What Part of the Potato Plant Do You Eat?

With more than 100 varieties, potatoes are an important food in diets worldwide. Potatoes were domesticated in Peru nearly 8,000 years ago and are popular vegetables in home gardens.

Eating Potatoes

• The part of the potato plant used for consumption is a form of a root known as a tuber. Tubers are swollen, underground storage stems for the potato plant. Leaves and other above-ground parts of potato plants are poisonous and should not be consumed.

Growing Potatoes

• Potatoes are cool-season vegetables, and tubers form best when soil temperatures are between 60 degrees and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Soil temperatures higher than 80 degrees inhibit tuber formation.

Fun Fact

• Gardeners occasionally find small, round, green tomato-like fruits on their potato plants. These are the actual fruit of the potato plant. Some varieties---Yukon Gold, for example---form more fruit than others. Fruits are not edible. They contain solanine, a poisonous alkaloid also found in the rest of the plant.