Sweet Potato

Although called a potato, the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is in fact a very distant relative of the potato. Both belong to the same botanical order of Solanales, but each belong to different plant families. Sweet potatoes are usually long and tapered and covered by a smooth skin that ranges in color from brown to red and purple. The flesh of a sweet potato can range from yellow to purple.

Unlike potatoes, the sweet potato has edible shoots and leaves that are best eaten while immature. Sweet potatoes are never eaten raw, and are best prepared baked because most of the nutrients lie just beneath the skin. The sweet potato is often confused with the yam, but they are not even distantly related to one another. The yam (Dioscorea) comes from the Dioscoreaceae family. The yam contains more moisture and possesses more natural sugars than a sweet potato.