Late potato varieties with dark purple skin. Purple Potatoes: description, yield, reviews

Potatoes are rightfully one of the most versatile vegetables in the world. Hundreds of its varieties are known and cultivated, nevertheless this vegetable continues to amaze gardeners. Purple potatoes, or blue French truffle potatoes to use their full name, are considered a delicacy and also have many health benefits.

Origin and description of culture

There is no exact information about the origin of this species. Presumably, this is one of the varieties of potatoes that has long been common in South America. The result of long-term breeding work and careful selection was the development of new fixed hybrids with the color of the tuber pulp from lilac to dark purple.

The color of purple potatoes is influenced by the percentage of anthocyanins in it - colored plant glycosides. The oblong-shaped tubers are small in size and weight - no more than 10 cm and 70 g, respectively. Most varieties are late ripening, but there are also mid- and super-early ones. The higher this indicator, the denser the tuber skin and the better the keeping quality.

Culinary processing does not change the color of dishes of the main number of varieties, but some may lose their brightness and purity of color after thermal exposure.

The following descriptions and characteristics of the most famous and tested varieties that are popular all over the world will help gardeners who want to grow such a “blue miracle” on their plots to decide and make a choice:

• Vitelotte (also called Negro and French truffle) is a late variety with a dark purple skin. The ripening period is up to 110 days, it is stored for a long time without loss. It has a characteristic rich nutty taste and does not change color when cooked. Tuber weight – 70-100 g;
• All Blue (an exact translation of the original name All Blue) is medium early, has large tubers - up to 200 g in weight. A characteristic feature of the variety is a light stripe between the pulp and the skin. Thanks to its excellent taste and dietary properties, it is quickly gaining popularity in our country;
• Explosion - got its name due to its super-early fruiting (up to 65 days). The pulp and peel are an even dark purple color. A distinctive characteristic is high resistance to diseases. Does not store well, but is good for quick consumption in any dish, including raw in salads;
• Lilac is a mid-season variety of Russian selection. Despite the small weight of the fruit (up to 80 g) and average yield, it has good shelf life and resistance to diseases (cancer and scab). Having the taste of almonds, it is considered a valuable dietary product;
• Peruvian purple (Purple Peruvian) - bred in Peru. A variety of late ripening and medium yield. As you can see in the picture, Peruvian potatoes are small in size, but their amazing taste - walnut and hazelnut at the same time - arouses the constant interest of consumers.

Useful properties and applications

Despite the same name, the purple “brother” of white potatoes has incomparably fewer harmful qualities and possesses many unique substances that are beneficial to health.

You cannot gain weight from this product unless you eat it along with fatty and flour additives. The beneficial properties of purple potatoes are the basis for the fact that in many countries they are considered a particularly valuable and dietary product.

Nevertheless, excessive passion for blue varieties can in some cases bring not only benefits, but also harm.

Benefits and contraindications

Colored varieties contain much more micro- and macroelements than ordinary ones, which do not decrease even after prolonged heat treatment. This is precisely the reason for the benefits of purple potatoes. In frozen and canned (pickled, salted) form, the vegetable retains its beneficial qualities. It is recommended in many children's diets.

Main medicinal properties of the product:

• lowers blood pressure, so much so that it is not recommended for chronic use by hypotensive patients;
• Anthocyanins, which give the crop its recognizable color, are also powerful antioxidants. They stimulate metabolic processes at the cellular level, strengthen the immune system, neutralize the harmful effects of carcinogenic substances and radio radiation on the human body, help it suppress cancer tumors, improve vision and slow down the aging process;
• contains a large amount of vitamins, especially important for the human body C and E, as well as carotenoids that affect the synthesis of vitamin A and regulate the functioning of the endocrine system;
• beneficial substances contained in blue varieties make the walls of blood vessels more elastic, which reduces the risk of developing atherosclerosis.

Practice shows that eating purple species can be harmful to hypotensive people and people with individual intolerance to the components of the product.

Use in cooking

Purple potato varieties are suitable for any type of consumption: they are boiled, stewed, fried, used in preparations with marinades, and some are eaten raw in salads.

This type of culture is starchy, and therefore, due to its strong boiling, it is better suited for making purees. Naturally, it turns out to be a rich lilac or purple hue. The original, sweetish nutty taste makes the dishes delicious.

