Imagine this: you are at the store, prepping for your upcoming holiday dinners, and on your list of ingredients to buy is sweet potatoes. You spot them over in the corner of the produce section, tucked between the onions and garlic. But when you get over there, you see that the sign says "yams." But right next to those are the sweet potatoes, and they look very similar. So which one should you buy?
We talked to some root vegetable experts about the differences and similarities between sweet potatoes and yams to find out which one you should be buying for your recipes. Dr. Lorin Harvey is an assistant professor and a sweet potato specialist at Mississippi State University. Jessica Gavin is a food scientist and blogger. Here's how they explain the difference between sweet potatoes and yams.
What Is A Sweet Potato?
"Sweet potatoes have a starchy texture and sweet flesh," Gavin said. "The major types are grouped by the color of the flesh, not by the skin." In the grocery store, you'll likely see orange, white, and purple. "They are short and blocky with tapered ends—football-shaped—with a sweet taste and moist and creamy texture when cooked," Harvey said.
"Yams generally have a rough, scaly, and brown-colored skin with white to purple flesh," Harvey said. "They are often long and cylindrical shaped and can have off-shoots called 'toes.' Yams are not very sweet and have a relatively dry, starchy texture."
Beyond the visual differences, yams and sweet potatoes have distinctive flavor profiles. "Yams are less sweet than sweet potatoes," Gavin said. "They have a more earthy, neutral profile. You'll notice that sweet potatoes will have a softer texture that can feel mushy, whereas yams are drier and starchy like russets."
Scientifically, sweet potatoes and yams have a lot of differences also. "They are not related or even in the same plant family," Harvey said. "Sweet potatoes are considered storage roots and are grown from plant vine cuttings called slips. Yams are considered tubers and are grown from pieces of the tubers."
Similarities Between Sweet Potatoes And Yams
Like Harvey pointed out, there are many more differences than similarities between sweet potatoes and yams. They are both grown in the ground, and that's about where the similarities stop. Here's where it gets confusing.
When you see a yam in the grocery store, it's most likely a mislabeled sweet potato. "The terminology is often used interchangeably," Harvey continued. "Several decades ago, the U.S. produced mostly white-fleshed sweet potatoes, and when orange-fleshed sweet potatoes were introduced, people called them yams to distinguish between the two." So no matter what, you're probably picking up a sweet potato in the grocery store.
Yams tend to be more cylindrical and have scaly, bark-like skin.Sweet potatoes tend to have a more tapered shape and may be firm or soft with thinner skin. Generally, sweet potatoes taste sweeter than yams.
"They are not related or even in the same plant family," Harvey said. "Sweet potatoes are considered storage roots and are grown from plant vine cuttings called slips.Yams are considered tubers and are grown from pieces of the tubers."
Yams belong to a different family, called Dioscoreaceae. The edible parts of sweet potatoes are called roots, and yams are classified as tubers. Sweet potato plants are more prolific, producing 4-10 roots per plant. Yams produce just 1-5 tubers per plant.
While some may use sweet potato and yam interchangeably, botanically speaking, they are completely different vegetables. Even though both are starchy tubers, sweet potatoes and yams are not the same species or even in the same family.
A sweet potato is a root.Yams tend to be more cylindrical and have scaly, bark-like skin.Sweet potatoes tend to have a more tapered shape and may be firm or soft with thinner skin. Generally, sweet potatoes taste sweeter than yams.
When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the 'soft' sweet potatoes 'yams' because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, 'soft' sweet potatoes were referred to as 'yams' to distinguish them from the 'firm' varieties.
Yams are often mistaken as sweet potatoes because they look and taste similar, however, the two are not botanically related. Sweet potatoes (lpomoea batatas) are roots from a herbaceous perennial vine. Yams (dioscorea alata) are tubers (or bulbs) of a tropical vine.
Yes, in truth, actual yams are not at all what we call yams in the USA. They are white, with a dark brown skin - and not sweet at all. You can find them in the tropical section of some supermarkets.
Sweet potatoes with orange flesh are richest in beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes with purple flesh are richer in anthocyanins. Beta-carotene and anthocyanins are naturally occurring plant “phyto” chemicals that give vegetables their bright colors.
Yams are native to Africa and Asia and are still mainly grown there and in parts of the Caribbean and South America. Yams are not grown commercially in the US, so that's why they're not as common as sweet potatoes.
Sweet-tasting tuberous roots of sweet potato are well-rounded nutritional powerhouses with a great deal of dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants [15]. Therefore, eating raw sweet potato can effectively contribute to weight loss. However, selecting a raw sweet potato with a good flavor can be challenging.
Its high fibre content contributes to a glycemic index of 54, significantly lower than that of potatoes having a glycemic index of 80. This makes yam better suited for weight watchers, diabetics and those with heart disease as it does not create sharp increase in insulin response.
Cooked Yams Are a Great Supplement to Boost Your Dog's Nutrition. Yams and sweet potatoes are excellent vegetables to add to your dog's food. Many dog foods contain yams because of their nutritional content and low fat.
As such, they do not cause the same allergy reactions as the common potato (Solanum tuberosum) of the Nightshade family Solanaceae. You can, however, have an intolerance to sweet potato caused by an IgG reaction to sweet potato proteins that can be very impactful.
Most grocery stores offer two similar-looking tubers — some labeled as yams, and some as sweet potatoes. While much of the confusion stems from these names being used interchangeably in U.S. markets and in recipes, sweet potatoes and yams are actually two very different vegetables.
Sweet potatoes are known to be high in fiber and have a low glycemic index, which results in a less immediate impact on blood glucose levels. This can help people with diabetes keep their blood sugar levels in check. Sweet potatoes can be: Baked or microwaved.
For the uninitiated, ube (pronounced ooh-bae) is a starchy vegetable also as known as a purple yam. But it is not the same as purple sweet potatoes, though they are similar and can be substituted in recipes. Ube is often confused with Stokes Purple sweet potatoes or Okinawan sweet potatoes which are also purple.
Introduction: My name is Mrs. Angelic Larkin, I am a cute, charming, funny, determined, inexpensive, joyous, cheerful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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