The phrases “sweet potato” and “yam” are sometimes used interchangeably, inflicting a whole lot of confusion.
Whereas each are underground tuber greens, they’re really very totally different.
They belong to totally different plant households and are solely distantly associated.
So why all of the confusion? This text explains the important thing variations between candy potatoes and yams.
What Are Candy Potatoes?
Candy potatoes, additionally recognized by the scientific title Ipomoea batatas, are starchy root greens.
They’re thought to originate in Central or South America, however North Carolina is at present the most important producer (1).
Surprisingly, candy potatoes are solely remotely associated to potatoes.
Like an everyday potato, the tuberous roots of the candy potato plant are eaten as a vegetable. Their leaves and shoots are additionally generally eaten as greens.
Nevertheless, candy potatoes are a really distinctive-looking tuber.
They’re lengthy and tapered with a easy pores and skin that may fluctuate in shade, starting from yellow, orange, crimson, brown or purple to beige. Relying on the sort, the flesh can vary from white to orange to even purple.
There are two most important sorts of candy potatoes:
Darkish-Skinned, Orange-Fleshed Candy Potatoes
In comparison with golden-skinned candy potatoes, these are softer and sweeter with a darker, copper-brown pores and skin and brilliant orange flesh. They are typically fluffy and moist and are generally discovered within the US.
Golden-Skinned, Pale-Fleshed Candy Potatoes
This model is firmer with a golden pores and skin and light-weight yellow flesh. It tends to have a drier texture and is much less candy than dark-skinned candy potatoes.
Whatever the sort, candy potatoes are usually sweeter and moister than common potatoes.
They’re a particularly sturdy vegetable. Their lengthy shelf life permits them to be bought year-round. If saved appropriately in a cool, dry place, they’ll hold for as much as 2–3 months.
You should purchase them in a variety of various kinds, most frequently complete or generally pre-peeled, cooked and bought in cans or frozen.
What Are Yams?
Yams are additionally a tuber vegetable.
Their scientific title is Dioscorea, they usually originate in Africa and Asia. They’re now generally discovered within the Caribbean and Latin America as properly. Over 600 kinds of yams are recognized, and 95% of those are nonetheless grown in Africa.
In comparison with candy potatoes, yams can develop very giant. Dimension can fluctuate from that of a small potato to as much as 5 toes (1.5 meters). To not point out, they’ll weigh as much as a powerful 132 kilos (60 kgs) (2).
Yams have some distinct traits that assist distinguish them from candy potatoes, primarily their dimension and pores and skin.
They’re cylindrical in form with brown, tough, bark-like pores and skin that’s troublesome to peel, nevertheless it softens after heating. The flesh shade varies from white or yellow to purple or pink in mature yams.
Yams have a singular style, too. In comparison with candy potatoes, yams are much less candy and rather more starchy and dry.
In addition they are inclined to have a superb shelf life. Nevertheless, sure varieties retailer higher than others.
Within the US, true yams may be robust to seek out. They’re imported and infrequently present in native grocery shops. Your greatest possibilities of discovering them are in worldwide or ethnic meals shops.
Why Do Individuals Confuse Them?
A lot confusion surrounds the phrases candy potatoes and yams.
Each names are used interchangeably and sometimes mislabeled in supermarkets.
But, they’re utterly totally different greens.
Just a few causes can clarify how this mix-up occurred.
Enslaved Africans dropped at the US known as the native candy potato “nyami,” which interprets to “yam” in English. It’s because it reminded them of true yams, a meals staple they knew in Africa.
As well as, the darker-skinned, orange-fleshed candy potato selection was solely launched to the US a number of many years in the past. To be able to set it other than paler-skinned candy potatoes, producers labeled them “yams.”
The time period “yam” is now extra of a advertising and marketing time period for producers to tell apart between the 2 sorts of candy potatoes.
Most greens labeled as a “yam” in US supermarkets are literally simply quite a lot of candy potato.
They Are Ready and Eaten In a different way – “is yam protein”
Each candy potatoes and yams are very versatile. They are often ready by boiling, steaming, roasting or frying.
