Potato, Shelf Life : 3 Months

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) popularly known as ‘The king of vegetables’, has emerged as fourth most important food crop in India after rice, wheat and maize. Indian vegetable basket is incomplete without Potato. Because, the dry matter, edible energy and edible protein content of potato makes it nutritionally superior vegetable as well as staple food not only in our country but also throughout the world. Now, it becomes as an essential part of breakfast, lunch and dinner worldwide. Being a short duration crop, it produces more quantity of dry matter, edible energy and edible protein in lesser duration of time than cereals like rice and wheat. Hence, potato may prove to be a useful tool to achieve the nutritional security of the nation.It is believed that potato was a native of Andes in South America and gradually spread throughout the world.

Indian potato preferred world wise for its taste and meets the international quality standards in terms of disease freeness, shape, size, skin color, flesh and dry matter content. It has been revealed that, according to FAO, a potato is consumed by more than one billion people the world over. It is a high-quality vegetable cum food crop and used in preparing more than 100 types of receivers in India. The popular Indian recipes like Samosas and Alu Paranthas are prepared from potato. The protein of potato has high biological value than proteins of cereals and even better than that of milk. The biological value of the mixture of egg and potato is higher than the egg alone. Hence, a potato can be a supplement to meat and milk products for improving their taste, lowering energy intake and reducing food cost. Nutritional point of view, a potato is a wholesome food and deserves to be promoted as a potentially high-quality vegetable cum food crop in the country.

Apart from being used as a food source, potatoes have an important role to play in skincare as well. As pointed out earlier, they are rich in vitamin C which is vital for maintaining skin health. Thus, this starchy vegetable is beneficial for your skin in the following ways.

Potatoes are a natural under eye brightener and so, applying potato juice or potatoes directly on the affected area can banish dark eye rings.

• Peel and slice a raw potato into large pieces.
• Placing them in a cloth or handkerchief, stick them on your eyes for 15-20 minutes.
• Wash off with warm water.
• Doing this regularly will reduce your dark circles considerably.
• You can also apply potato juice under your eyes with a cotton ball to fade away dark circles.

Potato is considered as an effective anti-aging beauty agent, particularly in warding off wrinkles.

• Regular application of potato juice imparts a healthy glow to your skin
• It also helps to soften your skin as well as keep wrinkles at bay.

Potatoes are a natural way of fading away those dark spots.

• If you have black spots on your face, you can blend peeled potatoes in a blender
• Next, apply them to your face.
• Give a gentle massage
• Then do peeling for 5 minutes
• Once done, rinse off with clean water.

Facial blemishes adversely affect your appearance and potato juice is a great natural way to get rid of them.

• Use cold potato juice as a daily facial rinse
• This can help you get rid of your blemishes
• It will help reveal clear and perfect skin.

Potatoes are wonderful for treating sunburnt skin.

• All you need to do is place cold potato slices on the affected areas
• Alternatively, you can simply dab potato juice on the spot.
• This will give you a soothing and cooling sensation as well as diminish your suntan.

Potatoes are a natural skin lightening agent.

• Apply a mask of grated raw potato on your face and rinse off with water after 30 minutes.
• Using this on a regular basis will make your face smooth, clean and bright as well as reduce facial swelling.
• You can also apply a mixture of lemon and potato juices to lighten your skin naturally.
• This acts as mild bleach for your skin and yields quick results.

If you have dry skin, potatoes will help give you that smooth skin feeling in minutes.

• Make a face mask by mixing a grated potato with half a teaspoon of curd.
• Apply it on your face for 20 minutes and then wash it off.
• This will act as an anti-aging mask to hydrate your skin from within
• It will also help to replenish moisture into dry skin to iron out fine lines effectively.