Sweet potatoes are the tuberous crops of the Ipomoea batatas plant. Sweet potatoes exist in a variety of colors; the flesh of a sweet potato can be beige, white, red, pink, violet, yellow, orange, or purple.
Sweet potatoes are a good source of fiber, vitamin B6 and potassium, and a very good source of vitamin A, vitamin C and manganese. In addition, this vegetable contains many beneficial phytochemicals, some which have been implicated as having anti-cancer, anti-diabetic (through improved regulation of blood sugar), and anti-inflammatory activities.
Sweet potatoes are often referred to as yams, though these two species are not in the same family of plants. The US Department of Agriculture requires that the term yam be accompanied by the term sweet potato, if it is not botanically a yam.
Sold as is, soups, stews, entrées, french fries, chips, sweet potato flour
Nutrition Data
Journal of agricultural and food chemistry
Journal of Medicinal Food
Library of Congress
Yam, Sweet potato yam