What is the difference between a gold and regular sweet potato?
What is a Gold sweet potato? This version is firmer with a golden skin and light yellow flesh. It tends to have a drier texture and is less sweet than dark-skinned sweet potatoes. Regardless of the type, sweet potatoes are generally sweeter and moister than regular potatoes.
What is a sweet potato?
Once upon a time we simply had sweet potatoes in the United States; now we have all kinds of different types, sometimes some are called yams, other times they are called sweet potatoes, sometimes they are called both. Some have orange flesh, some are creamy white, and some come in shades of vibrant purple. What does it all mean???
What are the best sweet potato varieties to buy?
If you’re after sweetness more than anything else, choose sweet potato varieties that are either orange or red skinned and have deep orange flesh. These include jewel and garnet sweet potatoes. Cooked properly, the flesh will end up sweet and moist, making it perfect for desserts and side dishes.
What kind of sweet potato has a purple skin?
Sweet potato varieties with tan or purple skin, such as Sweet Hannah, Japanese, and Purple, bake up dry and starchy, more like russet potatoes. Keeping this in view, how do you tell the difference between a sweet potato and a yam?
Are gold sweet potatoes sweet?
Dark-Skinned, Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potatoes Compared to golden-skinned sweet potatoes, these are softer and sweeter with a darker, copper-brown skin and bright orange flesh. They tend to be fluffy and moist and are commonly found in the US.
Is gold sweet potato good for you?
But sweet potatoes—the orange, yellow and purple varieties of the root vegetable—are lower in calories and carbohydrates than the average spud. They're also higher in vitamin A, an antioxidant that boosts immunity and helps you maintain healthy skin and vision.
What do golden sweet potatoes taste like?
Japanese Sweet Potatoes FLESH – Whitish flesh that turns golden when baked. TASTE – Very sweet and fairly firm inside.
Which color sweet potato is healthiest?
Sweet Potatoes and Health Sweet potatoes with orange flesh are richest in beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes with purple flesh are richer in anthocyanins. Beta-carotene and anthocyanins are naturally occurring plant “phyto” chemicals that give vegetables their bright colors.
What is the best tasting sweet potato?
The Japanese satsuma-imo is my absolute favorite sweet potato. It features beautiful dark-purple skin and pale yellow flesh than darkens as it cooks. These sweet potatoes are much denser than most of the orange varieties, and starchier, too.
What is the best sweet potato to eat?
For our Best Baked Sweet Potatoes, we recommend passing on tan- or purple-skinned sweet potatoes (so-called dry varieties) and sticking with red or orange, which are known as “moist” varieties. These contain more of the enzyme amylase, which breaks down starches into sugars.
How do you make golden sweet potatoes?
Cover potatoes with foil. Bake at 425ºF (218ºC) for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until the bottoms are golden brown. Flip the potatoes and bake until golden brown on both sides.
What kind of sweet potato is sweetest?
Beauregard Sweet PotatoesBeauregard Sweet Potatoes They are the sweetest orange sweet potato on this list and are plenty juicy, making them a great all-purpose sweet potato.
Which is better garnet or jewel sweet potato?
The flesh of the Jewels was less sweet than the Beauregards but with an equally firm texture. Red Garnets, decidedly more savory than the others, had an earthiness that tasters appreciated in the mash.
Which is healthier pumpkin or sweet potato?
Pumpkins contain higher levels of vitamin A, vitamins B1, B5, B6, and vitamin K, while sweet potatoes are richer in vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamins B2 and B9. Sweet potatoes are higher in most minerals. At the same time, pumpkins are richer in iron and lower in sodium.
Are yams and sweet potatoes the same?
The skin of a yam (left) looks kind of like tree bark, while a sweet potato (right) is more reddish-brown. Real yams are entirely different root vegetables that are more like yucca in texture and flavor. They have bumpy, tough brown skin (that looks almost tree trunk-like) with starchy, not sweet flesh.
Should you eat sweet potato skin?
Sweet potato skins are safe to eat and can be easily added to most recipes. They're rich in fiber, other nutrients, and antioxidants that can help support a healthy gut, increase feelings of fullness, and prevent chronic disease. If you're looking to get the most nutrition out of your sweet potato, keep the peel on.
Confused about the types of sweet potatoes?
