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In the United States, sweet potatoes were an important food for enslaved people from Africa, who referred to the tuber as “yam” since it resembled yams from Africa. Though the two tubers are botanically different, they are both connected by history. Another common name is yam, a word used interchangeably with sweet potato in North America. Its name in Spanish, batata, comes from the language of the Taino people of the American tropics, where sweet potato originated. Sweet potato goes by many names: apichu, camote, dìguā, goguma, kumara, and satsumaimo to name a few. Need more first food ideas? See our guides. See our yam page for information about the larger tuber. The weight of the tubercle ranges from 200 g to 6 kg.Sweet potatoes, when fully cooked and soft, may be introduced as soon as baby is ready for solids, which is usually around 6 months of age. They store reserve substances, chiefly in the form of starch, with a high content in carotene and vitamin C and an appreciable percentage of proteins. The base of some of these roots undergo a considerable enlargement varying in shape, weight, colour and fleshliness according to the varieties. It has numerous forked and fibrous roots. The root system is the most important part of the plant, since it is the main reason for its cultivation. The multiple fruit is capsular, with 1-5 seeds/fruit of black colour and triangular and angular shape.
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The pollination is usually entomophilous. The flowers are bell-shaped, of great size and reddish, white or violet colour. The leaves’ petiole is long, up to 20 cm. The leaves are alternate, well-developed and usually heart-shaped. They are crawling stems that extend up to 2-3 m long. It is a perennial plant, although it is cultivated as annual. The plant belongs to the Convolvulaceous family and its scientific name has several synonyms like Convulvus batatas L., Batata edulis Choisy and Ipomea batatas Lam. In the Spanish Mediterranean coast it is very frequent to put sweet potatoes under curing in the cultivation land, leaving them to dry once harvested. The optimal conditions for sweet potato storage are between 11-15✬ and 80-85% of relative moisture, thus lasting for several months. Jam, puddings, pies, cakes, soufflés and even alcoholic drinks are made of sweet potatoes, given their wealth in amylaceous and sweetened substances. They go well with cinnamon, honey, coconut, lime and nutmeg, and are a good garnish for pork and poultry. They can also be eaten fried or in puree. They are always eaten cooked the best way is to roast them in the oven. Once cooked, they can be kept in the fridge for a week and even longer if they are frozen. The environmental temperature must not exceed 15✬, since they may ferment or germinate at higher temperatures. Once at home, sweet potatoes must be kept in a fresh, dry, dark place with good ventilation, without wrapping, where they can be stored for a week. It is a regenerative food with a high energetic value. It is one of the better digested vegetables. The proteins are scarce and the content of fats is even lower. The starch content is greater than that of potatoes.
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Its composition is similar to the potato’s but with some differences. Each 100 g of edible fresh produce provides with an energetic value of 84 kcal, greater than that of potatoes. In some countries it is a basic food, since it is rich in carbohydrates, although the foliage is also eaten as a vegetable. The sweet potato is characterized by its orange and sweet flesh, very suitable for roasting, making purees, cakes, soufflés and stuffing. There are two types of sweet potatoes, those with dry flesh and those with gelatinous flesh. Sweet potatoes have a fusiform shape, orange colour and a thicker and harder rind. Sweet potatoes resemble potatoes, although they have no botanical relation. It has a sweet taste, due to its high sugar content. There are sweet potatoes of a pale red colour, brownish-yellow or whitish, although the most widely cultivated varieties all over the world are those of red or pink rind and white flesh. It weighs between 0.5 and 3 kg and shows an elongate shape, although some of them are almost spherical. It is an enlarged root obtained from the plant with the same name: sweet potato. The sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas) is also known as yam or kumera.