SWEET POTATOES (Ipomoea Batatas)
Sweet Potatoes
belong to a large family of tropical vines,
many with thick fleshy roots
which includes Morning Glories. Today 'sweet
potato vines' are a popular ornamental plant used by gardeners in pots to add
trailing interest in a arrangement, often referred to as a 'spiller'. These are not good sweet potatoes for eating
because they are too hard to chew and lack flavor.
HISTORY OF SWEET POTATOES
Our popular
edible orange or purple Sweet Potatoes have been cultivated in Central and
South America for over five thousand years.
There are also white and yellow varieties. Researchers believe its origin was in the
Andes Mountains where it was grown by the ancient Peruvian people in what
became the Inca Empire. The great Inca Empire
survived for centuries before the arrival of Columbus and his compatriots.
The Spanish
Europeans believing anyone who was not a Catholic was fair game plundered the New World. The Conquistadors stole shiploads of gold and
silver and shipped it home to Spain.
On Columbus'
forth return journey to Spain he also bought back to Spain many of the
vegetables we eat today. Potatoes,
tomatoes and chili peppers to name a few. In the centuries to follow these New World
foods were going to change and enrich the cuisines of the Old World, Europe and
Asia.
There is at
least one vegetable on our Thanksgiving Day tables that traveled without the
help of Europeans, the sweet potato.
Researchers
have discovered evidence that the sweet potato made the trip first from the
mountains of Peru to the west coast of South America and from there began its
incredible journey. The sweet potato
traveled five thousand miles to the
islands of Polynesia four hundred years before King Ferdinand and Isabella's
ships landed in the Americas.
Capt.
James Cook's crew picked up some of the root vegetables in Polynesia in
1769. Examining the genetic blueprint of
Cook's sweet potatoes allowed scientist to trace the Polynesian Sweet Potato's
evolution all the way back to Ecuador and Peru.
Additional research suggest the sweet potato was a staple in Polynesian
diets since 1,000 AD.
It
is now well known that the Polynesians were a mighty seafaring culture
traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles for trade. Many scientists credit the Polynesian
travelers for spreading the sweet potato on their trading expeditions.
Some
researchers believe the sweet potato may have traveled without any human assistance,
but was spread by birds carrying it in their wings or internally passing seeds
though their bodies.
Today
we add to the confusion by lumping sweet potatoes and yams together, often
confusing the two. Actually the two are
not even related. Sweet Potatoes are from
the morning glory family and Yams are related to lilies and grasses.
White
potatoes are only distantly related to sweet potatoes. Although they both came from same region
white potatoes belong
to the nightshade family (Solanaceace),
which also includes many other important crops like peppers, tomatoes,
tomatillos, eggplant, tobacco and others.
SWEET
POTATOES ARE A SUPER FOOD
Today the
edible sweet potatoes, especially the orange or purple type are highly
nutritious and considered a super food They are a great source of fiber, vitamins,
and minerals. In order to get the highest benefit it is important to eat the
skin also.
Sweet Potatoes
are rich in antioxidants that protect your body from free radicals. (Free
radicals are unstable molecules that can damage DNA and trigger inflammation.) Eating them can help fight off chronic
illnesses like cancer, heart disease, and aging.
As if these
advantages aren't enough, the fiber and antioxidants in purple sweet potatoes are
advantageous to stomach health. Sweet potatoes contain two types of fiber,
soluble and insoluble.
Test-tube
studies have found that antioxidants in purple sweet potatoes promote the
growth of healthy
stomach bacteria. Yellow
sweet potatoes lack many of the benefits we are discussing in this article.
When the
Portuguese introduced the sweet potatoes to Africa they brought the white and
yellow varieties. Today many
humanitarian groups are introducing the orange sweet potatoes successfully increasing
vitamin A intake in their daily diets.
This has proven to cut mortally rates in Africa by 25 percent.
Sweet Potatoes are known to be beneficial to individuals
with type 2 diabetes due to the high levels of magnesium and fiber, which can
aid in reducing insulin resistance and stabilizing blood sugar. Talk to your doctor before adding them to
your daily diet.
Happy Autumn Everyone,
James
