These Sweet Potato Recipes Are Making Us So Excited for Fall (2024)

FAQs

Which season is best for eating sweet potato? ›

Sweet potatoes are typically harvested in late August to early November. They're available in stores year-round, but are most flavorful in late fall and winter months. When buying sweet potatoes, choose medium sized potatoes that feel heavy for their size, without bruises or sprouts.

The tuber is high in antioxidants—specifically vitamin C, carotenoids and phenylpropanoids—which reduce inflammation in the body and protect against chronic diseases, as well as certain types of cancer.

Sweet potatoes became common as a food crop in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, South India, Uganda and other African countries.

Peak season for sweet potatoes is October to March.

You can still eat sweet potatoes if you have diabetes, assures Huff. The fiber content in sweet potatoes, especially if you consume them with the skin on, can help reduce spikes in your blood sugar. Plus, how you cook your sweet potatoes can also help reduce the extent to which your blood sugar rises.

China is the world's biggest producer and consumer of sweetpotato, where it is used for food, animal feed, and processing (as food, starch, and other products).

If you enjoy sweet potatoes, you can absolutely enjoy them daily. However, eating multiple sweet potatoes every day could cause a harmless condition called carotenodermia, where your skin turns yellow-orange. You may also want to be cautious about your sweet potato intake if you have a history of kidney stones.

Sweet potatoes contain beta-carotene, and their excessive consumption can lead to hypervitaminosis A (vitamin A toxicity), in which excess vitamin A accumulates in the liver. Although it is not considered harmful, the color of the skin and nails may turn orange. Additionally, sweet potatoes are rich in carbohydrates.

Boiling sweet potatoes retains more beta-carotene and makes the nutrient more absorbable than other cooking methods such as baking or frying. Up to 92% of the nutrient can be retained by limiting the cook time, such as boiling in a pot with a tightly covered lid for 20 minutes.

North Carolina produces more sweet potatoes than any other state in the United States and has been a leader since 1971. [1] In 2021 its production represented 64 percent of total U.S. production.

What state is the sweet potato capital of the world? ›

Mississippi hosts the National Sweet Potato Festival each November in Vardaman, which is the sweet potato capital of the world.

Sweet potatoes in fact, are considered a superfood. They are an excellent source of many key nutrients such as fiber, vitamins A and C, calcium, potassium and manganese. Additionally, they contain antioxidants and are naturally low in sodium.

Soft rot, Rhizopus nigricans. Sweet potatoes in storage are commonly infected with the bread mold fungus, which causes a watery soft rot of part or all of the tuber. The fungus may be seen as a fluffy, white growth, with black dots supported on threads.

How long sweet potatoes last in normal room temperature depends on many factors, and it's best to keep them in a pantry to last 3–5 weeks. You can also store sweet potatoes in the fridge for 2–3 months, or freeze them to last even longer.

The earliest cultivation records of the sweet potato date to 750 BCE in Peru, although archeological evidence shows cultivation of the sweet potato might have begun around 2500-1850 BCE.

When And Where To Grow Sweet Potatoes. Warm climates with consistent rainfall, particularly tropical, allow to grow the crop all year round. As the crop can't endure frost, farmers in colder regions grow short-season sweet potato varieties that yield in three to four months.

Whether it is winter, summer, spring or any other season, sweet potatoes will always be helpful. The beta-carotene present in sweet potatoes may reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. One of the best benefits of sweet potatoes is that it also improves a woman's fertility with their high Vitamin A content.

Read on for tips on buying and storing sweet potatoes, and check out the slideshow above for recipe inspiration. Sweet potatoes are available year-round, and are at their peak during the winter. Choose small to medium sweet potatoes that are heavy for their size. Avoid any with bruises or signs of sprouting.

Well, sweet potatoes are one of the oldest veggies on record, with traces of them dating back more than 10,000 years! These days, you'll find them in season from as early as August through November.