Sweet potato
A starchy, sweet-tasting root vegetable from the morning glory family, native to South America.
Last updated
Gogerr · CC BY-SA 4.0
The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a dicot plant belonging to the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are eaten as a root vegetable and serve as a staple food in several regions. Through cultivation, varieties have been developed with tubers that have different skin and flesh colors.
The young leaves and shoots are also sometimes consumed as greens. Although sweet potatoes and potatoes are both in the order Solanales, they are only distantly related. In parts of North America, darker sweet potatoes are often called yams, but they are even more distantly related to true yams, which are monocots in the order Dioscoreales.
Scientific classification
- CladeTracheophytes
- CladeAngiosperms
- CladeEudicots
- CladeAsterids
- OrderSolanales
- FamilyConvolvulaceae
- GenusIpomoea
- SpeciesIpomoea batatas
Named by (L.) Lam.
Close relatives
Other species of Ipomoea with a Codexery entry.
- Kolmishak Ipomoea aquatica
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Sweet potato (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 1491805 (CC BY 4.0)
Conservation status
Data Deficient (DD)
Data Deficient: there is not enough information to place this species on the risk scale.
Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category
Where the sweet potato has been recorded
Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (22,386 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 613 inland records left out (institution coordinates).
Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)
Quick Facts
- Genus
- Ipomoea
- Species
- batatas
Facts from the source article.
Background
The sweet potato is native to the tropical regions of South America in modern Ecuador. The oldest radiocarbon dating remains of the sweet potato known today were discovered in caves from the Chilca Canyon, in the south-central zone of Peru, and yield an age of 8080 ± 170 BC. The domestication of sweet potato occurred in either Central or South America.
In Central America, domesticated sweet potatoes were present at least 5,000 years ago, with the origin of I. batatas possibly between the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela. The cultigen was most likely spread by local people to the Caribbean and South America by 2500 BCE. Before the arrival of Europeans to the Americas, sweet potato was grown in Polynesia, generally spread by vine cuttings rather than by seeds.
Sweet potato has been radiocarbon-dated in the Cook Islands to 1210–1400 CE. A common hypothesis is that a vine cutting was brought to central Polynesia by Polynesians who had traveled to South America and back. The Dutch linguists and specialists in Amerindian languages Willem Adelaar and Pieter Muysken have suggested that the word for sweet potato is shared by Polynesian languages and languages of South America, but this is a suggested connection, not an established fact.
Did You Know?
- The sweet potato is the only crop plant of major importance among the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of Convolvulaceae.
- The genome of cultivated sweet potatoes contains sequences of DNA from Agrobacterium, making them the first known example of a naturally transgenic food crop.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the sweet potato?
The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a herbaceous perennial vine grown for its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots. It serves as a staple root vegetable across many tropical regions of the world.
What parts of the sweet potato plant are edible?
The tuberous roots are the primary food source, but the young shoots and leaves are also harvested and eaten.
What plant family does the sweet potato belong to?
It is classified in Convolvulaceae, the morning glory family, and stands out as one of the very few major crop plants among that family's roughly 50 genera and over 1,000 species.
What makes the sweet potato notable among crops?
It is recognized as the first known example of a naturally transgenic food crop, a distinction that sets it apart in agricultural history.
More in Plants & Crops
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Sweet potato (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Classification: the source article's taxobox; order, family and genus checked against WoRMS, the World Register of Marine Species (CC BY 4.0).
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List assessment.
- Occurrence records: GBIF (CC0 / CC BY). Basemap: Natural Earth (public domain).
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