Today I will talk about a discovery that, although very common, is responsible for the rapid progress of human civilization. That discovery is the potato. Can't believe it? Then I will tell in detail.
The potatoes you eat were naturally very toxic and inedible to humans. Potatoes are a member of the Solanaceae family and the Romans used to prepare poison from the nightshade of this family. The potato we eat produces a glycoalkaloid called solanine which is very toxic. If you try to eat anything other than potato from the potato plant, you have to pick up the pot. For this reason, cows and goats do not eat potato leaves. If the potatoes are properly cultivated and stored away from sunlight, then the amount of glycoalkaloids in the potatoes is enough for human consumption. But if left in the sun, the skin of the potato will turn green and the call will start coming out, then that potato may be your last potato.
So the question is, how do potatoes become edible?
Genetic testing has shown that wild potatoes make humans edible through selective breeding, from the Solanum brevicaule 7,000 to 100,000 years ago, in South America, southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia.
It is thought that in the Andes Mountains at an altitude of 3,000-4,000 meters, people could not grow grain because of the climate and the soil. Then they find a way to get the poison out of the predecessor of potatoes. They peeled it, trampled it with their feet, squeezed out all the water from it, and left it outside to dry. They would freeze on mountain nights. The next day, the rest of the water was taken out and left to dry again. All that could be found except running this process several times was called lime. This lime could be eaten and stored indefinitely because it would not be wasted. So this dish was ideal for hard times. Solanum brevicaule etel was also dipped in a mixture of soil, salt and water to make lime.
This lime was used to make trees again and modern potatoes were discovered through selective breeding.
You may have heard of the Inca civilization in South America. The Machu Picchu they built is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built on inaccessible hills, this city was their capital.
Machu Picchu.
The rise of this Inca civilization is for potatoes. This tree was so important to them that they worshiped potatoes. They considered the sun to be the mother of potatoes and believed that mother potato created this edible potato in her portrait. The Inca name of the potato was Papa. To the Inca, this potato was a wonderful gift because one potato contains ten potatoes buried in the ground and so it can provide food almost endlessly.
In 1535, Pedro de Ciza Leon, a Spanish concistador, first saw the potato near Lake Titicaca in Peru, and he wrote in his Chronicles of Peru,
The roots… are the size of an egg, more or less, some round, some elongated; they are white and purple and yellow, floury roots of good flavor, a delicacy to the Indian and a dainty dish even for the Spaniards. [1]
(These roots are roughly the size of an egg, some round, some oblong; white, purple, yellow; the roots taste good with powder, a delicacy for the Indians, and delicious for the Spaniards.)
Potatoes travel to Europe.
When the Spanish concistadors return to Europe they bring these potatoes, which are equally valuable with gold and silver. Potatoes arrived in Spain shortly before 1570. Potato trees are planted in the garden of a monastery in Seville. The Inca call the potato Papa, but the Spaniards named it potato from the Inca word batata. The Incas called the sweet potato batata, and the Spaniards named it potato. Although sweet potatoes are not potatoes at all, the name remains.
But at first Europeans looked at this potato with suspicion and hatred. Since there is no mention of potatoes in the Bible and they do not become potatoes from seeds, they believed that it was the devil's tree and therefore unfit for human consumption. According to the so-called experts, it was the potato that ruined the fertility of the soil. Doctors say that eating potatoes causes leprosy, syphilis and scrofula. Many countries believe that eating potatoes increases sexual arousal. Even great botanists like Linus viewed potatoes with suspicion because of their association with the poisonous nightshade of this tree.
But gradually the poor farmers started cultivating potatoes. The armies of the 17th and 18th centuries went to a village and took away all the crops and food there. Farmers had to cut the crop and store it otherwise it would be wasted in the field so they were looking for a way to escape from this nuisance. Potatoes were the answer to this problem. Potatoes can be left in the field and eaten straight, not spoiled. So they started cultivating potatoes and when the soldiers came to fetch food, the farmers would grab their spades and ask them to take them themselves. No one was willing to cultivate potatoes after the war, so needless to say, as a result, potatoes became very popular among the farmers.
In the late 1700s, Europeans began to cultivate potatoes extensively and it became a landmark in food. Antoine Parmentier persuades Louis XIV of France to plant potatoes in the Sahi garden. The farmers saw this as the potato was the food of the kings and they started banging it from the garden and as a result the potato spread all over France. German Emperor Friedrich the Great and King Otto I of Greece told the people of the kingdom to cultivate potatoes to save them from famine.
As food supplies increase, so does the population in Europe. Between 1590 and 1845, the population of Ireland increased from 10 million to 80 million. But due to the small genetic differences in the potato plant, a fungus called Late Blight spread rapidly in Ireland in 1845 and the Great Famine appeared. This change lasted until 1852, when Ireland's population declined by 20% to 25%. 10 million people died in this manbantra and 20 lakh people migrated. This huge number of refugees work as factory workers needed for the industrial revolution. This enabled European powers to establish colonies in Asia and Africa. Potatoes, therefore, directly and indirectly fueled the Industrial Revolution which facilitated colonization. Potatoes have a special contribution to make to today's world maps and power structures. Potatoes were also used in World War II to provide food for soldiers.
Crowds of refugees outside the factory during Manbantar.
Next time you eat your favorite potato boiled rice or potato chips think about this wonderful discovery. Understand the huge contribution of this grain to the progress of human civilization.
photo collected : google
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