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Home > Featured Stories > Innovation and Discovery > November 2007 > Sweet Potatoes - Not Just for ThanksgivingBehold... The Sweet Potato
The sweet potato is emblematic of the broad reach of NC State's work.
By Keith Nichols, News Services
It's a veritable vitamin powerhouse, an aid against diabetes and may well be the fuel of the future. Behold... the sweet potato - it's not just for Thanksgiving anymore.
At North Carolina State University, the sweet potato is emblematic of the broad reach of the university's work. From biofuel research to recipes on the Cooperative Extension Web site, when it comes to that Thanksgiving staple, the sweet potato, we've got you covered.
Researchers are working to genetically combine industrial sweet potatoes with enzymes from the ocean floor to create an ethanol resource to diversify our nation's energy and biofuel needs. At the same time, they're working to reduce the operational costs of planting and harvesting sweet potatoes. North Carolina leads the nation in sweet potato production.
Also, while more research is needed, NC State scientists also believe the sweet potato holds the potential to help diabetics control their blood glucose.
This is not your grandma's sweet potato souffleé. But, if you wanted to learn a new way to prepare sweet potatoes for your Thanksgiving dinner, try sweet potato stuffing, muffins, or a casserole - recipes you can find on the Cooperative Extension web pages.
While we're on the subject of sweet potato as food and nutrition, forget about carrots and broccoli when it comes to veggie vitamins. The Nutrition Action Health Letter rated 58 vegetables by adding up the percentages of US Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for Vitamins A and C, foliate, iron, copper, calcium and fiber; the sweet potato topped the list with 582 points. A raw carrot was a distant second at 434. It would take 23 cups of broccoli to provide the same amount of vitamin A that you get in one sweet potato. If you're interested, there's more fiber in one sweet potato than in a bowl of oatmeal.
Rounding out the sweet potato story, those pretty ornamental sweet potato vines growing in your neighbor's hanging baskets were probably developed at NC State, home of the "Sweet Caroline" series of ornamental sweet potatoes. Available in a variety of colors, they're cousins of the morning glory and may soon be available in a variety of blooming plants.
Whether for food, fuel or flower, everything you'd care to know about sweet potatoes is located on the right-hand rail of this page.
Bon appétit!
