Once marginalized as a holiday specialty food, the sweet potato has become popular in main dishes, desserts and snack foods due to its wealth of antioxidant nutrients. The colors of this root's starchy flesh range from pale gold to vibrant orange, with a thin skin that may vary from light brown to magenta. Prehistoric in origin, the sweet potato, or Ipomoea batatas, originated in Ecuador and is a dietary staple in South and Central America, Africa and Polynesia.
Nutritional Content
Rich in flavor and color as well as vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, the fat-free sweet potato is a nutritional gem. A sweet potato weighing 130 g has 112 calories, 26 g of carbohydrates, 3.9 g of fiber and 16.45 g of starch. If you're concerned about the root's starch content, its wealth of vitamins and minerals may persuade you to make it a regular part of your diet. The 130-g sweet potato boasts 18,443 IU of vitamin A, 11,062 mcg of beta-carotene, 3.1 mg of vitamin C and 438 mg of potassium. The sweet potato also offers manganese, vitamin B6, folate, thiamine and vitamin E in lower amounts.
Fiber and Starch
The National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine recommends 38 g of fiber daily for men under age 50 and 25 g daily for women. After age 50, recommended amounts decrease slightly. One sweet potato, with 3.9 g of fiber, makes a significant contribution to your daily fiber needs. As it passes through your digestive tract, vegetable fiber helps to maintain bowel health, eases the transit of lipids through the digestive system and stabilizes blood sugar, according to MayoClinic.com. The sweet potato offers a source of fat-free, low-sodium complex carbohydrates.
Vitamin A
One of the sweet potato's most significant nutritional offerings, vitamin A is a fat-soluble essential nutrient that encompasses a number of compounds, including retinol, retinal and retinoic acid. Vitamin A is essential for maintaining the health of your eyes, skin and teeth. The Linus Pauling Institute refers to A as the "anti-infective vitamin" because of its role in maintaining the integrity of the skin and mucosal cells, which act as barriers against pathogens throughout the body.
Phytonutrients
Beta-carotene is a carotenoid, an orange pigment that your body can convert into forms of vitamin A. The intensity of a sweet potato's orange hue reflects the amount of beta-carotene that it contains. Vitamin A and beta-carotene may protect your body against damage caused by free radicals and have been linked to a lowered risk of lung cancer, especially when consumed in whole foods like sweet potatoes, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.
Suggestions
Choose firm sweet potatoes with a deep orange color, if possible. Store the raw vegetables in a dark, cool cupboard before cooking, but don't refrigerate these tropical roots--temperatures below 55 degrees will alter their taste and texture, advises the Texas A&M University Department of Horticultural Studies.
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