I lived on this island off the Southern coast of China for 3 months, and I survived in large part on sweet potatoes (in addition to salted duck eggs, roasted duck, and fresh fish!).
Types of Sweet Potatoes
There are a ton of different kinds of sweet potatoes from Beauregard to Regal, but it’s hard to find most of them in the store.
How To Cook Sweet Potatoes
There are so many different ways to incorporate these nutrient-dense veggies into your diet.
Paleo Sweet Potato Recipes
Want more Paleo sweet potato recipes? Check out this post of 66 Paleo sweet potato recipes here.
Carbs
A medium-sized sweet potato (boiled without the skin) contains 27 grams of carbs. The main components are starches, which make up 53% of the carb content.
Starch
Starches are often split into three categories based on how well they’re digested. The starch proportions in sweet potatoes are as follows ( 8, 9, 10, 11 ):
Fiber
Cooked sweet potatoes are relatively high in fiber, with a medium-sized sweet potato containing 3.8 grams.
Protein
A medium-sized sweet potato holds 2 grams of protein, making it a poor protein source.
Prevention of vitamin A deficiency
As vitamin A plays an important role in your body, deficiency in this essential nutrient is a major public health issue in many developing countries ( 40 ).
Improved blood sugar regulation
Imbalance in blood sugar levels and insulin secretion are the main characteristics of type 2 diabetes.
Reduced oxidative damage and cancer risk
Oxidative damage to cells is often associated with increased risk of cancer, which occurs when cells divide uncontrollably.
What Are Sweet Potatoes?
You’ve probably had them as a satisfying side before, but are you sure you know what sweet potatoes are?
What Type of Sweet Potato Is the Healthiest?
When it comes to high levels of anthocyanins, the best sweet potato varieties are those with purple flesh.
What Kind of Sweet Potatoes Are the Sweetest?
If you’re after sweetness more than anything else, choose sweet potato varieties that are either orange or red skinned and have deep orange flesh.
Conclusion
The many varieties of sweet potatoes available ensure you have more than enough options to play around with in the kitchen.
Beauregard
The most common sweet potato sold at grocery stores. It is the gold standard potato in the United States. The skin is reddish, and the flesh is bright orange and is the sweetest for orange types.
Jewel
It has copper skin and light orange flesh, very similar to the Beauregard. It has a more robust flavor, but not as sweet, with a soft and moist texture. Great for casseroles, mashes, pies, baking, and roasting.
Red Garnet
This deep reddish-orange skin and bright orange flesh has a more savory taste and is the least sweet compared to other varieties. It also can be higher in moisture level, giving a softer texture. Great for mashing into a puree for casseroles, baked or roasted, or used for dessert that has added sweeteners.
Covington
The orange-colored skin with speckled dark brown spots has a malty sweetness. The texture is moist and creamy, a favorite variety in the South to make casseroles and desserts or just slice and roast.
Centennial
Copper orange skin and bright orange flesh. Sweet with a moist texture, also known as Baby Bakers. Great for baking and slicing for fries.
Hernandez
The red skin and moist orange flesh, sweeter compared to Beauregards. Bake, roast, or dice for soups and stews.
Jersey
The tan-colored skin with white flesh is moderate in sweetness. The dry texture works well for keeping its shape when made into fries and is added to soups, stews, and curries.
All Purple Sweet Potato
The All Purple sweet potato has dark purple skin and purple flesh. It is a traditional Japanese variety.
Beauregard Sweet Potato
The Beauregard sweet potato has copper skin and orange flesh. It is a traditional Japanese variety.
Bonita Sweet Potato
The Bonita sweet potato has pale pinkish-tan (almost white) skin and pale yellow (almost white) flesh. It is a very sweet variety that keeps well.
Bush Porto Rico Sweet Potato
The Bush Porto Rico sweet potato has copper skin and light orange flesh that is very sweet and good for baking. The plants are compact bushes.
Carolina Ruby Sweet Potato
The Carolina Ruby sweet potato has pale purplish-red skin and dark orange flesh. This plant comes from the North Caroline Agricultural Research Service, and it offers high yields with resistance to both Fusarium wilt and soil rot.
Centennial Sweet Potato
The Centennial sweet potato has orange-tan skin and orange flesh that is very sweet and good for baking. The plants offer high yields.
