Sweet potatoes are a healthful taste sensation that may be enjoyed year-round in a variety of dishes, cakes, muffins, breads or just all by themselves. Native Americans were already growing sweet potatoes when Columbus arrived on America's shores in 1492. Sweet potatoes caused the invention of bungee jumping. The sport was inspired by the natives of Pentecost Island in the South Pacific, who threw themselves off wooden towers with vines tied around their ankles to celebrate a successful yam harvest. The sweet potato is not a potato, not even a distant cousin.
Potatoes are tubers, sweet potatoes are roots.
Sweet potatoes have been growing in the South from as early as 1648. Commercial production of sweet potatoes is centered in the eleven states of Louisiana, North Carolina, California, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Louisiana offers ideal soil and climate conditions to grow sweet potatoes. Studies have consistently shown that a high intake of beta-carotene rich vegetables and fruits, like sweet potatoes, can significantly reduce the risks for certain types of cancer. Before using materials from this site, please read our usage agreement .