The candy potato is extra generally present in US supermarkets, in order you’d anticipate, it’s utilized in a wider vary of conventional Western dishes, each candy and savory.
It’s most frequently baked, mashed or roasted. It’s generally used to make candy potato fries, a substitute for baked or mashed potatoes. It will also be puréed and utilized in soups and desserts.
As a staple on the Thanksgiving desk, it’s most frequently served as a candy potato casserole with marshmallows or sugar or made right into a candy potato pie.
Alternatively, true yams are hardly ever present in Western supermarkets. Nevertheless, they’re a staple meals in different international locations, notably these in Africa.
Their lengthy shelf life permits them to be a gentle meals supply throughout occasions of poor harvest (3).
In Africa, they’re most frequently boiled, roasted or fried. Purple yams are extra generally present in Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines and sometimes utilized in desserts.
Yams may be purchased in quite a few kinds, together with complete, powder or flour and as a complement.
Yam flour is offered within the West from grocers specializing in African merchandise. It may be used to make a dough that’s served as a facet with stews or casseroles. It will also be used equally to immediate mashed potatoes.
Wild yam powder may be present in some well being meals and complement shops underneath numerous names. These embody wild Mexican yam, colic root or Chinese language yam.
Their Nutrient Content material Varies
A uncooked candy potato incorporates water (77%), carbohydrates (20.1%), protein (1.6%), fiber (3%) and nearly no fats (4).
Compared, a uncooked yam incorporates water (70%), carbohydrates (24%), protein (1.5%), fiber (4%) and nearly no fats (5).
A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of baked candy potato with the pores and skin on incorporates (4):
A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of boiled or baked yam incorporates (5):
Candy potatoes are inclined to have barely fewer energy per serving than yams. In addition they comprise a bit extra vitamin C and greater than triple the quantity of beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A within the physique.
In reality, one 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of candy potato will provide you with nearly your entire every day really useful quantity of vitamin A, which is necessary for regular imaginative and prescient and the immune system (4).
Alternatively, uncooked yams are barely richer in potassium and manganese. These vitamins are necessary for good bone well being, correct functioning of the guts, progress and metabolism (6, 7).
Each candy potatoes and yams have respectable quantities of different micronutrients, comparable to B nutritional vitamins, that are very important for a lot of bodily capabilities, together with producing vitality and creating DNA.
It’s also necessary to think about the glycemic index (GI) of every. The GI of a meals provides an thought of how slowly or shortly it impacts your blood sugar ranges.
GI is measured on a scale of 0–100. A meals has a low GI if it causes blood sugars to rise slowly, whereas a excessive GI meals causes blood sugars to rise shortly.
Cooking and preparation strategies may cause a meals’s GI to fluctuate. For instance, candy potatoes have a medium-to-high GI, various from 44–96, whereas yams have a low-to-high GI, starting from 35–77 (8).
Boiling, fairly than baking, frying or roasting, is linked to a decrease GI (9).
Their Potential Well being Advantages Are Completely different
Candy potatoes are a fantastic supply of extremely obtainable beta-carotene, which has the power to extend your vitamin A ranges. This may be crucial in creating international locations the place vitamin A deficiency is frequent (10).
Candy potatoes are additionally wealthy in antioxidants, notably carotenoids, that are thought to assist defend in opposition to coronary heart illness and reduce the danger of most cancers (11, 12).
Sure sorts of candy potatoes, particularly purple varieties, are considered the very best in antioxidants — a lot increased than many different vegatables and fruits (13).
Additionally, some research counsel that sure sorts of candy potatoes may help enhance blood sugar regulation and scale back “bad” LDL ldl cholesterol in individuals with sort 2 diabetes (14, 15, 16).
In the meantime, the well being advantages of yams haven’t been extensively studied.
There’s restricted proof that yam extract could also be a useful treatment for a number of the disagreeable signs of menopause.
One research in 22 postmenopausal ladies discovered {that a} excessive consumption of yams over 30 days improved hormone ranges, diminished LDL ldl cholesterol and elevated antioxidant ranges (17).
It’s necessary to keep in mind that this was a small research, and extra proof is required to verify these well being advantages.
“is yam protein”