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http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/v1-428.html

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The Andean region of South America is one of the eight centers of diversity of cultivated plants described by Vavilov (1951) and has recently become recognized as an important area for minor-crop development and germplasm conservation (IBPGR 1982). There is also strong evidence that the southern Peruvian Andes is one of the four areas of the world where the independent invention of agriculture took place (Hawkes 1983).

The potato has been the subject of international crop development and is now commonly grown throughout the world. There are, however, many other important food crops that were domesticated in the Andes but that are poorly known scientifically. The subject of this paper is three of these crops: Ullucus tuberosus Caldas (Basellaceae, Fig. 1, 2); Oxalis tuberosa Mol. (Oxalidaceae, Fig. 3, 4); and Tropaeolum tuberosum R. & P. (Tropaeolaceae, Fig. 5, 6). Each of these crops is a potential new crop for other areas of the world.
The Andean Crop Complex
Numerous other root and tuber crops have been domesticated in the Andes; Arracacia xanthorriza Bancr. (Apiaceae), Canna edulis Ker-Gawl. (Cannaceae), Lepidium meyenii Walp. (Brassicaceae), Mirabilis expanse R & P (Nyctaginaceae) and Polymnia sonchifolia Poepp. & Endl. (Asteraceae). No discussion of Andean crop resources would be complete without mentioning the global potential of these and other crops that are part of the agricultural heritage of the Andean region. Other important crops include the high protein pseudograins, Chenopodium quinoa Willd. (Chenopodiaceae), C. pallidicaule Heller, and a high protein legume, Lupinus mutabilis Sweet (Fabaceae). As a group, these tuber, grain legume and other crops have been among the primary food sources in the highland Andean region for centuries. A National Academy of Sciences report on Andean crops has presented general information on these and other crops (NRC 1989).

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