Down through the ages, the potato has been blamed for causing everything from lust to leprosy. The Scots at one time refused to eat potatoes because they weren't mentioned in the Bible. In the Andes, the Incas thought the potato made childbirth easier and used it to treat injuries.

The Spanish conquistadores first encountered the potato when they arrived in Peru in 1532 in search of gold. The Spanish colonizers weren't aware, however, that the potato, not gold or silver, was the true treasure of the Andes.

In the 1830s, during Charles Darwin's trip around the world, he found a potato plant in southern Chile that he thought was the species Solanum tuberosum L. This led him to believe that the tuber was native to Chile. "Darwin was a great scientist, but a so-so botanist," says CIP plant explorer Carlos Ochoa.

More than 100 years later, Professor Ochoa identified the place Darwin had visited and was able to locate the potato Darwin thought proved that Chile was the center of origin of the crop. Ochoa said the "Darwin potato" was a common potato that was probably brought to the islands by fishermen or seal hunters. Potatoes were often eaten aboard ship to prevent scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency.

The potato was first taken to Europe in the 1500s by the Spaniards where it adapted well to the climate and eventually became an important and popular staple food. Potatoes were sold in Seville, Spain, as early as 1573. Brought there by Spanish sailors, potatoes were fed to livestock in Europe long before they became a staple in human diets. The potato arrived in North America about 50 years later when the British governor of the Bahamas sent a gift box of Solanum tuberosum to the governor of the colony of Virginia.

It is believed that the potato was first domesticated more than 6000 years ago near Lake Titicaca where the greatest diversity of wild species is currently found.