Some varieties lose color intensity when cooked, acquiring shades from lilac to blue instead of purple.

Features of cultivation

Planting purple potatoes is possible with tubers and seeds:

• with the traditional option (tubers), the sowing time is the same as for conventional species;
• in the second case, seedlings are grown from purple potato seeds, which are planted in open ground after 1-1.5 months.

The soil is chosen to be light, and the area to be light and sunny: purple potatoes need constant access to air and light. With timely traditional processing methods, it will reward you with a high and valuable harvest.

PURPLE POTATOES - ORIGINAL AND UNIVERSAL

Potato tubers with pink, lilac, red and purple colors may seem to many residents of the post-Soviet space to be the same exotic vegetables as African cucumber (kiwana) or cassava.

Some, seeing colored potatoes, believe that these are newfangled trends in coloring tubers during their growth and ripening: the plants are simply watered with dyes. Others think that the bright internal color of the tuber is the result of the work of ubiquitous genetic engineering. Both opinions are wrong. What are colored potatoes, in particular its brightest representative with purple tubers, not only on the outside, but also on the inside?

From the history of purple potatoes

Varieties of potatoes with colored flesh exist in the wild, and not all have yet been studied by humans or cultivated. For example, purple potatoes have long grown in the central regions of South America. However, breeders did not “notice” it for a long time, preferring potatoes with white tubers. However, it was already known in Europe in the 19th century, as evidenced by its mention in a French agricultural reference book published in 1817. It was the purple "Vitelotte Noire" potato. By the way, the famous Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, considered Vitelotte (as the French called purple potatoes at that time) the best among the known varieties of this vegetable.

Modern science has revealed to people the benefits of purple potatoes and has aroused unprecedented interest in them in Europe and Asia. Prices for it sometimes reached several hundred euros per kilogram. Inspired breeders set about creating varieties with purple tubers with improved qualities. They crossed wild purple potatoes (or other colored ones) with modern varieties and hybrids of common potatoes.

In Russia, this strange vegetable was unknown for a long time, and still remains unfamiliar. However, after the First International Potato Congress, held in Moscow in 2007, colored and purple potatoes gained many fans. Then the amazingly colored tubers were presented at the conference by South Korean breeders from the Kangwon National University. Following this, inspired domestic breeders began to work on creating dietary potato varieties suitable for Russian growing conditions.

WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT PURPLE POTATOES?

Chemical composition

But an allowance should be made for the fact that many combs with purple pulp are currently sectioned, and their composition may also differ from each other.

Purple potatoes are more watery: their water content can reach 82%, and they are lower in calories, which is important for those on a diet.

Also, purple potatoes contain less starch, which allows them to be consumed even by people suffering from pancreatic diseases, for example, patients with diabetes.

The amount of dietary fiber in white and colored potato tubers is identical, as is the content of organic acids.

The purple color of the tubers is given by the anthocyanins contained in the cells - natural plant glycosides, the presence of which determines many of the beneficial properties of colored potatoes. Anthocyanins are found not only in tubers, but also in stems and sometimes in young leaves, giving them a purple color. But over time, the leaves acquire their usual green color.

Among the carbohydrates present in tubers, the most abundant is starch polysaccharide, but it also contains disaccharides and monosaccharides (glucose and fructose).

Vitamins

Purple potatoes contain B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9), vitamin E, K and C, which are one and a half times more than in their white counterpart.

Microelements are represented by calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, sulfur. Iodine, selenium, fluorine, boron, cobalt, zinc, copper, and manganese are present in tubers in small quantities.

VARIETIES OF PURPLE POTATOES

There are significantly fewer of them than regular potatoes, but many of them are dietary. You can hardly tell by the tops and flowers whether you have white or colored tubers. The main criterion is the tubers - shape, color of the peel and pulp, starch content, etc. But purple potatoes also have other distinctive characteristics. For example, some tubers remain purple after cooking, or increase their color, while other varieties, on the contrary, lose color.

Potatoes with purple tubers are interesting for their versatility: unlike their white relatives, they can be consumed both processed and raw, added to salads or pickled. Tubers of some varieties have a nutty or fruity flavor when raw.

