All modern potato varieties can be traced back to a type of potato grown in Peru more than 7,000 years ago, according to US research.

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The DNA from around 360 types of potatoes, both wild and cultivated, was analysed by scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and found to stem from a broad area of southern Peru, reported BBC News Online.


“In contrast to all prior hypotheses of multiple origins of the cultivated potato, we have identified a single origin from a broad area of southern Peru,” lead scientist Dr David Spooner was quoted by the BBC as saying.


Previously, modern varieties of potatoes were believed to have originated from a much larger area of South America.

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