Sweet Potato

Batatas or Sweet Potatoes are hardy, ground-crawling bushy plants, with tuberous, spindle-shaped roots that thicken to potato-shaped tubers. They are not botanically related to either the potato or the topinambur, which is often falsely named a batata. The tubers of the batata are roundish, oblong, spindle or cylinder shaped, slightly tapered, usually between 10-30cm long, purple red, brownish, yellowish or whitish rind, and can reach weights between 0.3-3kg, usually approx. 1kg. Their flesh is slightly floury, whitish light, yellowish or red and it tastes sweetish, somewhat slimy, similar to a frost-damaged potato.

The sweet potato or batata probably has its home in Central and South America. It is cultivated in nearly all warmer countries of the tropics, subtropics and temperate regions of the planet. China is the world's largest producer of batatas.