This list of sweet potato cultivars provides some information about

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

and

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s of

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

(''Ipomoea batatas''). The

was first domesticated in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

more than 5,000 years ago. As of 2013, there are approximately 7,000 sweet potato cultivars. People grow sweet potato in many parts of the world, including New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, Hawaii, China, and North America. However, sweet potato is not widely cultivated in Europe. People

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

sweet potatoes mainly either for food (their nutritious storage roots) or for their attractive

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

s. (The variety 'Vardaman' is grown for both.) The first table below lists sweet potato cultivars grown for their edible roots; the second table lists cultivars bred as ornamental vines. In the first table, the Parentage column briefly explains how the sweet potato cultivar was bred. Sweet potato plants with desirable traits are

selectively bred Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant ma ...

to produce new cultivars. Sweet potato cultivars differ in many ways. One way people compare them is by the size, shape, and color of the roots. The more orange the

flesh Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscles, fats and other loose connective tissues, ...

of a sweet potato root is, the more nutritious

carotene The term carotene (also carotin, from the Latin ''carota'', "carrot") is used for many related unsaturated hydrocarbon substances having the formula C40Hx, which are synthesized by plants but in general cannot be made by animals (with the ex ...

it has. (Humans metabolize carotene into

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that is an essential nutrient. The term "vitamin A" encompasses a group of chemically related organic compounds that includes retinol, retinyl esters, and several provitamin (precursor) carotenoids, most not ...

.) The skin of a sweet potato root is a different color than the flesh. The biological word for the outer skin is ''

epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and Subcutaneous tissue, hypodermis. The epidermal layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the ...

''; the flesh is called the ''

pith Pith, or medulla, is a tissue in the stems of vascular plants. Pith is composed of soft, spongy parenchyma cells, which in some cases can store starch. In eudicotyledons, pith is located in the center of the stem. In monocotyledons, it ex ...

'' or ''medulla''. The first table below has a general description of the color of the root's flesh and skin. In the mid-20th century, sweet potato growers in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

began marketing orange-fleshed sweet potatoes as "yams", in an attempt to differentiate them from pale-fleshed sweet potatoes. Even though these growers called their products yams, true yams are significantly different. All sweet potatoes are variations of one species: ''I. batatas''. Yams are any of various tropical species of the genus ''

Dioscorea ''Dioscorea'' is a genus of over 600 species of flowering plants in the family Dioscoreaceae, native throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. The vast majority of the species are tropical, with only a few species extendin ...

''. A yam

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure that plants use as storage organs for nutrients, derived from stems or roots. Tubers help plants perennate (survive winter or dry months), provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduc ...

is starchier, dryer, and often larger than the storage root of a sweet potato, and the skin is more coarse. This list does not include yams.

Cultivars bred for edible roots

Many of the sweet potato cultivars below were bred at

agricultural experiment station An agricultural experiment station (AES) or agricultural research station (ARS) is a scientific research center that investigates difficulties and potential improvements to food production and agribusiness. Experiment station scientists work with ...

s. An agricultural experiment station (AES) is a

research center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentric ...

where scientists work to increase the quality and quantity of

food production The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the World population, world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from sm ...

. Agricultural experiment stations are usually operated by a government agency and/or a university.

Cultivars bred for ornamental vines

Cultivars bred for edible roots

Cultivars bred for ornamental vines

See also

References

Further reading