Is potato "potato" or sweet potato? The difference explained in one go
The potato originated in the Andes region of South America. Its history of cultivation can be traced back at least to roughly 8000 to 5000 BC in southern Peru. The main producing countries include China, Russia, India, Ukraine, the United States, and others, while China is the country with the largest total potato production in the world. Now let's take a look at whether potato is "potato" or sweet potato!
Is potato "potato" or sweet potato?
Potato is "potato". Potato is one of China's five major staple foods. In different parts of China, the potato is called by different names: in the Northeast it is called "potato," in North China it is called "shanyao dan," in the Northwest it is called "yangyu," in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area it is called "yangfan yu," and in Guangdong and Hong Kong, China it is called "shuzai." It has high nutritional value, strong adaptability, and high yield, and as the world's third most important food crop, it is second only to wheat and corn. As a food, potato should not be stored for too long a period, and must be kept at low temperature, dry, and sealed.
Where are China's potato production areas?
China's main potato production areas are Dingxi City in Gansu, Guyuan City in Ningxia, the Southwest, Inner Mongolia, and the Northeast. Dingxi City in Gansu Province, with its unique geographical environment and natural conditions, has become one of the best suitable potato-growing areas in China and even the world. It has become one of the country's three major potato production areas and the country's largest virus-free seed potato breeding base, an important national commercial potato production base, and a potato products processing base, and is known as “China's potato hometown,” supplying large amounts of potatoes to provinces and cities across the country every year.
What edible benefits does potato have?
1. Supplementing nutrition: Potato is rich in vitamins and trace elements such as calcium and potassium, and is easy to digest and absorb. It is nutritious and can provide the human body with a large amount of heat energy. A person can maintain life and health on potato and whole milk alone. In European and American countries, especially North America, potato long ago became the second staple food.
2. Harmonizing the stomach and nourishing it: The cellulose contained in potato is fine and tender and has no irritating effect on the gastrointestinal mucosa, and has the effect of relieving pain or reducing gastric acid secretion. Regular consumption of potato has the effects of harmonizing the stomach, regulating the middle, strengthening the spleen, and replenishing qi. It can promote the digestive function of the spleen and stomach, and also has therapeutic effects on gastric ulcers, heat cough, and skin eczema. Regular consumption of potato can also help prevent colon cancer and so on.
3. Protecting blood vessels: Potato can supply the human body with a large amount of mucin with special protective effects, can help maintain the lubrication of the digestive tract, respiratory tract, joint cavities, and serous cavities, prevent fat deposition in the cardiovascular system and related systems, maintain the elasticity of blood vessels, and help prevent the occurrence of atherosclerosis.
4. Slowing aging: Potato is a famous anti-aging food. It is rich in B-group vitamins such as vitamin B1, B2, B6, and pantothenic acid, as well as a large amount of high-quality cellulose. It also contains trace elements, amino acids, protein, fat, and high-quality starch and other nutritional elements. People who often eat potato are healthy and age slowly.
5. Weight loss benefits: Among foods rich in dietary fiber, potato is a relatively rare food that also contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals. Every 148 grams of potato produces only 100 calories, with a true starch content of less than 2% and only 0.1% fat, and it can effectively control the intake of total fat in people's daily diet.
6. Beauty and skin care: Potato has a very good effect on caring for the skin and maintaining appearance. Fresh potato juice applied directly to the face has a very noticeable whitening effect. Human skin is prone to sunburn and tanning in the hot summer, and it has an obvious effect on removing dark spots and no side effects. It also has a noticeable beautifying effect on the skin around the eyes.