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History and Lore

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By Diane Morgan

Published 2012

  • About

Sweet potatoes, which belong to the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae), should not be confused with either ordinary potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) or with yams of the genus Dioscorea. They are indigenous to tropical America, in particular to the northwestern areas of South America, but perhaps also to Central America and southern Mexico. According to The Cambridge World History of Food, archaeological evidence suggests a date of at least 2000 B.C. for the presence of cultivated sweet potatoes in the New World, and possibly a domesticated form as early as 8000 B.C. They are believed to have originated from the wild Mexican genus Ipomoea, whose tubers and leaves were a food source for early inhabitants in North, Central, and South America.

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