (in uniform) potatoes as inhalations treat respiratory diseases, accompanied by cough, runny nose and headache.
To lengthen the session, i.e. not to let the pan cool down quickly, the patient throws some kind of cloth cover over his head, covering the pan as well. The effect of the treatment is quite high, because here both the volatile secretions of potatoes and the heat of water vapor act as therapeutic factors. It is important only after the inhalation session not to go out into the cold.
Warming up with potato steam is very useful for sciatica and sciatica.
Pour 1 liter of water with one medium-sized potato, one medium-sized onion and an apple, cook until the water is reduced by half. Drink 3 times a day for 1 tsp. with chronic cough.
Potatoes with a greenish thick layer are peeled, which are finely chopped. A crushed, fresh, mushy mass is applied as a compress to damaged ligaments, muscles, tendons.
Cut long potato sprouts into small slices of 0.5 cm and dry in a dark, well-ventilated area. Put 200 g of these sprouts in a glass mortar, pour 200 ml of 70% alcohol, close tightly, insist in a dark place for 8 days, periodically shaking the contents, strain, squeeze. Store in a dark cool place. For various oncological diseases, take 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals (drip tincture in 1/2 cup of warm water, starting with 1 drop, bring the intake to 25 drops and continue to take them in this amount).
Dry the potato flowers in the shade. Brew in 0.5 liters of boiling water 1 tbsp. l. flowers, insist in a thermos for 3-4 hours. Drink 1/2 cup 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals for various malignant neoplasms. The course of treatment - 4 liters of infusion.
A decoction of flowers is used to lower blood pressure and stimulate respiration.

Contraindications

In the light, under the skin of tubers, glycoalkaloids accumulate, which can cause poisoning for humans and animals; during cooking, these compounds partially pass into water.
Potato berries containing solanine are also poisonous. This alkaloid is formed in leaves, young shoots, fruits and skins, especially during long-term storage. Children who have eaten potato berries experience severe poisoning, scratching in the throat, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and hand trembling. When providing first aid, it is necessary to wash the stomach, before the doctor arrives, give them sour or fresh milk or egg white.
It is impossible to prepare juice from tubers that have turned green and contain sprouted eyes - this is very dangerous.
In cases where livestock graze in potato fields and animals eat green leaves and fruits, they may experience vomiting, severe poisoning, convulsions, and disturbances in the functioning of the cardiac and respiratory systems.
Poisonous substances are formed only in this greenish surface part of the tuber, not penetrating into the depth at all. Therefore, you should not throw away green potatoes, it is enough to cut off only the green parts (they, as a rule, occupy a small fraction of the total mass).
The white shoots of potatoes are also poisonous, so when cooking potatoes “in their uniforms”, the shoots must be broken off.

A bit of history

There are about 200 wild and cultivated potato species, growing mainly in South and Central America. There are two main cultural species: Indian (since ancient times grown in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia) and Chilean (homeland - Central Chile), which are widespread in countries with a temperate climate. Potatoes began to be cultivated about 14 thousand years ago by the Indians of South America, and they were brought to Europe around 1565. Potatoes came to Russia thanks to Peter I, who sent a bag of tubers from Holland in 1698. As a result of the violent tsarist measures to introduce potato crops in 1834-1844, unrest among the peasants of the Vyatka and Vladimir provinces, the regions of the Urals, the Lower and Middle Volga regions took place.

Conspiracy faces

Photos and illustrations

Potato

Name: Potato.

Latin name: Solanum tuberosum L.

Family: Nightshade (Solanaceae).

Lifespan: Annual cultivated and perennial wild.

plant type: Herbaceous tuber-forming plant.

Trunk (stem): There are several stems, they are erect or ascending, ribbed, branched.

Height: 60-100 cm.

Leaves: Leaves intermittently pinnate, with 7-11 ovate leaflets.

Flowers, inflorescences: Flowers regular, in apical whorls; corolla with fused petals, white, pale pink or purple.

flowering time: Blooms in June-July.

