Google dedicates doodle to Eva Ekeblad, who invented method to make vodka from potato

Google on Monday honoured the Swedish scientist Eva Ekeblad on her 293rd birthday dedicating a doodle on its search homepage.

Eva Ekeblad, born in 1724, is best known for inventing a method to make flour and alcohol out of potatoes. Before that, alcohol products, especially Vodka, was made only from wheat, rye and barley.

Interestingly, potato is one of the best starch sources, containing more carbohydrates than wheat and barley and the traditional cereals. Starch is fermented to make alcohol, which is distilled and diluted to make Vodka.

Her discovery not only got into Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, but also made sure that availability of cereals, used for making bread, increase in Sweden. This helped in reducing the number of famines in Sweden.

Moreover, her discovery also made potatoes, which were grown in farms belonging to aristocrats, a staple diet in Sweden and later around the world.

Ekeblad, a countess, was the first women scientist to be included into the Royal Academy.