Sweet potato

? Sweet Potato
250px Sweet potato in flower Hemingway, South Carolina
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Solanales Family: Convolvulaceae Genus: Ipomoea Species: I. batatas
Binomial name
Ipomoea batatas Linnaeus

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a member of the Convolvulaceae family, a family of flowering plants that includes the morning glory, chokeweed, and water spinach. The sweet potato has been cultivated for thousands of years for its tuberous roots. It is one of the most nutritious vegetables and is grown and eaten in many countries around the world. It is also used as animal feed and as the source of many other products.

The sweet potato is not closely related to the common potato, (Solanum tuberosum). In the United States it is sometimes confused with the yam (Dioscorea species) to which it is even less closely related.

Origin and History

File:Sweetpotato5162.JPG

Sweet potatoes in the field

The plant is a herbaceous perennial vine, bearing alternate heart-shaped or palmately lobed leaves and medium-sized sympetalous flowers. The edible tuberous root is long and tapered, with a smooth skin whose color ranges between red, purple, brown and white. Its flesh ranges between white, yellow, orange, and purple.

Sweet potatoes rarely produce seeds but are grown through the planting of stem and root cuttings. They grow best where the summers are long and hot and there is plenty of rain.

Sweet potatoes are native to the tropical Americas and were domesticated there at least 5000 years ago. [1] [2] They spread very early throughout the region, including the Caribbean and what is now the southeastern United States. They were brought to Europe by Spanish and Portuguese explorers and quickly became popular there and throughout much of the old world. In Japan they were favored as an emergency crop which could be relied on if other crops failed and are still featured in many favorite dishes.(JRT) When Europeans first visited Polynesia they found sweet potatoes being grown. How and when they first got there is a subject of much debate among anthropologists and historians.

Sweet Potato Cultivation Today

China is the largest grower of sweet potatoes, providing about 80 percent of the world's supply. Most are eaten domestically with some being grown for animal feed and some grown for export, mainly to Japan.(CGAIR)(JRT)

Per-capita production is greatest in countries where sweet potatoes are a staple of human consumption, led by the Solomon Islands at 160 kg (350 lbs) per person per year and Burundi at 130 kg (285 lbs).

Sweet potatoes were an important part of the diet for most of American history, especially in the Southeast. In recent years however they have become less popular. The average per capita consumption of sweet potatoes in the United States is only about 1.5-2 kg (4 lbs) per year, down from 13 kg (31 lbs) in 1920. Southerner Kent Wrench writes: "The SweetPotato became associated with hard times in the minds of our ancestors and when they became affluent enough to change their menu, the potato was served less often."

North Carolina is the leading U.S. state in sweet potato production. Currently, North Carolina provides 40% of the annual U.S. production of sweet potatoes.

Cultivation

Freshly dug

The plant does not tolerate frost. It grows best at an average temperature of 24 °C. Depending on the cultivar and conditions, tuberous roots mature in 2 to 9 months. With care, early-maturing cultivars can be grown as an annual summer crop in temperate areas, such as the northern USA. Sweet potatoes rarely flower when the daylight is longer than 11 hours, as is normal outside of the tropics. They are mostly propagated by stem or root cuttings or by adventitious roots called "slips" that grow out from the tuberous roots during storage. True seeds are used for breeding only.

Under optimal conditions of 85 to 90 % relative humidity at 13 to 16 °C (55 to 61 °F), sweet potatoes can keep for six months. Colder temperatures injure the roots.

Uses

A sweet potato

Although the leaves and shoots are also edible, the starchy tuberous roots are by far the most important product. In some tropical areas, they are a staple food-crop. Besides starch, they are rich in dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin B6. All cultivars are more-or-less sweet-flavored.

The roots are most frequently boiled, fried, or baked. They can also be processed to make starch and a partial flour substitute. Industrial uses include the production of starch and industrial alcohol.

Candied sweet potatoes are a sweet side dish consisting mainly of heavily sweetened potatoes often served on American Thanksgiving. It is a very characteristic dish and represents traditional American cooking and indigenous food.

Boiled sweet potato leaves are a common side dish in Taiwanese cuisine, often boiled with garlic and vegetable oil and dashed with salt before serving. They are commonly found at biàndāng restaurants, as well as dishes featuring the sweet potato root.

All parts of the plant are used for animal feed.

They can also be sliced, fried, and eaten just like potato chips.

In South America the juice of red sweet potatoes is combined with lime juice to make a dye for cloth. By varying the proportions of the juices every shade from pink to purple to black can be obtained.(Verrill p. 47)

Kumara (sweet potatoes) for sale, Thames, The North Island, New Zealand

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Batatas, not potatoes
• The mystery of the sweet potato
• The Hall of Ma'at
• Sweet potatoes gathering in the rainforest
• Purple sweetpotato Exotic sweetpotatoes can have purple flesh.
• Six Varieties of Sweet Potatoes Explanation of the six major varieties of sweet potatoes, with pictures of the exterior and interiors of four varieties.
• Fortified Sweet Potato Helps Fight Malnutrition
• Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), "Sweet Potato"[3]
• Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 1990, "Leaflet Number 13 Sweet Potato"[4]
• The Japanese Society of Root and Tuber Crops (JRT), "Mini White Paper: Sweetpotato in Japan" 2000 [5]
• North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission (NCSPC) Website.[6]
• Verrill, A.H., Foods America Gave the World, 1937, Boston : L.C. Page & Co.
• Wrench, K., "The Sweet Potato Patch"[7]

Credits

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