Latest news with #potatoes
Gizmodo
6 hours ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
Potatoes Evolved From Tomatoes, Study Reveals
That's it. That's the news. Genome biologist Sanwen Huang knows a thing or two about potatoes. But his latest potato breakthrough may be his most shocking yet: potatoes are descended from tomatoes. In a Cell paper published today, Huang's team reports that the modern potato likely emerged about 9 million years ago, when tomato plants married the etuberosum, a potato-like species common to Chile. The origin of the modern potato has puzzled scientists for years, but the new results finally give plant genomists closure—while overturning a long-held belief that potatoes were solely descended from etuberosum. 'Yes, we revealed that the tomato is the mother of the potato,' Huang, a professor of agricultural genomics at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, confirmed to Gizmodo. Etuberosum, a type of wild potato, looks a lot like the potato you might find on a grocery shelf. But it lacks a key element of potato anatomy: the tuber—an extended structure of the stem or root that enables potatoes and their relatives to store nutrients and reproduce. Confusingly, however, genomic analyses suggested potatoes had much in common with tomatoes, Huang explained. This hinted to scientists that the trio—potatoes, tomatoes, and etuberosum—were related, but the link wasn't exactly clear. Until, that is, Huang's team had a wild idea and decided to run with it. What if tomatoes and potatoes really were family and not just linked by some random quirk of nature? To test their hypothesis, Huang and colleagues analyzed 450 genomes from cultivated potatoes and 56 other species of wild potatoes, constructing over 3,000 family trees to illustrate the genetic relationship between the modern potato, tomatoes, and the etuberosum. They found that 50.66% of these family trees listed tomatoes as a sister to petota, the group of wild potatoes with tubers. Next, they ran an extensive statistical analysis to compare the tree against genetic data. The team realized that the most salient scenario is that the potato is a hybrid of tomatoes and etuberosum, with the tomato contributing significantly more to the potato's genetic makeup. Most surprising of all was that the potato's key tuber-forming genes emerged as a combination of genetic material it received from each parent—despite the fact that neither tomato nor etuberosum has tubers. Specifically, tomatoes gave potatoes the gene that tells the plant to make tubers, whereas etuberosum passed on a gene that helps control the growth of tubers. This unique genetic pathway could lead to future agricultural innovations for breeding potatoes that don't develop harmful mutations, Huang added. But that's still in the works, and the potato expert hopes to explore this genetic relationship in more detail. 'Next time you eat potatoes, thank a tomato—the ancient, perhaps, mother of the potato,' Huang said. 'DNA proves they're family!'
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
EU greenlights new law easing potato imports from Egypt
Arab Finance: The European Union (EU) approved new legislation No. 1289/2025 aimed at facilitating import procedures for Egyptian potatoes, the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation announced. Mohamed El-Mensy, head of Egypt's Central Administration of Plant Quarantine (CAPQ), said this decision is expected to reduce costs and streamline global access to the Egyptian agricultural exports. El-Mensy added that the new regulation increases the permitted shipment weight and lowers the number of samples required for inspection. This will highly simplify the export procedures of Egyptian potatoes from zones free of brown rot to the EU, which will reduce the costs associated with analyzing samples upon arrival. It is worth noting that Egypt's potato exports exceeded 1.307 million tons for the first time, with the CAPQ exerting efforts to open new markets and ensure the continued flow of exports to countries globally. © 2025 All Rights Reserved Arab Finance For Information Technology Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
Egyptian agricultural exports surpass 6.240mln tons in mid-July: Farouk
Arab Finance: The total volume of Egyptian agricultural exports increased during mid-July 2025, exceeding 6.240 million tons, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Alaa Farouk announced. The recorded load is higher by 575,000 tons when compared to the same period in 2024. Based on data issued by the Central Administration of Plant Quarantine (CAPQ), citrus fruits led the list of Egyptian agricultural exports, with a total amount surpassing 1.9 million tons. Potatoes came in second place, with a quantity exceeding 1.3 million tons, followed by fresh onions with 231,894 tons. Grapes took over the fourth position with 159,477 tons, followed by sweet potatoes with 123,857 tons. The export portfolio included other items, such as beans, mango, garlic, guava, and other Egyptian crops. Farouk cited remarks of Mohamed El-Mensy, head of the CAPQ, noting that Egypt successfully opened eight new export markets for its crops: grapes, pomegranates, mangoes, potatoes, and potato seeds. The administration also entered several new global markets, including South Africa, Costa Rica, Uzbekistan, India, and the Philippines, according to El-Mensy. On July 27 th, the European Union (EU) greenlighted new legislation No. 1289/2025 aimed at facilitating import procedures for Egyptian potatoes. © 2025 All Rights Reserved Arab Finance For Information Technology Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
CTV News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
A starchy surprise: Winnipeg couple discovers cabinet filled with potato tendrils
The cabinet with the bag of potatoes with tendrils growing out of it is pictured on July 25, 2025. (Brian Hood) A Manitoba couple has gone viral after discovering a starchy surprise in one of their cabinets. It all began on Tuesday when Brian and Crystal Hood noticed a small vine sticking out of their china cabinet. At first, they assumed it was just a plant that had gotten stuck, but when they opened the doors, they found something unexpected—a large pile of strands and tendrils growing from a bag of potatoes. Potato video The vine sticking out of the cabinet pictured on July 25, 2025. (Brian Hood) 'Potatoes, when they don't get planted, they try to plant themselves,' Brian explained. 'They start growing these white tentacle-y tendrils out there and send them out into the universe. I guess these potatoes really wanted to find some soil.' It turns out the potatoes had been sitting in the cabinet since October. Brian said he gardens in his backyard, and these were part of last year's harvest that he intended to use as a seed potato for this year's batch. However, things took an unpredictable turn when Brian and Crystal forgot about the bag in the cabinet. 'We had no idea [about the potatoes],' Brian said. 'I guess we don't use that china cabinet very much, I'm starting to realize. It was a complete surprise.' Potato Video The tendrils can be seen growing from the brown paper bag filled with potatoes on July 25, 2025. (Brian Hood) After they made the discovery, the couple opted to make a video showcasing the tentacled taters. Though Brian said he doesn't use Instagram a lot, he decided to post this video because he thought it would make his mom laugh. 'She's probably one of my 50 followers,' he said. 'So that was really all I was hoping to get out of it.' Much to Brian's and Crystal's surprise, the video ended up going viral—garnering one million views and more than 43,000 likes as of Friday. 'It was kind of unbelievable,' Brian said. 'We didn't really know what was going on or why it was going that way, but I guess there's a lot of potato fans out there on the internet.' As for what Brian and Crystal have done with the bag of potatoes, he said it's still in the cabinet while they figure out what to do with it.