Fruit: The fruit is a berry.

plant history: Hard to find more irreplaceable plant, and even with such an unusual biography! The name "potato" came to us from Germany, and the potato itself comes from South America. The ancient Indians introduced potatoes into the culture about 14 thousand years ago. They ate it, considered it a spiritualized being, and worshiped it in every possible way.
The history of the emergence of potatoes in Europe is extremely curious. On the ship of the Spanish conquistadors, the first conquerors of South America, the boy Pedro Chiesa de Leon secretly got to Peru. Finding yourself in distant land, he did his best to find out how they live, what its "bronze" inhabitants eat and wrote down his observations. And in 1533, in the Spanish city of Seville, Pedro Chiesa's book "The Chronicle of Peru" was published, in which we find the first mention of potatoes. The Spanish sailors tasted it first, and then it came to Italy, and from there it spread to some countries. But at first it was recognized only as an ornamental plant. Hair was decorated with flowers, bouquets were made from them. Its use as a food plant was hampered by the fact that its fruits contain the poisonous substance solanine, which sometimes causes general poisoning of the body. Hence the erroneous opinion arose that the potato is poisonous, and the peasants called it the "devil's apple."
Peter I brought potatoes to Russia in the first half of the 18th century from Germany and ordered them to be sent to all regions and promoted in every possible way. The population was hostile to potatoes (there were even potato riots). And it took almost 100 years until potatoes in Russia began to be grown on an industrial scale.
The introduction of potatoes in Europe has become a powerful weapon in the fight against scurvy epidemics - this disease has practically disappeared on the continent. Such an unexpected effect is explained by the fact that the diet of the population was enriched with dishes from potatoes, which are a source of vitamin C. And now it is precisely established that we get half of the vitamin C necessary for the body with potatoes.

Spreading: In Russia and Ukraine, potatoes are a valuable food, industrial and fodder crop.

Use in cosmetics: If you do not want to use it for cooking (and in vain), then use it to wash your hands in the morning and before bed. In a week you will not recognize your hands - the skin will become soft, tender, peeling will disappear. This procedure is especially good after long work in cold water and when working with washing powders. Only after washing do not dry your hands with a towel, but let the water dry on your hands.
In cosmetic practice, mashed raw or boiled potatoes are added to nourishing masks (for dry skin, sunburn etc.).

medicinal parts: Red potato tubers are used. In folk medicine, the flowers of the plant are also used.

Useful content: Red potato tubers and flowers are used for medicinal purposes.
The chemical composition of the vegetable is varied. This is a unique set of human body organic and inorganic compounds, which are also presented in favorable proportions. Potato protein has a high biological value and contains most of the amino acids needed to build our body's proteins. Polysaccharides are mainly represented by starch (20-40%), pectins, fiber, there is fructose, glucose, sucrose. Of the mineral salts, potassium and phosphorus predominate, but there are others - iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, nickel, cobalt, iodine. In addition to vitamin C, it contains B1, B2, B6, B9, PP, D, K, E, folic acid. The tubers contain carotene, sterols, organic acids. All organs of the plant contain solanine, and most of all in flowers. With prolonged illumination of the tubers (from which they turn green) or during germination, a large amount of solanine is also formed in them - they are not suitable for food. Compared to other root crops and tubers, potatoes contain less coarse nutritional fiber, and more pectin. Therefore, most potato dishes do not burden the motor function of the stomach and are relatively quickly evacuated from it into the intestines.
Therefore, so often they talk about potatoes, which chemical composition it approaches bread, and in terms of the richness of vitamins and minerals - to greens.
The calorie value of 1 kg of potatoes is 800-1000 kcal, that is, almost 3 times more than most other vegetables. We meet half of the daily requirement of vitamin C at the expense of potatoes. This is especially important in winter and spring, since potatoes do not lose their properties during storage. nutrients and vitamins. No wonder they say: "Potatoes are the second bread."
There is a lot of protein in potatoes, and it is essential that it is easily absorbed by the body. It contains almost all essential amino acids. The amino acid composition is comparable to that of mother's milk. The dietary significance of a protein is increased by its properties such as the ability, firstly, to make it especially desirable as a side dish to meat dishes, secondly, to suppress the activity of gastric protein enzymes (thrombin, etc.).
There is much more potassium in potatoes than in bread, meat, and fish. It reduces the content of ammonia in the cells, reduces the level of carbon dioxide in the blood. Being a sodium antagonist, it regulates water metabolism. The need for potassium increases significantly with various injuries, diarrhea, vomiting, increased consumption table salt, mental and physical stress. It is potassium that determines the high diuretic properties of potatoes and prevents the appearance of edema. Therefore, potatoes are indispensable as a source of potassium for the elderly, especially during the summer period of negative potassium balance, as well as for children who are extremely mobile. The daily requirement can be met by eating 500 grams of potatoes.
Iron and copper contained in potatoes are very important for the body. To avoid anemia due to a lack of iron, you should follow the daily intake of its intake in the body - 15 mg. With the help of only potatoes, we can fill 20, or even all 60% of our need for iron. Copper combined with nickel contained in potatoes increase the vitality of leukocytes, help burn blood sugar, and prevent the formation of malignant tumors.
Manganese, which we get almost 30% from potatoes, is involved in fat metabolism. According to the content of this element, potatoes are superior only to carrots and, slightly, parsley.
Due to the potato, you can satisfy the daily need of the body for vitamin C, which reduces muscle fatigue, enhances the body's defense reactions.
Vitamin B1 occupies a leading place in potatoes: 100 grams of it contains 100-200 mg, that is, more than cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots, apples. It is able to relieve physical and, more importantly, nervous tension. This vitamin tends to neutralize poisons, even such strong ones as potassium cyanide. It also neutralizes many carcinogens in the body.
Vitamins B2 and B6 are found in abundance in potatoes. According to the content of the latter - pyridoxine - potatoes occupies one of the leading places after yeast and spinach. Pyridoxine neutralizes various harmful substances, prevents caries and various skin diseases. The need for all B vitamins especially increases with nervous tension - stress. This is where potatoes can help.
Fiber, which in tubers has a minimal amount compared to other vegetables, has the ability to remove cholesterol from the body and activate beneficial microflora in the intestines.
A few words about how to cook this vegetable in order to preserve all the valuable substances in it. Almost all tuber vitamins are water soluble. Therefore, it is undesirable to boil potatoes in a large amount of water - a significant part of this wealth passes into it. Many housewives throw away the liquid in which potatoes are boiled instead of using it to make soups and sauces. Moreover, you should not keep peeled potatoes in cold water for a long time: the most valuable substances pass into the water, and we lose the main vitamins and minerals. When cooking potatoes, it is better to immerse them in hot water or boiling soup - at the same time, they will cook faster and retain more vitamins.
Another way to preserve the precious qualities of a vegetable is to peel it as thinly as possible. After all, proteins, vitamins and minerals concentrated near the outer layer of the tuber, and the closer to the center, the less they are. It is often recommended to use a jacketed or baked potato to keep the maximum useful substances.
Remember, do not throw out the water in which the potatoes were boiled!

