Ipomoea batatas - (L.)Poir.

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Summary

Main Bloom Time: Late summer, Mid summer. Form: Spreading or horizontal.

Physical Characteristics

Synonyms

Habitats

 Cultivated Beds; South Wall. By. West Wall. By.

Edible Uses

Medicinal Uses

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Other Uses

Cultivation details

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Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 12 hours in warm water, or scarify the seed, and sow in individual pots in a greenhouse in early spring. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 weeks at 22°c. Plants are extremely resentful of root disturbance, even when they are quite small, and should be potted up almost as soon as they germinate. Grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter then plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Seedlings can be very variable and are likely to be less productive than vegetatively produced plants[200]. Stem cuttings obtained from terminal shoots[200]. Remove the lower leaves and insert the cuttings to half their depth in individual pots.

Other Names

If available other names are mentioned here

Sweet Potato, Agietu, Anago-te, Anamo, Atomo anago, Bambaira, Bath-ala, Blofo atomo, Boniato, Buteta, Camote, Chakarakilangu, Chelagada, Chokeh, Damloong chhvie, Dankali, Dinkale, Dukuma, Ekomeko, E-muna, Faan shu, Fanshu, Genasu, Hila, Hongshu, Huwi boled, Huwi matang, Imbambaila, Ji-oyibo, Kalembula wa lungu, Kamote, Kanangi, Kanda, Kaukau, Kawai-ni-vulagi, Keladi, Keledek, Ketela, Khoai lang, Klawang, Kudaku, Kukunduku, Kumala, Kumara, Lal alu, Luzu vaka, Man-thet, Mitha alu, N jowo, Ntommo, Odunkum, Petete, Phan-karo, Pilau katelo, Pot-ecok, Ranga alu, Ratalu, Sakaria, Sakarkenda, Sakarkhand, Sakkareivelleikilangu, Satsuma inno, Setilo, Shakar-kandi, Shakarkand, apichu, batat, batata, batata-da-terra, batata-doce, batate, boniato, bíme mábi, goguma, kkumara, kuumara, papa dulce, patate douce, sweet-potato, süßkartoffel, tuktuka, wild potato vine, wild potato wit, yam, zoete aardappel.

Found In

Countries where the plant has been found are listed here if the information is available

Africa, Andes, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Central Africa, Central America, China, Colombia, Congo DR, Congo R, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guiana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mediterranean, Mexico, Mozambique, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North America, Northeastern India, Pacific, Panama, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Polynesia, Samoa, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, South Sudan

Weed Potential

Right plant wrong place. We are currently updating this section. Please note that a plant may be invasive in one area but may not in your area so it’s worth checking.

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants Status : This taxon has not yet been assessed

Expert comment

Author

(L.)Poir.

Botanical References

200

Links / References

For a list of references used on this page please go here
A special thanks to Ken Fern for some of the information used on this page.