Covington Sweet Potato
The Covington sweet potato has copper-rose skin and orange flesh. It produces high yields of uniform roots with a long storage time.
Description
The plant is a herbaceous perennial vine, bearing alternate heart-shaped or palmately lobed leaves and medium-sized sympetalous flowers. The stems are usually crawling on the ground and form adventitious roots at the nodes. The leaves are screwed along the stems. The leaf stalk is 5 to 20 inches long.
Naming
Although the soft, orange sweet potato is often called a " yam " in parts of North America, the sweet potato is very distinct from the botanical yam ( Dioscorea ), which has a cosmopolitan distribution, and belongs to the monocot family Dioscoreaceae.
History
The origin and domestication of sweet potato occurred in either Central or South America. In Central America, domesticated sweet potatoes were present at least 5,000 years ago, with the origin of I. batatas possibly between the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela.
Transgenicity
The genome of cultivated sweet potatoes contains sequences of DNA from Agrobacterium (now reclassified as Rhizobium ), with genes actively expressed by the plants. The T-DNA transgenes were not observed in closely related wild relatives of the sweet potato.
Cultivation
The plant does not tolerate frost. It grows best at an average temperature of 24 °C (75 °F), with abundant sunshine and warm nights. Annual rainfalls of 750–1,000 mm (30–39 in) are considered most suitable, with a minimum of 500 mm (20 in) in the growing season.
Production
In 2019, global production of sweet potatoes was 92 million tonnes, led by China with 56% of the world total (table). Secondary producers were Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
Nutrient content
The table below presents the relative performance of sweet potato (in column) to other staple foods on a dry weight basis to account for their different water contents. While sweet potato provides less edible energy and protein per unit weight than cereals, it has higher nutrient density than cereals.
Overview
Culinary uses
The starchy tuberous roots of the sweet potato are by far the most important product of the plant, although the leaves and shoots are also edible. In some tropical areas, they are a staple food crop. The tuber is often cooked before consumption as this increases its nutrition and digestibility, although the American colonists in the Southeast ate raw sweet potatoes as a staple food.
Description
The plant is a herbaceous perennial vine, bearing alternate heart-shaped or palmately lobed leaves and medium-sized sympetalous flowers. The stems are usually crawling on the ground and form adventitious roots at the nodes. The leaves are screwed along the stems. The leaf stalk is 5 to 20 inches long. The leaf blades are very variable, 5 to 13 centimeters long, the shape is heart-, kidn…
Naming
Although the soft, orange sweet potato is often called a "yam" in parts of North America, the sweet potato is very distinct from the botanical yam (Dioscorea), which has a cosmopolitan distribution, and belongs to the monocot family Dioscoreaceae. A different crop plant, the oca (Oxalis tuberosa, a species of wood sorrel), is called a "yam" in many parts of Polynesia, including New Zealand.
History
The origin and domestication of sweet potato occurred in either Central or South America. In Central America, domesticated sweet potatoes were present at least 5,000 years ago, with the origin of I. batatas possibly between the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela. The cultigen was most likely spread by local people to the Caribbean and South America by …
Transgenicity
The genome of cultivated sweet potatoes contains sequences of DNA from Agrobacterium (sensu lato; specifically, one related to Rhizobium rhizogenes), with genes actively expressed by the plants. The T-DNA transgenes were not observed in closely related wild relatives of the sweet potato. Studies indicated that the sweet potato genome evolved over millennia, with eventual domestication of the crop taking advantage of natural genetic modifications. These observation…
Cultivation
The plant does not tolerate frost. It grows best at an average temperature of 24 °C (75 °F), with abundant sunshine and warm nights. Annual rainfalls of 750–1,000 mm (30–39 in) are considered most suitable, with a minimum of 500 mm (20 in) in the growing season. The crop is sensitive to drought at the tuber initiation stage 50–60 days after planting, and it is not tolerant to water-loggin…
Nutrient content
Cooked sweet potato (baked in skin) is 76% water, 21% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and contains negligible fat (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, baked sweet potato provides 90 calories, and rich contents (20% of more of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin A (120% DV), vitamin C (24% DV), manganese (24% DV), and vitamin B6 (20% DV). It is a moderate source (10-19% DV) of some B vitamins and potassium.