Actions: Juice from potato tubers has antacid, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, antispasmodic and diuretic properties. It helps lower blood pressure, normalizes bowel function.

Application potato juice gives a positive effect in gastritis and peptic ulcer, accompanied by increased secretion of gastric juice, with spastic constipation and dyspepsia, as well as headache attacks. Side effects in the treatment of raw potato juice are not marked.

Grated raw potatoes widely used in dermatology and cosmetics: they treat pustular eczema, pyoderma, dermatitis, burns, purulent wounds, leg ulcers and other ulcerative skin diseases.

Potato is a raw material for the production of starch, glucose, alcohol and lactic acid, which are widely used in medical practice.

Starch is taken orally as an enveloping agent for poisoning to protect the gastric mucosa, sometimes using an enema for this. In the form of jelly, it is applied after the release of the stomach.

Recently, the attention of researchers has been attracted by the aerial part of the plant as a source of the alkaloid solanine, according to chemical structure close to corticosteroids and cardiac glycosides. In large doses, solanine causes severe poisoning, and in small doses it causes a persistent and prolonged decrease in blood pressure, increases the amplitude and reduces the heart rate, and has anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-allergic effects. This indicates that it is no coincidence that the infusion of flowers in folk medicine is used as a means of lowering blood pressure and stimulating breathing.

Dosage forms:

potato juice . To obtain juice, washed and wiped dry tubers, without sprouts and green areas containing an increased amount of solanine, together with the peel are rubbed on a grater or passed through a meat grinder, then squeezed through 2 layers of gauze.

