CNJ+ July 2024

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SWEET POTATOES AND YAMS? By Gabriella Mancuso The Yam vs. The Sweet Potato

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Two different vegetables, two different names, two different looks yet nobody can tell the difference between them. The yam and the sweet potato are constantly being confused by supermarkets, costumers and chefs. This can be because of the incorrect labels placed on these vegetables, or the fact that they are interchangeable in recipes. The Sweet Potato is what you are most likely buying when you purchase yams or sweet potatoes at the grocery store. Sweet Potatoes are a lot more popular than yams as they originate from the morning glory family. They come in two different styles, soft and firm sweet potatoes. They also can come in a variety of col ors such as white, yellow, purple or brown for the skin and white, yellow, orange or orange-red for the inside. The soft little sweet potatoes that are often mistaken as yams are orange, orange-red. The yam on the other hand is not as common as you would think. Yams originate from the lily family and are most commonly used in the Lat in and African cultures. Yams vary in size from being as small as potatoes to as long as 5ft long. They are blackish or brown on the outside and white or purple on the inside. Yams are sweeter and softer than sweet potatoes. Most people that think they are purchasing yams really have never even tried one! The dif ferences may seem obvious now, but next time you are in the supermarket be sure to see if you can tell the difference, chances are you won’t be able to. Although yams and sweet potatoes are both angiosperms (flowering plants), they are not re lated botanically. Yams are a monocot (a plant having one embryonic seed leaf) and from the Dioscoreaceae or Yam family. Sweet Potatoes, of ten called ‘yams’, are a dicot (a plant having two embryonic seed leaves) and are from the Con volvulacea or morning glory family. Yams Yams are closely related to lilies and grasses. Native to Africa and Asia, yams vary in size from

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that of a small potato to a record 130 pounds (as of 1999). There are over 600 varieties of yams and 95% of these crops are grown in Africa. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier. Sweet Potatoes The many varieties of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are members of the morning glory fami ly, Convolvulacea. The skin color can range from white to yellow, red, purple or brown. The flesh also ranges in color from white to yellow, orange, or orange-red. Sweet potato varieties are classi fied as either ‘firm’ or ‘soft’. When cooked, those in the ‘firm’ category remain firm, while ‘soft’ va rieties become soft and moist. It is the ‘soft’ vari eties that are often labeled as yams in the United States. Why the confusion? In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commer cially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they re sembled the yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties. Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture re quires labels with the term ‘yam’ to be accom panied by the term ‘sweet potato.’ Unless you specifically search for yams, which are usually found in an international market, you are proba bly eating sweet potatoes!

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