Potato papa or Solanum tuberosum,what is the fame of the Potato except Potato famines and more...

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Nutritional Value and Phytochemicals of Potato.

Potato Extract INCI Name Solanum Tuberosum Extract CAS 90083-08-2 EINECS ELINCS No 290-202-7 Irish potato tubers photo picture image Active Principles Abundant starch: amilopectina (more of 80%), beta-amilosa, tropea, mineral salts, oligoelementos, tannins. Alkaloids: heteridos of the solanidina (plans), that appears when enverdece by solar irradiation or when germinating.

 Man knew nutritional value of potato (solanum tuberosum) from the time of Inca civilisation. For the peasant the introduction of the potato was a great blessing since it provided a cheap alternative crop to cereals. In our time this is one of the foodstuff liked by all. Potato is popular among all age groups, sexes, races and economic classes. Potato is also known as alu (Hindi, Oriya and Punjabi), gal alu (Bengal), alu gaddalu (Telungu) and urula kizangu (Malayalam and Tamil). Potato form major part in so called Junk foods.

 Water content of potatoes is about 74 to 75 percent and it gives 97 kcal per 100 gms. Potatoes are good sources of carbohydrate (22.6 gms / 100 gm ) and only 1.6gms of protein for 100 gms. Since potatoes have high carbohydrate content, people on weight reducing diet and diabetes should avoid or limit the intake. The ability of the food item to rise the blood sugar is measured in terms of glycemic index. The glycemic index of new or boiled potato is 81. The fat content is less in potato.

 Content of minerals and water soluble B group vitamins in potatoes is small but significant. The vitamin C content of freshly dug potato is high being 30mg per 100 gm but is reduced to 8 mg after storage of 9 months. Cooking potatoes unpeeled conserves most of the vitamin B, C and salts. Peeling a potato and cutting it into pieces before it is boiled reduces its vitamin content considerably. If cooked potatoes are reheated there is a further loss of vitamins.

 The sodium content of potato is less but it is rich in potassium content. Potato, due to the above nutritional property helps in keeping blood pressure low. The magnesium present in the potato also exerts a beneficial effect in lowering blood pressure. The other use of magnesium is that it prevents calcification of tissue like kidney and in over coming formation of stones in the bladder.

 The most popular form of potato among the youngsters is potato chips. Even though potato has less fat and sodium, in chips both are more due to the way we cook. Among the chips finger chips will have less fat and sodium content than thin wafers. These preparations are not advisable for people who are having high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease, renal diseases or obese people.

 The potato cell has a cellulose envelope, which is broken down on cooking allowing digestion of starch by intestinal juices. It is easy to digest and hence smashed potatoes can be given even to young infants and invalid. Potato form an alkaline food which is good for people suffering from hyper acidity. It is used in many dishes as a binding agent. Potato has its use in beauty care. Potato face pack is good for the skin especially for dry pigmented skin.

 Solanine and chaconin are alkaloid present in green and sprouted potatoes. Consumption of these alkaloids in excess can be poisonous. 100 gm of potato has normally less than 7mg. The maximum permissible is 20 -25 mg per 100 gm fresh potato weight. So green patches present in potato if any must be discarded. The toxicity is more when it is eaten as baked potato and this is less likely when boiled and peeled. The toxic symptoms are headache, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and even circulatory collapse. Other rare symptoms are mental confusion, stupor and hallucination. Solanine can cause rarely migraine or drowsiness in sensitive people even when eaten in small quantity.
 Potatoes are good sources of carbohydrate.
 It is a useful source of vitamin C.
 It is good for high blood pressure patient.
 Potatoes are good for hyper acidity patient.
 It can be given to infants and invalids since it is easy to digest.
 Green part of potato has toxin, so this part should be discarded.
 It can be used as a facemask.

Nutritional Profile Table:

Content Per 100 gms of potato Content Per 100 gms of potato
Energy 97 kcal Carbohydrate 22.6 gm
Protein 1.6 gm Fat 0.1 gm
Fibre 0.6 gm Calcium 10 mg
Phosphorus 40 mg Iron 0.48 mg
Vitamin C 17 mg Vitamin B1 0.1 mg
Vitamin B2 0.01 mg Niacin 1.2 mg
Magnesium 30 mg Sodium 11 mg
Potassium 247 mg

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citations1.Potato papa or Solanum tuberosum,what is the fame of the Potato except Potato famines and more...

last edit date:9th,June.2009.