Healing recipes:

raw potatoes . In case of a leg ulcer, a layer of grated raw potatoes 0.5-1 cm thick is placed on the entire affected surface, covered with a napkin of 6-8 layers of gauze, left in this state for 4-5 hours, periodically moistening the bandage with potato juice. Provided that such a procedure is carried out daily, ulcers epithelialize in approximately 3 weeks.

raw juice drink about 1/2 cup 3 times a day (on an empty stomach, before lunch and before dinner) for 2-3 weeks, repeating the course of treatment after a week break. Stop during juice treatment drug treatment, physiotherapeutic procedures, keep a sparing diet. In autumn and spring, when an exacerbation of peptic ulcer is most likely, for the purpose of prevention, it is recommended to drink raw potato juice for 2 weeks (the dose can be reduced by half).

potato tubers recommended for the treatment of hemorrhoids and anal fissures. To do this, a finger-thick candle with a blunt end is cut out of a raw potato and inserted into the anus. Can be kept all night. In the morning, the candle will come out with feces or with slight straining. At the same time, grated raw potatoes are applied to the anus in the form of a tampon.

sexual excitement.

tubers baked with peel and boiled.

Get well!

Potato, or tuberous nightshade, is a perennial tuberous plant from the flowering department, the dicotyledonous class, the solanaceous order, the nightshade family, the nightshade genus.

The name "potato" (lat. Solanum tuberosum), under which today's layman knows this plant (vegetable), was proposed by Kaspar Baugin in 1596. Italians, due to the external similarity of fruiting bodies with potato tubers began to call them "tartuffolli" or "tartofel". From this word, the German version of the name of the underground fruits "Kartoffel" was formed, which gave the Russian name.

Potatoes - description and appearance. The structure of plants and vegetables.

The number of stems per plant ranges from 4 to 8-10. Their height, depending on the variety of potatoes, may not exceed 30 cm or reach 1.5 meters. On erect fleshy stems of green (sometimes with a brown tint) color, peculiar ribs are clearly distinguished. Dark green potato leaves on short petioles rise in a spiral form from the base to the top.

From the part of the potato stem immersed in the ground, shoots (stolons) diverge in different directions, the length of which can reach 0.5 m. Potato tubers are located at their ends, the thin outer shell of which is formed by cork tissue. On their surface there are depressions called eyes. They contain several buds, from which a new plant develops. The flowers of the plant, collected at the top of the stems, are usually white. However, there are varieties with pink, blue or purple flowers. Below you can see what a potato stalk looks like, as well as the detailed structure of a potato.

The aerial fruit of the potato is poisonous berry green, shaped like a miniature tomato. As it matures, it acquires a whitish hue.

The appearance, weight, color of the top layer of the potato tuber and its pulp differ depending on the cultivar. Tuber skin can be dyed various shades brown, yellow, pink or purple. Therefore, to the question of what color the potato is, it will not be possible to give a definite answer.

The flesh of a potato when cut is usually white, but there are varieties with a dark yellow, cream or even purple, blue and pink color.

The shape of potato tubers is round, oblong, spherical or abstract, with protrusions and irregularities, and the weight of individual specimens can reach 1 kg or more.

Potato varieties - photo and description.

Today, approximately 5,000 varieties of potatoes are known. Of these, 260 are recommended for breeding in large farms and for private use in Russia.

By practical application All varieties are divided into the following groups:

"Felox" - a variety of table potatoes with elongated tubers weighing up to 110 g. The flesh is colored light yellow, the skin is darker.

"Red Scarlett" - a variety of potatoes with oval tubers weighing up to 85 g. One bush contains up to 23 potatoes with smooth red skin and yellow flesh.

"Nevsky" - potatoes with oval-shaped tubers with pink eyes and weighing up to 130 g. Upper layer and pulp white color.

"Vitalot" - a variety of purple potatoes, has oblong-shaped tubers up to 10 cm long. It ripens late and has a low yield, so it is not grown commercially.

Technical varieties of potatoes- used as raw material industrial production alcohol and starch. The starch content in tubers exceeds 18%. The most commonly grown varieties are:

"Accent" - with large potatoes with a smooth yellow surface and light creamy flesh.

"Alpinist" - medium-sized potatoes. The peel of yellow color is covered with a fine mesh with numerous small eyes. Tuber on the cut cream color.

"Vytok" - under one bush there can be up to 10 potatoes weighing about 135 g. The surface of the yellow peel is covered with a rare mesh. The flesh is cream colored.

Forage varieties of potatoes are used as feed for livestock. characteristic feature fodder potatoes is an increased content of proteins, reaching 3%. Among them are the following varieties:

"Woltman" is a fodder potato variety that has red tubers with numerous bright eyes and white flesh. They have an irregular shape.

"Lorch" - oblong tubers covered with a smooth skin beige colour, have white pulp with protein content up to 2.2% and vitamin C up to 18%. Numerous shallow eyes are located over the entire surface of the tuber.

