Potatoes: Production, Consumption and Health Benefits

This book presents an overview of the cultivation of the potato, pointing out some aspects in relation to its production, consumption and importance for consumer health. The aim is to offer a glimpse of the forest rather than the single tree, but not failing to focus on "a few trees." The approach is interdisciplinary, and in this sense the history and the climatic aspects that favour cultivation are highlighted first, ideally starting with contributions on the South-America and then moving eastwards, following the diffusion of the potato in the rest of the world. Some technological aspects are then tackled linked to cultivation, harvest, postharvest, production and utilization of potatoes. Lastly some aspects are dealt with, nutritional and not, relating to the importance of potatoes on the health of the consumer.