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spud-tacular: How India became a french fry superpower
French fries turned around the fortunes of Jitesh Patel. He comes from a family of farmers in Gujarat in the northwest of India. Traditionally they grew cotton, but the returns were poor. Droughts in 2001 and 2002 made the situation worse and the Patels knew things had to change. "We realised that we had to start growing something that does not require lot of water," Mr Patel says. So, they experimented with potatoes. Initially they tried table potatoes; the kind available in local markets and cooked at home, but the returns weren't much better than cotton. Spurred by the arrival of french fry makers in their state, in 2007 they started growing the varieties of potato used by the food industry. It turned out to be a winning strategy. "Since then, no looking back," says Mr Patel. Mr Patel is part of India's rise to potato superpower status. It is already the world's second biggest spud producer. But it's the export market, particularly of french fries, that's really flying. Gujarat has become India's capital of french fry production, home to huge factories churning out chips, including facilities belonging to Canadian giant McCain Foods and India's biggest maker of French Fries, HyFun Foods. From Gujarat fries are sent all over over the world. But the most important markets at the moment are in Asia, including the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, according to Devendra K, who has been studying the potato market for many years. In February of this year, monthly exports of Indian frozen fries broke the 20,000 tonnes barrier for the first time. In the year to February, India's fry exports totalled 181,773 tonnes, a 45% increase compared with the previous year. The success is partly down to price. "Indian frozen fries are noted for being competitively priced in the international market," says Devendra. He says that in 2024, the average price of Indian fries was even cheaper than those from China. For the french fry makers, it's boom time. "India has emerged as a significant player and exporter due to its abundant agricultural produce, cost-effective manufacturing, and growing focus on quality standards," says Haresh Karamchandani, CEO of HyFun Foods. HyFun has seven plants processing potatoes in Gujarat with another two coming online by 2026. "Urbanisation, increasing disposable incomes and changing lifestyles have promoted the consumption of frozen foods, not only in the household but also in food service establishments," says Mr Karamchandani. Meeting that demand has required decades of innovation from farmers. Jitesh Patel studied agriculture at university and has been applying science to farming ever since. Along with friends and family they are continuously trying to improve their potato yield. "We are a well educated bunch of farmers, so we keep trying new methods," he says. One of their first innovations, back in 2003, was to switch to a drip system of irrigation, rather than flooding fields with water. To keep the soil productive the fields are rested over the summer, and fertilised with cow manure. Their focus now is finding the perfect potato plant. "We are in the process of experimenting with seeds and soon we will have a new variety," he says. Jain Irrigation Systems is a large agricultural technology company. As well as selling irrigation equipment, it has teams of technicians developing seeds for agriculture, including potato plants. They use a set of techniques known as tissue culture. It's a way of cloning plants, with desirable traits and eliminating disease. It involves growing small pieces of plant tissue in a controlled laboratory environment to create virus-free plantlets. These plantlets can then be used to produce more seed potatoes through methods like taking cuttings. "Potato seeds destined for future seed production undergo meticulous breeding practices under the supervision of breeders," says Vijay Singh, vice president of marketing at the company. One issue they are tackling at the moment concerns a variety of potatoes used to make chips. Farmers found that by November the potato crop starts to go brown because of its sugar content. "Companies like us who are into tissue culture are trying to come up with a new variety to overcome the challenges that the industry is facing," says Mr Singh. While Indian farmers are working on improving their yields, investment is needed elsewhere in the frozen food industry. In particular, firms need to be able to store and transport goods at sub-zero temperatures. Modern cold storage facilities have been built, but more are needed. "Only about 10–15% of India's cold storage facilities are suitable for storing frozen foods," says Vijay Kumar Nayak, co-founder of Indo Agri Foods, an exporter of Indian food. "These facilities are unevenly distributed, heavily concentrated in a few states, leaving rural and remote regions severely underserved. Transportation is a problem as well. "There is a notable shortage of specialised refrigerated trucks and containers, making temperature-controlled transportation extremely difficult and increasing the risk of spoilage," he says. A reliable electricity supply is also essential. "Frequent power outages in many parts of the country increase the chances of spoilage and make running a reliable frozen food supply chain a daunting task," says Mr Nayak. "Indian companies face intense competition in export markets from countries like China, Thailand and Brazil. These nations benefit from more advanced logistics, infrastructure, and production systems," he points out. Back at his Gujarat farm Mr Patel is happy that the chip makers moved in. "Gujarat has become a food processing hub. Most of the farmers, including me, have become contract farmers which gives us security and good money for our yield," he says. 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