Universal varieties of potatoes occupy an intermediate position between table varieties and potatoes intended for technical use.

"Berlichingen" - a variety of potatoes with red oval tubers. The peel is strong and thick with superficial eyes. The flesh is white and darkens when cooked.

"Arosa" - a variety with oval reddish tubers and yellow flesh. Spreading stems with red-violet corollas.

"Sante" - has oval-shaped tubers with skin and flesh of light yellow color.

"Lasunok" - its medium-sized oval-shaped tubers with a mesh peel of light yellow color and creamy flesh.

Potato maturity.

There is a classification of potatoes according to the timing of its ripening:

Early varieties of potatoes. Maturity early potato occurs after 50-60 days, so it is practically not intended for long-term storage. The following varieties are popular:
- Minerva;
- Ariel;
- Felox;
- Red Scarlett and others.
Medium early potato varieties. To receive good harvest medium early potatoes planting material germinated in advance. The duration of the ripening period of this species is up to 80 days. The most popular varieties are:
- Carat;
- Santa;
- Adretta, etc.
Mid-season potato varieties. The duration of the growing season of mid-ripening potatoes reaches 100 days. in great demand the following varieties are used:
- Nevsky;
- Altair;
- Betina;
- Rosinka and others.
Medium late and late potato varieties. The ripening period is from 100 to 120 days. It is designed for long term storage. It is possible to plant such planting material without pre-germination. Good results are obtained by planting such popular varieties as:
- Bernadette;
- Berlinger;
- Folva;
- Accent;
- Slavyanka, etc.

Potato- a type of perennial tuberous herbaceous plants from the genus Solanum. Potato tubers are important food product, unlike poisonous fruits. Potato tubers tend to turn green when stored in the light, which is an indicator of an increased content of solanine in them. Eating one green tuber along with the peel can lead to serious poisoning. Another indicator of high levels of poison in potatoes is a bitter taste.

Poisonous potato fruits

potato tubers

The Russian word "potato" comes from him. Kartoffel, which, in turn, came from the Italian. tartufo, tartufolo- truffle. Potatoes are propagated vegetatively - by small tubers or parts of tubers. They are planted at a depth of 5 to 10 cm. Germination of tuber buds in the soil begins at 5-8 °C ( optimum temperature for potato germination 15-20 °C). AT vivo there are about 10 varieties of potato species. homeland of the potato South America where you can still find wild potatoes. The introduction of potatoes into culture (first by exploiting wild thickets) began about 9-7 thousand years ago in the territory of modern Bolivia. The Indians not only ate the potato, but also worshiped it, considering it to be an animated being. It is claimed that the Inca calendar had the following way of determining daytime: the time spent on boiling potatoes served as a measure - which was approximately equal to one hour. That is, in Peru they said: as much time has passed as it would take to cook a potato dish.

Axo-mama, Inca goddess of the potato

Potatoes were first brought to Europe (Spain), probably by a Spanish priest, historian and geographer. Cieza de Leon in 1551, on his return from Peru. The first evidence of the use of potatoes in food also refers to Spain: in 1573 it is listed among the products purchased for the hospital Blood of Jesus in Seville. Later, the culture spread to Italy, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain and other European countries. At first, the potato was adopted in Europe as an ornamental plant, and poisonous. Finally proved that potatoes have high taste and nutritional qualities, French agronomist Antoine-Auguste Parmentier(1737-1813). With his filing began the penetration of potatoes in the provinces of France, and then other countries. Even during the life of Parmentier, this made it possible to defeat the previously frequent famine in France and bring out scurvy. Several dishes are named after Parmentier, the main ingredient of which is potatoes.

Parmentier casserole with potatoes and minced meat

It is interesting that, precisely, the failure of the potato harvest, provoked by the influence of a pathogenic microorganism, became one of the causes of the mass famine that struck Ireland in the middle of the 19th century and spurred the emigration of the population to America. The Imperial Free Economic Society associated the appearance of potatoes in Russia with the name of Peter I, who at the end of the 17th century sent a bag of tubers from Holland to the capital, allegedly for distribution to the provinces for cultivation. Nevertheless, throughout the 18th century, potatoes were mostly served only in aristocratic homes. Due to pretty frequent cases poisoning with the fruits of the "devil's apple" the peasant population did not accept potatoes.