Readers comment

K. Otto   Wed Nov 9 2005 pictures would be nice to be able to varify edibility Lily   Sun May 14 2006 I have just bought this as a plant and will be interested to see hwo it grows for me in SW France. Valerie   Sun Jun 25 2006 I have been told by my Vietnamese friends that they eat the leaves as a vegetable. This site doesn't say anything about eating the leaves; mentions only the root.    Thu Jun 21 2007 I have just conducted a survey in South Africa and according to that the Zulu people, living in the eastern province eat Sweet Potato leaves as a relish with their traditional mealie meal (maize porridge). But also in many other african countries ipomoea batatas leaves are considered as a delicious vegetable (leafy indigenous vegetables) Cavan Mejias   Wed Dec 26 2007 You should investigate promotion of the consumption of the leaves of this plant in the west indies, in light of rising food prices Ann Lamb   Thu Aug 30 2007 I have never heard of sweet potato seeds before, although I have seen the blooms on my plants. All the sweet potato references in my library cite vegetative propagation. Where would one get sweet potato seed? anne geddes shalit   Tue Feb 19 2008 I thinkk Ipomea is useful for diabetes. I thought it wasgood for diabetics because it has inulin instead of starch but the first site I looked at had another reason http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/27/2/436 and other sites I looked at inulin and diabetes. The Wikepedia entry on inulin seems to confirm that Ipomoea is used to treat diabetes because of the inulin. There is a list at the end of the article of several other plants containing inulin Efficacy of Ipomoea batatas (Caiapo) on Diabetes Control in Type 2 Diabetic Subjects Treated With Diet 2) wikepedia there are lots of articles, search words ipomea diabetes AMUL CHAHAR   Fri Feb 20 2009 what r dose and rout ofadminstriation in mice for prevent diabetis ?    Sun Mar 1 2009 Ipomoea aquatica - great food plant not included in your db patty   Sat Jun 6 2009 i have eaten leaves and petioles up to 2 feet back from the growing tips. they are delicious just sauteed or boiled a few minutes. i have read to eat only the newly opening leaves. does anyone know why older leaves cannot be eaten, even if they have to be cooked longer? i am in new england and have only a 140 day growing season. why not harvest all those leaves before digging up the roots? David (volunteer)   Sat Jun 6 2009 Can't give a conclusive answer, I was reading about the leaves being edible in "Organic New Zealand" magazine, they just sat say leaves are edible, no mention of young leaves, they recommend simmering in coconut cream. Usually young leaves are recommended simply because older leaves are judged too tough, boiling etc msay reduce that. I've never heard of a plant with leaves that become poisonous as they mature, I suppose it's remotely possible in this case,but I'd eat them. David   Sat Jun 6 2009 I've just noticed the same source quoted above says in regard to Sweet potato leaves "as with any greens, the young leaves tend to be tastier and tenderer than the mature leaves"    Sat Jul 18 2009 Ann Lamb asked "Where would one get sweet potato seed?" I believe that this is the same as true seed from regular potato. when the plant flowers it will produce a 'fruit' if it is pollinated (regular potatoes look like tomato fruit inedible and full of seeds) Melissa   Thu Nov 19 2009 Is this the white fleshed tropical variety, or the orange fleshed 'thanksgiving' sweet potato or yam? Is there any info about eating either raw? Someone just told me they should be cooked, always. David   Thu Nov 19 2009 www.healthy.net/scr/mmedica.asp?Id=138&MTId=8 - , a site on raw food, says Ipmoea batatas can be eaten raw, aside from this all my references say it is cooked, possibly just because it is not that palatable raw, I can't find any references to it being toxic, except when rotten. I understand at least 2 different tubers are called Yams in America, the other one, Dioscorea, is definitely bitter and toxic raw, so make certain you know which is which! I expect there are good photos on the net.    May 6 2011 12:00AM I eat the older leaves as well as the younger. You don't have to cook them that long--I just stir-fry. The Wikipedia page makes reference to an African use of dehydrated crushed sweet potato root, so I assume this means they are eating them raw (but dried). Both the orange and the white-fleshed types of sweet potato sold in the USA are Ipomoea batatas. The other type is of African descent, and is not generally available in the US. I grow them from the root here in the North Bay Area of California. You can sprout the roots in a mason jar like an avocado pit (with toothpicks stuck in the sides, to hold the top half out of the water), or, like me, just stick it in a jar that's half full. If you start them in the winter or early spring they will be ready to plant out after frosts have passed. Or you can do what I do, which is to use the central tuber from the fall harvest for the next year's plant. It will happily sprout leaves and roots all winter long, given adequate water and a sunny window. Then, when you plant these out, they will have long vines already grown. Strip off some leaves at various locations along the vine and bury the stripped part. It will take root. Okay, my question: I would like to know an effective way of making sweet potato flour--preferably raw, so I can use it as a thickener. I've found that dehydrated pieces of sweet potato turn harder than PVC, and I can't get them through my grinder like that. Is there a way to pulverize the wet flesh before drying them, so that the dried bits are small/soft enough to grind (without actually having to pound them with a rock or something)? Thanks! Toxic substances and antinutritional factors   May 6 2011 12:00AM Okay, I just found this, from FAO, which suggests raw sweet potato might not be such a good thing to eat, because it contains a high amount of an anti-nutritional factor. FAO -- Roots, tubers, plantains and bananas in human nutrition QR Code What's this? This is a QR code (short for Quick Response) which gives fast-track access to our website pages. QR Codes are barcodes that can be read by mobile phone (smartphone) cameras. This QR Code is unique to this page. All plant pages have their own unique code. For more information about QR Codes click here. 1. Copy and print the QR code to a plant label, poster, book, website, magazines, newspaper etc and even t-shirts. 2. Smartphone users scan the QR Code which automatically takes them to the webpage the QR Code came from. 3. Smartphone users quickly have information on a plant directly for the pfaf.org website on their phone. Add a comment If you have important information about this plant that may help other users please add a comment or link below. Only comments or links that are felt to be directly relevant to a plant will be included. 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