Purple potatoes are also grown depending on the variety. Some require traditional agricultural technology (for example, the domestic variety “Violet”), while others (for example, the variety “Vitelotte” or “Black Eliza”) require something different. The difference is that the latter bushes form long stolons and grow greatly in width, just like their wild purple ancestor. Planting and growing one tuber may require an area of ​​up to 1 square meter. m. If such potatoes are high up and not hilled at least four times a season, they will grow new stems, and tubers will not be able to form. But the yield from one bush will be much higher. According to experienced gardeners, up to 8 kg for modern varieties. It is inconvenient to mechanically process such beds, this is one of the reasons for the high price of these potatoes.

Here are some of the popular varieties that are suitable for growing in temperate climates:

Violet – mid-season domestic variety VNIIKH named after. A.G. Lorja. It has completely purple oval tubers weighing up to 100 g with a starch content of 8-10%. Productivity is average, up to 150 kg per 100 sq. m, the presentation of the tubers is average. “Purple” potatoes store well and are resistant to potato blight. Disadvantages include poor protection against viral infections.

Gourmet – more than 10 oval tubers are formed on the bush with an average weight of 100 g, with dark purple skin and white-purple pulp. Starch content 16%. Productivity can reach 40 t/ha.

Salblu (Blue Salad, Salad Blue) – can be eaten in salads without prior heat treatment. Fruitful. Each bush produces 15 tubers weighing 100 g. Ripens in August-September, resistant to diseases and pests.

Surprise – potatoes with pink flesh that retains color after heat treatment. Oval tubers weighing 100-150 g. Resistant to major crop diseases. Selection of VNIIKH named after. A.G. Lorja.

Miracle Man – purple potatoes of the Ural selection with a high content of vitamin C (5 times more than regular potatoes), do not become overcooked. Created specifically for the Russian climate. Mid-season. Productivity is low.

Purple Creamer, or Purple cream, – the flesh is purple with whitish veins, tasty, retains color when boiled and fried. The crop is harvested in August-September.

Northern lights – in addition to purple, the pulp contains white color, which is why the starch content is at the level of 20%. Crumbly potatoes for making mashed potatoes. Early ripening, yield up to 35 c/ha. Resistant to scab, mosaic, potato cancer.

Miami – productive potatoes (up to 40 ha), resistant to late blight, medium-early ripening. The tubers are oval, weighing up to 110 g.

Pearl – external characteristic of the variety – shiny tubers, hence the name; a medium-ripening variety resistant to late blight fungus.

All blue translated means “all blue.” Popular in Europe. A characteristic feature of the tuber pulp is a white ring under the skin, which is clearly visible in the section. When cooked, it retains its color, has an excellent taste, and a large range of useful substances. Used in dietary nutrition.

Amethyst (aka Vitelotte, Vitelotte , black woman, Chinese truffle, blue French truffle) - outwardly almost black tubers in the middle of a uniform dark purple hue, with a thick skin, due to which they are stored for a long time without rotting; an old variety, therefore its yield is relatively low compared to new varieties. Contains a lot of starch and boils well.

Night – the productive variety was named for the very dark color of the pulp, without white streaks or inclusions; the color of potatoes is not lost during heat treatment.

Violetta (Blue Alice, Blau Elise, Violetta) is a new German variety of purple potato.

Bora Valley ) - in Europe, this is a new variety of South Korean selection, with good taste and a long shelf life.

Explosion - an early ripening variety with high yield and good disease resistance.

BENEFITS OF PURPLE POTATOES

The main advantage of purple potatoes is the presence of a huge amount of antioxidants, which increase the resistance of the immune system, remove radionuclides from the body, and bind free radicals that destroy cells.

Thanks to antioxidants, the risk of heart disease is reduced, blood sugar levels are normalized, the walls of blood vessels are strengthened, and the risk of developing atherosclerosis is reduced.

The abundance of anthocyanins - substances that give tubers their bright color, leads to the fact that purple potatoes reduce inflammatory processes in the body and normalize metabolic processes (for example, with excess fat consumption).

