The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial
Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family (also known as the
nightshades). The word potato may refer to the plant itself as
well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are
some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes
were first introduced outside the Andes region four centuries
ago, and have become an integral part of much of the world’s
cuisine. It is the world’s fourth-largest food crop, following
rice, wheat, and maize. Long-term storage of potatoes requires
specialised care in cold warehouses. Wild potato species occur
throughout the Americas, from the United States to Uruguay. The
potato was originally believed to have been domesticated
independently in multiple locations, but later genetic testing
of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species proved a
single origin for potatoes in the area of present-day southern
Peru (from a species in the Solanum brevicaule complex), where
they were domesticated 7,000–10,0