The yam is widespread in the countries of North and South America, where climatic conditions are best suited for growing this plant. In Russia and neighboring countries, this root crop is gaining popularity. For a pronounced taste, sweet potato was called "sweet potato".
The article describes in detail how the sweet potato looks like a potato in properties, appearance, taste and other parameters, and how vegetables differ from each other.
Definition and brief botanical description
The sweetheart is a tuberous plant of the Vine family. The appearance resembles a creeping vine, whose length reaches 4-5 meters. The height of the bush does not exceed 18 cm. The plant has bright single flowers of a funnel-shaped form of white, lilac or pink color.
Yam tubers are large seed boxes of oblong shape weighing 300-400 g and are part of the root.
Potatoes are a tuberous plant of the family Solanaceae. It has thick long stems on which the leaves and flowers are pink or white. The potato bush reaches 1 m in height. The appearance of the tubers depends on the potato variety: they are oblong, oval or round; color can be pink, brown, red or dark lilac.
The above-ground part of the culture also has fruits in the form of small green berries that are poisonous. Potato tubers are shoots growing from the bottom of the stem. The average potato tuber weighs about 100 g.
It is known that Both plants are perennial, but they are cultivated as annual crops.
Is this the same thing or not?
The history of the sweet potato has not less than 4 thousand years. His homeland are tropical areas of South America, which are also home to potatoes.
In Europe, culture appeared thanks to Christopher Columbus in the period of great geographical discoveries. The name "sweet potato" yam received from the Arawak - Indian tribes of South America, who first cultivated this culture.
The people gave the plant the name because of the strong external similarity of tubers and methods of consuming sweet potatoes and potatoes. In fact, sweet potato has nothing to do with potatoes.
Comparison: how is it different?
Chemical composition and calorie content
Potatoes Composition:
- 100 g of tubers contain 80 kcal; 2.02 g of proteins; 17.79 g carbohydrates; 0.09 g of fat.
- Vitamins: A, E, K, C, B1-B9.
- Minerals: calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, copper, zinc, selenium, manganese.
The composition of sweet potatoes:
- 100 g contains 86 kcal; 1.57 g of proteins; 20.12 g carbohydrates; 0.05 g of fat.
- Vitamin and mineral composition is the same as that of potatoes.
Yam digestion is accompanied by a smaller insulin response of the pancreas, which means slower absorption of carbohydrates and a prolonged feeling of satiety.
Also yam contains more beta-carotene, which in the body turns into vitamin A. This compound is necessary to maintain visual acuity, healthy skin, bones, hair. 100 g of sweet root contains 170% of the required daily intake of beta-carotene.
Taste
Differences in taste:
- Potato has a pleasant salty-starchy taste. The texture of boiled potatoes is soft, loose.
- Vegetable varieties of sweet potatoes have a sweetish taste, like a frozen potato. The dessert varieties of this root have a rich sweet taste, which is compared with the taste of pumpkin, melon or banana.
Potatoes compare favorably with potatoes in that their root vegetables are consumed raw, when raw potatoes are not suitable for consumption.
According to the peculiarities of growing
The sweet potato feels well in a hot climate and does not need special care and watering in the warm season.
Planting yams in Russia is carried out by seedlings, as the tubers do not have time to form a new crop for a short summer. Planting material does not withstand low temperatures, therefore Landing is done after the end of the night frosts.
The rows should be at a distance of 60-90 cm from each other, a 35-40 cm gap between the holes is allowed. The warmer the soil, the larger and more beautiful the sweet potato roots will be, therefore gardeners sometimes wrap the soil under the sweet potato vines with a special film to keep warm and protect from temperature extremes. Harvest until the air temperature drops to 10 ° C, as the yam tubers die at this temperature.
Potatoes like a cooler climate, and at temperatures above 26 ° C, its growth stops. 1-2 weeks before the intended landing, planting material is brought in a warm place for the emergence of sprouts. After such preparation, the potatoes will rise faster, and the harvest will be richer. Planting is done when the soil temperature has reached 6-8 ° C.
Between the rows of potatoes it is recommended to maintain a distance of about 50 cm, between the holes in the row - 35-40 cm. Potatoes need to be watered regularly, hilling and eliminating pests during the whole growing season. Harvest from August to September.
By scope
Both potatoes and sweet potatoes are used both for feeding people and for feeding purposes. Both cultures have special fodder varieties, characterized by poorly pronounced taste. The table varieties are characterized by a rich taste and a pleasant texture.
In appearance
Potato tubers are round-shaped fruits with a rough surface, which is covered with so-called "eyes". The color of the peel is determined by the variety and can be brown, red, pink. The cut of the potato has a white or yellow color.
The sweet potato is a large fruit of an oblong form of red or orange color. The cut of the root is bright orange. Sweet potatoes are much larger than potatoes and can many times exceed it in size.
What is more useful and when to choose?
Batat is recommended to be used for baby food: children are more willing to eat sweets, even if it is soup or regular mashed potatoes.
Also Sweet potatoes are successfully used in the preparation of desserts and sweet snacks:
- mousses;
- pies;
- sweet salads;
- chips;
- sweets
Ordinary potatoes are more suitable for everyday nutrition. and cooking first and second courses: the neutral starchy taste of the tubers is ideally combined with both other vegetables and meat.
The sweet potato, despite the name "sweet potato", is not at all. These plants have completely different origins and are not related to each other. Nevertheless, sweet potatoes and potatoes have a similar vitamin and mineral composition, each of which is in its own way valuable to human health.
