POTATO:
Potato is one of the most popular vegetables having a higher production rate in comparison to other vegetables.
It can be cooked with any vegetable to make it tasty. Potato is counted fourth biggest food crop after Wheat, Rice, and Maize.
Potato is cheap to grow relatively and rich in nutrients.
HISTORY:
The potato was first cultivated for food in South America by the Incas as early as 1,800 years ago. Potatoes were introduced in Europe during the second half of the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, it was a major crop in continental Europe, particularly in Germany. It continued to spread in both Eastern & Western.
BENEFITS:
Intake of fruits and vegetables can benefit health. Potatoes carry important nutrients that can variously benefit human health.
Let’s look at some ways in which the potato might contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
- Bone Health: Potato contains nutrients like iron, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and zinc they help the body to build & maintain bone structure and strength.
Phosphorus and calcium both are essential in bone structure, iron, and zinc play key roles in the production and maturation of collagen.
- Blood Pressure: To maintain healthy blood pressure it is very important to have a low sodium intake in your diet, but having a potassium intake may be just as important. Potassium encourages vasodilation or the widening of vessels. Potassium, calcium, and magnesium are found to decrease blood pressure naturally and they are all present in potatoes.
- Heart Health: Research based on the ‘National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey’ says that a higher intake of potassium & lower intake of sodium reduces the risk of all-cause mortality and heart disease. Potatoes hold notable amounts of fiber. It helps lower the amount of cholesterol in the blood, thereby decreasing the risk of heart disease.
- Weight Management: Potatoes contain dietary fibers which are commonly known as important factors in weight management & and weight loss. They increase satiety and reduce appetite so a person feels fuller and is less likely to consume more calories.
- Skin: collagen is known for the skin’s support system. Vitamin C works as an antioxidant to help prevent damages caused by sun and pollution it also helps collagen to improve overall skin texture.
- Cancer: potatoes carry folate. It plays an important role in DNA synthesis and repair. So it repels many types of cancer cells forming due to mutations in the DNA.
NUTRITION:
How beneficial a potato is in the diet depends on how a human is consuming it when cooked in oil or butter adds calories, but the plain potato itself is relatively low in calories. Different varieties of potatoes provide slightly different nutrients.
A 100 gram (g) is a little more than a half of medium-sized potato when baked with skin carries:
- 38 micrograms of folate.
- 0 grams of cholesterol
- 94 calories
- 15 grams of fat
- 10 grams of protein
- 1 grams of fiber
- 6 mg of vitamin C
- 27 mg of magnesium
- 75 mg of phosphorus
- 544 mg of potassium
- 10 mg of calcium
- 08 grams of carbohydrate
- 15 grams of fat
Potatoes also give choline, zinc, and niacin.
STORAGE:
Potatoes should be stored between 7 and 10 degrees Celcius, in a dark, dry environment such as a pantry. In sunlight, the formation of solanine can be caused which turns the potatoes green. It is toxic.
The shelf life of fully grown potatoes is up to 2 months but spoiled potatoes can affect other potatoes. Potatoes should not be stored in the refrigerator as it causes their starch content to be converted to sugar which gives an unpleasant taste.
COOKING:
We can cook potatoes in many ways. The vitamin and fiber content of potatoes is mostly in the skin so it is good to eat them with the skin left on.
RECIPE:
There are so many recipes for potatoes available. Try this recipe of potatoes it is healthy, yummy, and very easy to cook.
BAKED POTATOES
INGREDIENTS:
Yield: 4 servings
- Potatoes (Large) 4
- Olive oil 1 teaspoon
- Unsalted butter 4 tablespoons
- Black pepper 1 teaspoon
- Salt According to taste
PREPARATION:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Step 2: Scrub Potatoes under running water when dry rub the skin of each with oil and a little salt. Pierce the skin of each in three or four places with the tines of a fork.
Step 3: Place Potatoes in the oven and roast them for 45 minutes or until they offer no resistance when a knife is inserted.
Step 4: Remove the potatoes from the oven, slice them open down the middle, apply butter and sprinkle black pepper on each one, and serve them immediately.
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