This is the first potato specimen donated to the museum. It is unclear what type of potato this is. This tuber’s surface has a crumpled texture. Unique to this specimen, is its slightly concave boat-like shape. It is unclear how it acquired that shape. It was due, perhaps, to another potato weighing on top of it.

A potato is essentially a bloated underground stem. Up to about 80 percent of a fresh potato is made up of water. Most of that is now kaput. Of a potato’s dry weight, more than half is composed of starch. Temperature, humidity, air movement, and the permeability of the skin all effect the rate of evaporation of water from a potato tuber. Given that, it looks like temperatures were warm, humidity was low, and there was ample air movement around this spud.  NEXT >

Back to top