Sweet potato vs. yam

Options
piheart
piheart Posts: 122 Member
edited November 2015 in Food and Nutrition
So, I know we call orange to yellow flesh sweet potatoes (garnet or jewel varieties) by the name 'yam'. The white or light yellow sweet potatoes are just sweet potatoes. But, there are actual yams, a completely different plant than both of those. Hence my question... The USDA database has an entry for yams, and one for sweet potatoes. Does that mean one of them refers to the darker fleshed sweet potato variety, then one to the lighter? Or does the 'yam' entry refer to actual yams? I believe the number for the yam entry is 11601, and sweet potatoes are 11507. Help!

ETA database link http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

Replies

  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Options
    To the U.S. gov, they are two different plants, but what we usually see in the grocery store are probably variations of Sweet Potatoes.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/difference-between-sweet-potatoes-and-yams_n_1097840.html
    http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/sweetpotato.html
    http://www.foodsubs.com/Sweetpotatoes.html
    Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) come in two main varieties here in the States. One has a golden skin with creamy white flesh and a crumbly texture. The other has a copper skin with an orange flesh that is sweet and soft. All sweet potato varieties generally have the same shape and size -- they are tapered at the ends and much smaller than the aforementioned yams.

    Americans have been calling the orange-fleshed variety of sweet potatoes "yams" since colonial times when Africans saw familiarities in them to the tuberous variety. The USDA decided to label them as "yams" to differentiate the two varieties. Both varieties of sweet potato, including "yams" can be widely found in supermarket.
  • piheart
    piheart Posts: 122 Member
    Options
    RodaRose wrote: »
    To the U.S. gov, they are two different plants, but what we usually see in the grocery store are probably variations of Sweet Potatoes.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/difference-between-sweet-potatoes-and-yams_n_1097840.html
    http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/sweetpotato.html
    http://www.foodsubs.com/Sweetpotatoes.html
    Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) come in two main varieties here in the States. One has a golden skin with creamy white flesh and a crumbly texture. The other has a copper skin with an orange flesh that is sweet and soft. All sweet potato varieties generally have the same shape and size -- they are tapered at the ends and much smaller than the aforementioned yams.

    Americans have been calling the orange-fleshed variety of sweet potatoes "yams" since colonial times when Africans saw familiarities in them to the tuberous variety. The USDA decided to label them as "yams" to differentiate the two varieties. Both varieties of sweet potato, including "yams" can be widely found in supermarket.

    Which nutritional info do I use, though?
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Options
    I would use the one for Sweet Potatoes. Or use whichever one you want because they are fairly close. :)

Categories