Eating purple potatoes has a positive effect on the state of the body as a whole:
- digestion improves, peristalsis is normalized, and flatulence decreases or disappears completely;
- stomach acidity is normalized (in people with high acidity), inflammation of the walls of the small and large intestines is reduced,
- the development of beneficial intestinal microflora is stimulated - thanks to dietary fiber;
- supports the work of the heart muscle and improves heart function in diseases of this organ - thanks to the high potassium content; the risk of myocardial infarction is also reduced;
- the condition of blood vessels improves - their elasticity increases, and the walls of blood vessels are strengthened, the risk of blood clots is reduced;
- lowers blood pressure, and therefore people suffering from hypotension can eat it limited;
- supports and stimulates the functioning of the immune system: substances contained in tubers (vitamins and antioxidants) actively fight pathogens of various natures;
– slows down the aging of the body, protects against cancer;
- has a positive effect on vision - prevents or slows down the development of myopia and cataracts (zinc and selenium in potatoes are necessary for the normal functioning of the eyes);
- affects the state of the nervous system (reduces irritability, increases tone, normalizes sleep).

* For digestive problems, you can use fresh potato juice.

WHERE TO BUY PURPLE POTATOES

Unfortunately, purple potatoes (or other colored ones) are not often available for sale. It is not yet very popular, and sellers do not want to include it in their assortment, and manufacturers do not strive to grow seeds for sale. Nevertheless, on the domestic market you can buy purple potatoes from Russian and foreign producers. The list below contains companies and online stores where you can buy dietary purple potatoes for planting.

Http://agrokorenevo.ru/
Scientific and Production Association "Gardens of Russia" http://sad-i-ogorod.ru/
GC "Russian Ogorod-NK" https://www.ncsemena.ru/
SeDeK company http://www.sedek.ru/
Company "GREEN MARKET" https://gmsemena.ru/
LLC "First Seeds" http://1semena.ru/
LLC "Becker Bis" https://abekker.ru/
LPH "Potatoes" https://purple-potatoes.ru/

If you live in a city where large horticultural and agro-industrial exhibitions and fairs are held, you can buy purple potatoes for planting by attending these events.

Note to the hostess

Prepare purple potatoes the same way as regular potatoes.

Depending on the starch content, purple potatoes can be crumbly (they boil well, they contain more starch, they are suitable for making mashed potatoes) or they can retain the strength of the tuber during heat treatment (ideal for making chips and French fries). The production of chips from such potatoes has been established abroad. They attract consumers with their unusual color combined with classic taste.

Purple potatoes are great when steamed, fried, stewed, or baked. It is better to boil young tubers “in their uniforms”. It is advisable to eat potatoes with the peel - the beneficial substances are most concentrated in it.

Some varieties lose their purple color when cooked in water. To prevent peeled tubers from discoloring, the cooking water should be salted, and the boiling process should not exceed 15-20 minutes. By the way, due to its coloring properties, purple potatoes are used as a natural dye. And among chefs, it often serves as a color accent in a dish. The accent can be pre-cooked chips, mashed potatoes or cubes or slices of boiled or raw purple potatoes.

For a healthy diet, raw purple potatoes are the best. You can prepare a wide variety of salads from it, for example, the following:

1. Grate (you can use a Korean carrot grater) radishes and potatoes, add finely chopped cilantro and onion (take the products in equal quantities). Add salt, pepper if desired, add vegetable oil, stir.

2. Grate the potatoes, finely chop the herbs and garlic, add salt, add mayonnaise, and mix.

3. Chop potatoes and a little less carrots, add chopped parsley, salt, sour cream, mix.

Here's how to make purple potato chips - not a healthy but popular food:

Cut the peeled tubers thinly into circles. Prick them with a fork, add salt and pepper if desired. Place the potato slices in a large sieve and place them in boiling refined oil, reducing the heat. When a crispy crust appears, remove the sieve from the oil, let the excess drain, and then spread the chips on a napkin for an hour to remove excess fat and dry them.

Main characteristics of the potato variety “Gypsy”:

• large tubers, weighing from 100 to 130 g;
• round-oval shape;
• the tubers are neat, smooth, without bumps or potholes;
• the peel is bluish-violet, plain, thin, glossy;
• eyes are superficial, small, few, uncolored;
• the pulp is white or cream when cut;
• the starch content is average, ranging from 12 to 14%;
• high content of protein, vitamins, iodine, and other valuable microelements.