Monks planting potatoes, photographed by Prokudin-Gorsky, 1910

In 1840-42. on the initiative of Count Pavel Kiselyov, the areas allocated for potatoes began to increase rapidly. With a circulation of 30,000 copies, free instructions on proper fit and growing potatoes. The "potato revolution" of the time of Nicholas I was crowned with success. To late XIX century in Russia, more than 1.5 million hectares were occupied by potatoes. By the beginning of the 20th century, this vegetable was already considered in Russia as a “second bread”, that is, one of the main food products.

Fragment of the painting by the artist Arkady Plastov (1893-1972) "Collecting potatoes"

Nowadays, potatoes are cultivated in a temperate climate zone around the globe; potato tubers make up a significant part of the diet of the peoples of the Northern Hemisphere (Russians, Belarusians, Poles, Canadians). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations declared 2008 " international year potatoes." In 1995, the potato became the first vegetable grown in space.

Potato tubers mainly consist of water (about 76%) and starch (about 18%), and also contain sugars, protein, mineral salts and vitamins in small amounts. Everyone knows about the wide use of potatoes in cooking. Potatoes are boiled both peeled and unpeeled ("in uniform"), which allows you to save a maximum of useful substances. It is also cooked on coals or steamed, stewed, deep-fried and without it. Potatoes are used both in simple and in gourmet dishes- for making potato salad, mashed potatoes, soups, snacks like chips, digestifs and even desserts.

Variety of potato dishes

Traditionally, fresh tubers are used in cooking, but recently there has been an increase in the proportion of canned and (chemically) processed products in Western countries. The energy value of one hundred grams of boiled potatoes in their skins is 76 kilocalories, which is equivalent to a similar amount of corn porridge, a banana, but loses an equal amount of dry beans, pasta, rice and bread. The energy value of potatoes cooked in fat increases many times over (up to 7 times for chips). The reason for this phenomenon is the absorption of fats by potatoes, as well as partial loss of water. And prolonged heat treatment in the presence of fat, especially deep-frying, can lead to the formation of acrylamide, a known carcinogen.

Despite the appetizing, deep-fried potatoes cannot be called healthy.

Cooking in water results in the loss of water-soluble substances, in particular vitamin C, especially when boiling peeled potatoes. When cooked for 25-30 minutes in boiling water, peeled potatoes lose up to 40% of vitamin C, unpeeled - up to 10% (in the latter case, the content of vitamin C is 13 mg per 100 g of potatoes). Other cooking methods have an even greater effect on the content of B and C vitamins; mashed potatoes lose up to 80%, a deep-fried dish loses 60% of vitamin C.

Most recipes for potato dishes require pre-cleaning of the tubers. The skin and eyes contain the alkaloid solanine. Cleaning allows you to get rid of it, as well as unripe parts of the tuber. The nutrient and vitamin content of potatoes largely depends on the cooking method. The content of vitamins is determined, first of all, by the method of heat treatment. Therefore, the correct choice of the method of preparation is an indispensable condition for the preparation of a nutritious and delicious dish from potatoes. One of the recipes for a traditional Russian dish - pancakes - involves the use of potatoes instead of flour. They also bake potato bread. In modern Iceland, vodka made from potatoes is popular.

potato bread

With a standard diet, potatoes are one of the main suppliers of potassium to the body. However, in order to preserve the valuable substances contained in it, you need to learn how to cook it correctly. Cooking potatoes is recommended in a small amount of water: when cooking, most of the vitamins pass into it. Also, before cooking, do not keep potatoes in water for a long time. After long storage in the light, the tubers turn green and become toxic, unsuitable for consumption.

Bavarian potato dumpling during cooking

Fresh tuber juice and potato starch are used as an enveloping and anti-inflammatory agent for gastrointestinal diseases: stomach and duodenal ulcers, as well as gastritis with high acidity of gastric juice. With heartburn, it is useful to eat finely chopped raw potatoes. With eye burns from ultraviolet radiation from welding, applying raw potatoes (chopped or grated) to the eyelids helps.

Korean-made face mask

In folk medicine, grated fresh potatoes are used for eczema and other skin lesions. Hot boiled mashed potato tubers are used for diseases of the upper respiratory tract and lungs. In this case, inhaling steam from hot, freshly boiled potatoes gives a quick positive result. Potato is widely used in home cosmetics. From it make nourishing masks for the skin of the face and hands. Starch is also obtained from potatoes.

In 2005, China was the leader in potato production, Russia and India were in 2nd place with a noticeable lag. And in terms of production per capita - Belarus.