Solanum tuberosum
Potatoes are starchy tubers and a longstanding Maine field and storage crop. Aroostook County became especially closely associated with commercial potato production.1
Potato is a New World crop, domesticated in the Andes before spreading worldwide; it belongs to the nightshade family with tomato.2
The tuber is a swollen underground stem, not a root. Its “eyes” are buds, which is why a piece of potato can grow into a new plant when it includes a live eye.3
Cooking behavior follows dry matter. Mealy potatoes pack more starch into their cells, which swell and separate into a dry, fluffy texture; waxy types hold together more firmly.4 Cold storage complicates that distinction because some starch converts to sugars below the ideal range of about 45–50°F, making fried potatoes brown too quickly and sometimes taste bitter.4
Footnotes
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University of Maine Cooperative Extension, “Food & Nutrition for the Home Gardener,” accessed July 17, 2026. ↩
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National Park Service, “American Latino Theme Study: Food,” accessed July 17, 2026. ↩
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Penn State Extension, “Potatoes in the Garden and the Kitchen,” accessed July 17, 2026. ↩
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Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, rev. ed. (Scribner, 2004), PDF p. 316. ↩ ↩2