The potato variety “Gypsy” belongs to or, depending on the climate zone. The variety got its name from original purple shade of the peel. The tender white flesh creates a beautiful contrast and makes the tubers ideal for cooking. The yield is good, reaching 250 centners per hectare.

In the table below we have compiled several important characteristics of different potato varieties so that you can compare them with Gypsy:

However, the tubers are not equal in weight; large potatoes and unsalable small items are tied under one bush. The appearance and quality of root crops is greatly influenced by soil fertility, air temperature, and watering.

In the table below you will find information about the mass of tubers of other potato varieties:

The peculiarity of the variety is its very thin and delicate peel. It makes mechanical cleaning difficult tubers are quickly damaged when harvested by a combine. This reduces the value of the variety for large farms. But in small fields, potatoes grow and are harvested without problems, delighting farmers and amateur gardeners with their excellent taste. Undamaged potatoes are excellent, do not wither or dry out. Does not tolerate long transportation well.

The bushes are not too tall, compact, not spreading. The formation of green mass is average. The leaves are medium-sized, dark green, with slightly wavy edges and clearly defined veins. The stems are dark, with a bluish tint. Bright blue large flowers are collected in small corollas; berries are rarely set. The root system is well developed.

Plants resistant to many dangerous:, ordinary, gray rot, various viruses:, . Good resistance. Defeat is possible.

The pulp is tender, delicate, with a rich, not watery taste. The thin, soft skin is rich in iodine and vitamins. The white or creamy flesh does not darken when cut; when cooked, the potatoes retain a delicate texture, but do not become overcooked. Suitable for baking, preparing beautiful side dishes or salads.

Here are some more photos of the Gypsy potatoes:

Origin

“Gypsy” is a variety of folk selection, the prototype for which was the famous Dutch hybrids Black Baron and. The variety is not included in the State Register; potatoes are widespread. Not suitable for industrial cultivation, as it suffers greatly during mechanical cleaning. It is most often planted on small farms, as well as in private plots.

It is preferable to grow Gypsy potatoes in regions with a temperate or continental climate.

Advantages and disadvantages

The main advantages of the variety include:

• high taste qualities of tubers;
• early maturation;
• good yield;
• unusual blue-violet shade of the peel;
• resistance to major diseases.

The variety has practically no disadvantages. A feature can be considered demanding soil nutrition and moderate moisture.

Another problem - peel too thin, which makes cutting tubers easier, but eliminates the use of a combine when harvesting.

Features of cultivation

Can be used to control weeds.

A week before the start of harvesting, it is recommended to cut off all the tops; this will allow the tubers to gain weight and also accumulate useful substances. Potatoes should not be allowed to lie in the ground. It's better to remove it a little earlier. This approach will help avoid diseases (for example,).

Diseases and pests

The “Gypsy” variety is insensitive to many dangerous diseases: potato, common, and various viruses. Quite resistant to, rarely affected by gray rot. For prevention, tubers need to be soaked in disinfectant solutions before planting.

It is advisable to change the planting site once every 2-3 years, this will prevent unpleasant diseases and strengthen the plant’s immunity.

Ideal predecessors for potatoes are phacelia, oilseed radish, or. These crops will saturate the soil with useful microelements and prevent the occurrence of infections typical of nightshades.

Like many blue-skinned varieties, "Gypsy" is often attacked by click beetles. The former spoil the tops, the larvae of the latter () attack the tubers, making tunnels in them and reducing the commercial quality of the root crops.

Pre-planting tillage of the soil and bushes will help get rid of pests. Possible use non-toxic bio-preparations, they are especially needed during the formation of tubers. It is often recommended to use it to obtain a better harvest.

“Gypsy” is an interesting and promising variety that is best grown on farms or in private plots.

With proper care, the tubers will turn out very beautiful, they will be stored for a long time. not subject to degeneration, it can be collected from year to year on your own site.

In Colorado State University, plant breeders set out to create cultivated potatoes with purple-blue flesh by crossing traditional varieties with a wild relative native to South America, specifically the Andean highlands. Scientists in Latin American countries have also been breeding cultivars, for example, the Purple Peruvian variety was developed in Peru. Moreover, in obtaining new potatoes, no genetic modification methods were used - only classical selection.

This is how purple potatoes appeared first on the American continent, and only then they reached Europe and Asia.

