Sweet potato
Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.
The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a trailing herb grown for its sweet, starchy tuberous roots, used as both food and vegetable; the young leaves are also eaten and are nutritious.
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Sweet potato — FieldSweet potato — Plant
Sweet potato — Leaves
Sweet potato — Flower
Sweet potato — Tubers
Sweet potato — Harvested rootsSweet potato — FieldSweet potato — PlantOverview
A herbaceous perennial vine (usually grown as an annual), trailing or climbing. Leaves are alternate, heart-shaped or palmately lobed. The bisexual flowers are funnel-shaped, medium-sized and white, pink or purple. The edible tuberous roots are elongated and tapered, with smooth red, purple, brown or white skin; the flesh may be white, yellow, orange or purple. It seldom flowers in the tropics and is propagated mainly by vine cuttings.
The sweet potato is native to tropical South America (now Ecuador); it was cultivated more than 5,000 years ago and spread early through the Americas and the Caribbean, and to Polynesia before Europeans arrived. The roots are an important staple for their starch and sweetness; yellow/orange-fleshed cultivars are rich in provitamin A and purple ones in anthocyanins. The young shoots and leaves (sweet potato greens) have a nutritional composition comparable to spinach and are usually stir-fried or boiled. The roots are boiled, roasted, fried, or turned into flour, noodles and animal feed.
Life cycle
From seed to productCutting & growth
Vine cuttings are planted in moist beds and quickly sprawl and root.
Flowering
Funnel-shaped white/pink/purple flowers, usually only in cool or short-day conditions.
Tuber formation
Adventitious roots swell into starch-rich tubers whose colour depends on the cultivar.
Harvest
After 3–4 months the roots are dug up; young vines can be picked as greens through the season.
Distribution & origin
Share of recorded occurrences by region- Central America · Ecuador (origin)30%
- Tropical South America · Caribbean20%
- Polynesia (early introduction)10%
- Grown worldwide (incl. Vietnam)40%
Chemical composition
Relative content in agarwood resin- StarchMain component of the root40%
- Beta-carotene (provitamin A)In yellow/orange-fleshed cultivars25%
- SugarsSweetness increases on roasting15%
- AnthocyaninsIn purple-fleshed cultivars10%
- Potassium & fibreAlong with the skin10%
Uses
- Roots: boiled, roasted, fried; in Vietnam 'roasted sweet potato' is a winter street food
- Young shoots and leaves: stir-fried with garlic, boiled, in soups — nutrition comparable to spinach
- Processing: starch, noodles, syrup, animal feed
Properties
- Stem
- Herbaceous vine, trailing or climbing
- Leaf
- Heart-shaped or lobed; young shoots edible
- Tuberous root
- Elongated tuberous root, skin and flesh of many colours
- Flower
- Funnel-shaped, white/pink/purple
Habitat & conservation
A tropical and subtropical species favouring warm climates and loose, well-drained soil; grown mainly from vine cuttings. In Vietnam it is widely grown in the lowlands and midlands and harvested after 3–4 months.
Conservation
Not Evaluated on the IUCN Red List. The sweet potato is widely cultivated across the tropics and subtropics and its germplasm is conserved at CIP and many genebanks, so it is not threatened.
References
- 1Plants of the World Online — Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. — Kew Science, 2026
- 2Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) — mô tả, nguồn gốc, dinh dưỡng — English Wikipedia, 2026
- 3Khoai lang — nguồn gốc, phân bố, sử dụng — Vietnamese Wikipedia, 2026
- 4FAOSTAT — Crops and livestock products (sweet potato) — FAO, 2024
- 5Nguồn ảnh: Obsidian Soul (CC0) — Wikimedia Commons,
- 6Nguồn ảnh: Kostka Martin (CC0) — Wikimedia Commons,
- 7Nguồn ảnh: Earth100 (CC BY-SA 3.0) — Wikimedia Commons,
- 8Nguồn ảnh: Filo gèn' (CC BY-SA 4.0) — Wikimedia Commons,
- 9Nguồn ảnh: စာကလေး SarKaLay (CC0) — Wikimedia Commons,
- 10Nguồn ảnh: Dinkun Chen (CC BY-SA 4.0) — Wikimedia Commons,