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The Inca Of Peru And Potatoes

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Archaeological evidence show the Inca of Peru may have cultivated earliest forms of potatoes over 4,500 years ago. The First Europeans who came in contact were the Spanish conquistadors in seek of South American treasures.
The Incas gathered wild plants and cultivate larger, better – tasting varieties. The potato had been a valuable source of food for slaves forced to work Spanish silver mines in Bolivia. They were often bitter, small, with purple skin and yellow flesh. The Inca worshipped the potato very much; they would bury them with the dead.
Potatoes usually grow wild in elevation exceeding 12,000 feet where there is a cool environment. The Incas would use “freeze drying” to preserve potatoes. Freeze drying was a process of squeezing the

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