In Russia, breeders at the Siberian Research Institute of Agriculture also produced tubers with different color intensities, ranging from pink to dark purple. The first successful experiments conducted by Russian scientists gave their results in 2011 in Tomsk, and the source material was obtained in 2007 from South Korea. At the exhibition of the First International Congress “Potatoes. Russia 2007”, held in Korenevo, South Korean unusual tubers were demonstrated.

Today, many varieties of purple potatoes have already been bred, for example, French purple truffle, Negro, Chinese truffle, Vitelotte, Gurman, Russian blue (aka Russian black), etc. They differ in the richness of the color of the pulp, but they have one thing in common - all these varieties much healthier than the usual one we are used to.

Unfortunately, domestic seed material has not yet been created in a volume sufficient for industrial cultivation, but you can already buy an unusual vegetable for your summer cottage at agricultural markets and in online stores.

What's so attractive about purple potatoes?

Well, Firstly, purple-colored potato varieties allow you to create new and interesting dishes, which is highly valued by lovers of exotic cuisine.

Secondly, despite the fact that boiled potatoes (and experts recommend boiling rather than frying these tubers to preserve their nutritional value) are blue in color, their taste is completely no different from traditional white-cream varieties. Therefore, although the dish turns out to be original in appearance, its taste properties do not suffer from this.

But the most important thing that made breeders so interested in purple potatoes is the anthocyanin pigments, which give the tuber pulp this amazing color. Anthocyanins have enormous healing potential, which has been used since ancient times in folk and now traditional medicine. The sources of anthocyanins were blueberries, grapes, pomegranates, blackberries, black currants, mulberries, beets, peppers and other fruits that have a violet-blue, purple and red color.

Anthocyanins are substances of a glycosidic nature, the color of which is determined by the pH of the environment. In an acidic environment they acquire red tints, in an alkaline environment - yellow-green, in a neutral environment - purple. Therefore, people who introduce purple potatoes into their diet should not be surprised if suddenly, when adding citric acid or vinegar, the vegetable changes its color. At the same time, heat treatment does not destroy these substances, so the tubers can be boiled, fried, stewed, or steamed.

Purple potatoes are indicated for people suffering from the following diseases:

• diabetic reticulopathy;
• hypertension;
• cardiovascular pathologies (atherosclerosis);
• poisoning;
• reduced immunity;
• inflammatory diseases of bacterial and viral etiology.

Antioxidants in purple potatoes can slow down the aging process, destroy free radicals that cause cancer, and strengthen the walls of blood vessels.

In addition to antioxidants, these unusually colored tubers contain a large amount of vitamin C. According to some data, its content is only half that of a lemon, that is, two tubers can replace one fruit of this citrus fruit. However, unlike lemon, purple potatoes do not contain essential oils, which often cause allergies.

In addition, scientific research has proven that purple potatoes reduce blood pressure due to the increased content of chlorogenic acid and are involved in the regulation of hormonal balance (affecting the production of estrogens - female sex hormones). Carotenoids (which include provitamin A) were also found in the pulp of this vegetable. And what’s most surprising is that, despite the high starch content, amethyst-colored potatoes do not increase the risk of obesity. The latter is explained by the high metabolic activity of other substances that make up blue-violet potatoes.

Soil preparation, planting and care

A prerequisite for proper development of tubers and high yields is proper care. The place for planting purple potatoes must be chosen in such a way that the planting is well lit, preferably the southern or southwestern section of the plot.

The soil should be light enough to provide easy access of oxygen to the roots and not allow water to stagnate, but it should not be allowed to retain moisture at all. Thus, neutral sandy loam, soddy-podzolic, light loamy and floodplain soils are best suited for growing this type of potato. For good rooting and proper development of tubers, you need to dig deep into the place where you plan to plant the plants.

It is better to carry out rough initial digging before frost, when it is already quite cold.

Due to the fact that large clods of earth turned out with a shovel will be on the surface, the pest larvae in them will die with the onset of cold weather.

If the clods are crushed, then it will be easier for insects to burrow into the depths and overwinter under a fluffy layer of soil, like under a blanket. Also at the same time, it is advisable to apply fertilizers per 1 m2 - 30 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium salt. It is possible and even necessary to add humus (half a kilogram per 1 m2), which will provide the growing tubers with valuable microelements.

