Are Potatoes Legumes? The Interesting Truth Revealed.

Are potatoes Legumes? If you are not an expert, it is easy to assume that potatoes are kind of just their own thing, but all plants are part of their own botanical families and groups, and potatoes are the same, and these groups are decided based on the characteristics of the plant.

One of these groups is legumes. Is a potato a legume? Legumes are part of the Leguminosae family, and this is because they produce seeds within a pod, and this is what makes them legumes.

However, when trying to guess what potatoes are, many people assume they are legumes, so is this the case?

Actually, potatoes are not legumes, and a potato plant will not be considered part of the legume family. This means potatoes are not closely related to a different plant, like peas or beans.

Potatoes actually are part of a less commonly known plant family called the nightshade family. Other members of this family that are much closer to potatoes include eggplants and tomatoes.

This is because the potato seed is grown inside a fruit, and this fruit actually very closely resembles a smaller, more green tomato.

For the rest of this article, we will further distinguish between the legume and nightshade (or Solanaceae) families so you can see potatoes fit one group and not the other.

Why Are Potatoes Not Legumes

One of the main reasons potatoes and legumes are so commonly mistaken for each other is that both are noticeably starchy vegetables and contain quite a high amount of carbohydrates.

However, potatoes are not considered legumes because they are not part of the same botanical family (Leguminosae); they are actually not that closely related to legumes either way.

Potatoes we commonly eat are grown underground; they have tubers and swollen stems under the plant.

However, you will find that legumes grow completely differently and are instead grown above ground.

So, since they are so different, it is quite surprising that there is quite a lot of confusion when it comes to assuming that potatoes are a legume. One main contributing factor is that they are often compared to mainstream dietary advice.

A common method advertised for losing weight is to limit the amount of carbohydrates and instead go for more protein-rich legumes, so many people will then assume that potatoes are a carbohydrate. [1]

But, while potatoes do actually contain protein, they are generally considered a carbohydrate.

Legumes are the opposite; they contain a smaller amount of carbohydrates but a lot more protein; this is why diet culture supports eating legumes like this so strongly!

What Actually Are Potatoes

While you can consider potatoes a vegetable, when it comes to how they are classified as part of a diet, you will much more commonly hear them being called a starch or a carbohydrate.

This is because vegetables tend to be split into two groups: starchy vegetables and non-starchy vegetables, and as you can imagine, potatoes are starchy vegetables.

You can find other examples of starchy vegetables, like sweet potatoes and corn. These will generally have a higher calorie content than other non-starchy vegetables.

What Does Solanaceae Mean?

As mentioned in the introduction, potatoes are not considered legumes; they are part of the Nightshade or the Solanaceae family.

This is quite a diverse botanical group, and it contains quite a wide variety of plants, including eggplants, tomatoes, tobacco, and peppers.

These plants can all be compared to each other since they all have flowers that are quite similar. The flower is shaped like a star and has 5 petals.

It is bright yellow, and the stamen in the center is pointed. While the flower will tend to be yellow, for potatoes at least, the color of the flower tends to vary, being purple, white, red, pink, blue, or, as mentioned, yellow.

In contrast, the legume will instead have a pea flower-type shape, and while this flower has 5 petals, too, the petals are all noticeably different sizes.

There will be the largest petal on the top, then the lower two will be fused into one petal called a keel. Then, next to this keel are two smaller petals, often referred to as wings.

You can easily distinguish a legume from a Solanaceae plant by distinguishing between the flowers.

Are Legumes Healthy?

Legumes are healthy for your soil, and they are also healthy for you to eat as well. This is because they contain various useful micronutrients like iron, folate, potassium, and magnesium.

While they also contain quite a bit of starch, they are still good for you. Part of this is because of the high protein, the low fat content, and the lack of cholesterol.

They are commonly used as a plant-based alternative to meat as well.

Are Potatoes Healthy?

As you probably know, potatoes are incredibly versatile, meaning they can be cooked in various ways; however, this also means they have variable nutritional value.

The nutritional value of potatoes depends on how you cook them, but they can be very healthy and a good source of carbohydrates.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Are Potatoes Legumes?

Final thoughts on Is Potato a Leguminous Plant

Is potato a legume? Hopefully, this article has given you all the information about why potatoes are part of the nightshade family and are not legumes.

So many people get this mistaken because knowledge about different botanical families is not commonly taught, so people can assume that there is little variety. so if they have not heard of a family, they assume they are part of a similar one, in this case, not knowing the nightshade family.

To help avoid this mistake in the future, you can find descriptions of each botanical family to make identification much easier for you!

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Video: Are Potatoes Legumes?