These Sweet Potato Recipes Are Making Us So Excited for Fall (2024)

FAQs

What does the existence of the sweet potato among Polynesian societies tell us? ›

Significantly, genetic evidence for kumara lineage sweet potato in eastern Polynesia supports other evidence for pre-European contacts between Polynesia and western South America (15).

Sweet potatoes are a staple food in many regions because they are rich in fiber, vitamins, potassium, proteins, and essential nutrients. They are rich in antioxidants that boost immunity and protect the health of essential organs, such as the heart and kidneys. They are also low in calories.

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable.

Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of fiber, especially when you eat the skins. One medium potato has six grams of dietary fiber, and are a complex carb, so that means that sweet potatoes feed your body good bacteria. Sweet potatoes contain several nutrients that have been linked to improved eye health and vision.

Potato and sweet potato are examples of analogous organs. Both sweet potato and potato have a common function i.e., storage of food in the form of starch. Hence, they show convergent evolution. But they both differ in structural origin as the sweet potato is a root modification while the potato is a stem modification.

Archaeological research has now conclusively shown that the sweet potato was introduced to Central Polynesia by approximately A.D. 1200 to 1300 (2), most likely by Polynesian voyagers who reached South America and subsequently spread the crop to the widely dispersed islands of the Polynesian triangle (e.g., ref. 3).

Just one sweet potato gives you 102% of the vitamin A you need each day. This helps keep your eyes healthy as well as your immune system, your body's defense against germs. It's also good for your reproductive system and organs like your heart and kidneys.

If you enjoy sweet potatoes, you can absolutely enjoy them daily. However, eating multiple sweet potatoes every day could cause a harmless condition called carotenodermia, where your skin turns yellow-orange. You may also want to be cautious about your sweet potato intake if you have a history of kidney stones.

Sweet potato intolerance

However, sweet potato contains a type of sugar called mannitol that can cause stomach pain, trigger bloating, and diarrhoea. Frequent symptoms after eating sweet potato might suggest that you are intolerant to foods that contain mannitol.

No, yams and sweet potatoes are not the same. Yams have rough, dark brown skin that is often compared to tree bark, and their flesh is dry and starchy like a regular potato. Sweet potatoes have smooth reddish skin, softer flesh (when cooked), and a sweet flavor.

What is the healthiest way to eat sweet potatoes? ›

Boiling sweet potatoes retains more beta-carotene and makes the nutrient more absorbable than other cooking methods such as baking or frying. Up to 92% of the nutrient can be retained by limiting the cook time, such as boiling in a pot with a tightly covered lid for 20 minutes.

Yams and sweet potatoes differ in flavor and appearance, and they are not related. Sweet potatoes are in the morning glory family, while yams belong to the lily family. Yams aren't as sweet as sweet potatoes, and they are starchier and drier. Their texture and flavor are more similar to potatoes or yuca.

Consuming sweet potatoes in excess can result in sweet potato side effects such as Vitamin A toxicity, which is manifested in skin rashes and headaches. Due to high fibre content, excess intake of sweet potatoes can result in bloating, stomach pain and diarrhoea.

How to tell if sweet potatoes have gone bad. If your sweet potato is soft in spots, smells rotten, or oozes a mysterious liquid, that potato should be discarded. Another sign that sweet potatoes have taken a turn for the worse is if they start growing stalky purplish sprouts.

You can eat sweet potatoes whole or peeled and the leaves of the plant are edible, too. Although, they may both be called 'potatoes', sweet and regular white potatoes are not related.

Sweet potato may have spread so rapidly in the Pacific because Polynesian gardeners saw these plants as an improvement on already grown Dioscorea species, such as the purple yam. The plant was likely spread between Polynesian islands by vine cuttings rather than by seeds.

'Uala, or sweet potatoes, have been a staple crop in Hawai'i for centuries, with varieties introduced from South America by Polynesian voyagers centuries ago. Early Hawaiians appreciated this hardy tuber for its ability to thrive in drier climates.

Sweet potatoes originated in Central and South America. But archaeologists have found prehistoric remnants of sweet potato in Polynesia from about A.D. 1000 to A.D. 1100, according to radiocarbon dating. They've hypothesized that those ancient samples came from the western coast of South America.

According to the “tripartite hypothesis,” sweet potato was introduced into Oceania from South America in pre-Columbian times and was then later newly introduced, and diffused widely across the Pacific, by Europeans via two historically documented routes from Mexico and the Caribbean.