In the spring, when the ground warms up by at least 5°C, it will be possible to plant. At this time, repeated digging is done, but with the soil loosened, holes are dug, and wood ash is poured into the bottom. The latter is not only a source of minerals, but also a good antiseptic that prevents the development of bacterial diseases. The holes must be at a distance of at least 30 cm from each other in the same row, and a gap of 60 cm wide must be left between the rows. If the soil is heavy, then the soil with which the tubers will be filled must be mixed with sand. The depth of the holes is approximately 10 cm.

If you want to get the harvest earlier, you can plant already sprouted purple potato tubers. To do this, they are left in a lighted room at a temperature of about 14-18 ° C above zero, about three weeks before planting. After the potatoes are planted, it is better to cover them with film, which is removed when the sprouts are already about 10-13 cm tall.

Dry soil is watered abundantly several times:

• after the plants have sprouted;
• after tying the buds;
• after the flowers fall.

It is advisable to irrigate the plantings once a week, provided there is no rain. If a crust forms on the surface of the soil, it must be loosened. Excessive soil moisture can lead to putrefactive diseases. At the same time, lack of moisture leads to dehydration and drying out of purple potatoes.

Do not forget to weed the beds with plants and treat them with preparations against late blight, Colorado potato beetles and other pests and diseases.

By the way, our breeders tried to develop varieties that are resistant to many types of potato diseases. Therefore, before purchasing, try to read the recommendations of professionals, and then this valuable and tasty vegetable will give you all its healing potential.

Video review of purple potato varieties

Purple potatoes- a plant of the Convolvulaceae family. This vegetable is also called “negress”, “Chinese truffle” or “blue French truffle potato”. The tubers of this potato are covered with a dark purple skin, which sometimes reaches almost black color. Beneath it there is pulp of almost the same color (see photo). The oblong tubers reach an average length of about 10 cm, with a weight of about 70 g. The tubers retain their color even after heat treatment.

It is still unknown how exactly this variety appeared. Many believe that its homeland is South America, where it is still grown in large quantities. Purple potatoes thanks to thicker skins can be stored for quite a long time. These root vegetables have a light nutty flavor.

Useful properties

The medicinal and beneficial properties of purple potatoes are due to the presence of minerals, vitamins, as well as anthocyanins, carotenoids and phenolic acids. Thanks to this, it reduces the risk of possible chronic inflammation, which is directly related to heart disease. Since root vegetables contain quite a lot of antioxidants, the body the rate of aging processes decreases. Ascorbic acid content With regular consumption of root vegetables, it helps to strengthen the immune system. This is especially useful during the period of active action of viruses and infections.

Purple potatoes contain beneficial pigments, by the way, just like other vegetables of the same color. Thanks to them improves the functioning of the cardiovascular system. Purple potatoes also contain polyphenols that have antioxidant activity. These substances increase the body's defense against free radicals, which have the ability to damage cells and increase the risk of heart and vascular diseases.

Purple potatoes contain dietary fiber, which improve the function of the digestive system and prevent constipation. Thanks to this, you can get rid of several kilograms, which is generally confirmed by many positive reviews.

Use in cooking

Purple potatoes can be eaten similarly to the more familiar version. Since this vegetable contains a large amount of starch, the tubers are ideal for making purees. In this case, the dish will turn out not only tasty, but also unusual. In addition, root vegetables are baked in the oven, boiled, fried, etc. Purple potatoes add flavor and garnish to a variety of salads. It also makes delicious stews, casseroles and first courses.

Purple Potato Benefits and Treatment

The benefits of purple potatoes determine its use in folk medicine. It is used as a remedy that helps reduce blood pressure and is an excellent prevention of strokes.

The possible treatment of certain diseases with purple potatoes has been proven through numerous clinical studies. Thus, it has been proven that daily consumption of purple tubers improves vision. In addition, the walls of blood vessels are strengthened. By consuming purple potatoes, you can significantly reduce the risk of developing atherosclerosis. There is also a decrease in the level of formation of certain types of cancer.

Harm of purple potatoes and contraindications

Purple potatoes can be harmful to people who suffer from hypotension. People with individual intolerance to the product should avoid eating root vegetables. It is also worth controlling the amount of vegetables you eat so as not to cause serious problems.