The sweet potato is the sweet potato, also known as sweet potato, some names for this plant originate in the Americas, brought to the Philippines by the Spanish, and brought to India, China and Japan by the Portuguese until it became popular throughout the world . It is a tropical plant, a staple food, and an important source of energy, providing dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin B6. there are many types of sweet potatoes in the world and each of them has unique characteristics.
For this reason, we are going to dedicate this article to telling you about the main types of sweet potatoes that exist and their characteristics.
Nutritional properties
We can also compare its properties with those of the potato, since both are a great source of carbohydrates, although the sweet potato provides fewer calories per edible portion roasted or cooked. Sweet potatoes are a bit sweeter and contain more natural sugars, but they stand out for their resistant starch, which provides satiety and lowers the glycemic index of meals, making them an excellent source of energy.
It is also a source of fiber, antioxidant vitamins and essential minerals, highlighting its content of vitamin C, especially vitamin A (retinol), which doubles the potato, especially in the orange varieties. It also provides good amounts of potassium, magnesium and calcium.
Sweet potatoes are often touted as a healthy alternative to potatoes, Although both are healthy products in their own right: what matters is how you cook them, what to serve with them and the size of the portions. In general, it is a well-tolerated and highly digestible food unless we consume it with a lot of fat or other heavy ingredients.
Prepared in a healthy way, Introducing this tuber in our diet is a great way to add variety to our diet, take advantage of its antioxidant vitamins and achieve greater satiety, which is why the sweet potato is a great companion in a weight loss diet.
types of sweet potatoes
thick-branch Californian
As its name suggests, it is originally from California, USA. It is used for roasting and baking. Its main characteristic is its thick stem, as well as its branches. Medium-sized tubers in the form of elongated balloons. The skin is red and the flesh pale. From the crossing of this plant with Beuregard, the Pepita sweet potato was born in Malaga.
Sweet Potato Nugget
To obtain the variety, Viveros Santana, from Malaga, the largest producer of sweet potato seedlings in Europe, colluded for five years with the Health Institute of São Paulo, Brazil. It is a sweet potato with purple skin and interior, and the novelty is that it has a roasted chestnut flavor that is perfect for roasting and frying, as well as pureeing.
O'Henry
White-fleshed sweet potato variety very popular in eastern and northern Spain. Its greatest characteristic is its sweetness, which is why it is widely used in sweets.
Rose of Malaga
The sweet potato is pink, with pale yellow pulp, high sugar content, strong aroma, high starch content, high carotene and vitamin C content, early production and high yield. Its roots are changeable, oblong, one end sticks out, and there are longitudinal grooves.
centennial
American variety sweet potato. It is very vigorous, of early production, well adapted to climatic conditions but adapts well to high temperatures. It has high yields and excellent fruit quality.
Jasper
Highly recommended for its high yield, as well as for the shape, size and color of the tuber.
red violet
Smooth and purplish skin. Small, slightly pink and white flesh, sweet and fragrant. It has long and thin tuberous roots. It is cultivated all over the world.
Lisa from Tucumán
Native to Argentina, it is uniform in size, with a smooth surface and spindle-shaped roots. Premature birth and high performance. Very sweet taste. High temperature and drought resistance. Keep excess moisture inside.
georgia jet
The surface is smooth, the pulp is orange-yellow in color and the yield is high. Its origin is in the United States. It has positive characteristics before other sweet potato varieties and is widely consumed in Spain. Fast thickening with a harvest time of 90 days.
Moose
Originally from Africa, it is highly productive and very adaptable to climatic conditions, but it is sensitive to conservation, so care must be taken when transporting it, since its handling and knocks can cause damage.
yellow sweet potato
It is another name for sweet potatoes, the sweetest and most well-known variety of this plant. This variety is also known as orange sweet potato because although its rind is yellow, the interior is orange.
white sweet potato
rich in starch, it is more similar to conventional potatoes because of its pale yellow color.
sweet potato from the hill
Most closely related to the Dioscorea (yams) genus of sweet potatoes, it has a wood-colored skin that resembles a tree trunk. It comes from Mexico and we also find it in Central America and the Caribbean.
wild sweet potato
It grows wild in North and Central America and the Caribbean, is also of the Yam genus, and has dark brown and white flesh. Although it can be used as a food, it is used to relieve the symptoms of menopause.
How to cook the types of sweet potatoes
Once we know the different types of sweet potatoes that exist, we are going to see how to cook them. One of the characteristics of sweet potatoes is that are between the potato and the pumpkin. The orange and red varieties, which are sweeter if cooked at low temperatures for a long time, are a perfect substitute for other fall vegetables in desserts, pastry or bread recipes.
Sweet potatoes can be prepared in countless different ways, just like potatoes: steamed, poached, baked or microwaved, grilled, roasted, low temperature, stewed or fried. It can also be cooked whole, brushed or skin washed, or raw peeled.
If we make it harder we can cut it into disks or cubes and put it in a roasting pan to cook it over low heat or fry it. Cut into strips, it is an excellent alternative to French fries, it can also be baked and in thin plates it is ideal for dehydrating or turning into crispy French fries.
With the very cooked or toasted pulp we can prepare vegetable cream or puree it and it will taste very good if we enrich it with a little cream, cheese or butter and some fresh herbs. Finely ground, it can be used as pumpkin puree in recipes for muffins, cakes, cookies, brownies, and other sweets.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the different types of sweet potatoes and their characteristics.