What is the difference between Sweet Potatoes and Yams?

Sweet potatoes are a delicious, nutritious alternative to the typical white potato. Sweet potatoes are superior in fiber content, and they have vitamins A, C, manganese, and various minerals. They can be made in multiple ways, including baked, mashed, or fried. Sweet potato pie is a popular Thanksgiving dessert, which has a texture similar to pumpkin.

Sweet potatoes are elongated orange tubes that come to a point at the end. Yams, on the other hand, are sweeter than the sweet potato. Much like it’s sweet potato cousin, yams contain a plethora of vital nutrients. They include a decent amount of fiber, and they have more potassium and manganese than sweet potatoes. Yams can be boiled, roasted, or fried. Yams grow much larger than sweet potatoes, and they resemble the sweet potato, only yams tend to be longer.

Sweet potato is a "two seed leaves" (dicot) plants, and it belongs to the morning glory or Convolvulaceae family. They are usually orange or yellow in color, and they are much found in South America. They usually have their ends tapered to a point. Sweet potatoes are categorized into being soft and firm, which is literally known depending on the hardness after cooking. There are different types of potatoes, which include Goldrush, Velvet, Puerto Rico, Centennial, New Jersey, and Georgia red. On the other hand, yams are another sets of the plant family that is totally different from that of sweet potatoes. Yams are known to be monocots and belong to a family called Dioscoreaceae. There are several types of yam available with many found in The Us, Caribbean, and Latin America. Yams can grow over 7 feet long and can have a black or brown skin color with red or purple flesh.

Some people think that yams and sweet potatoes are the same because they seem similar. Yet, you have to remember that they are not. The skin of the yam may somewhat resemble the bark of a tree.

The sweet potato will have different colored skin. It will look a bit reddish. What makes everything more complicated is the fact that there are different types of sweet potatoes that are available. It can be a bit hard to determine the different varieties but the more that you know, the better.

Some of the sweet potatoes come in different colors. Take note that yams will have a texture and flavor that is very similar to other root crops from their own family.

There are so many differences between sweet potatoes and yams. First, sweet potatoes belong to the morning glory family, while yams belong to the Dioscoreaceae. Sweet potatoes are dicot plants because they have two seed leaves. On the other hand, yams are monocot plants because they have one seed leaf. While sweet potatoes are found in different parts of the world, they are mostly found in South America.

There are different kinds of sweet potatoes; they are; New Jersey, Goldrush, Puerto Rico, Velvet, Georgia red. Also, while yams are found in different parts of the world, they are popular in Latin America, the United States. There are different kinds of yams; they include; purple yam, white yam, lesser yam, Chinese yam, etc. Sweet potatoes are not always as big as yams. In terms of their physical appearance, sweet potatoes have very smooth skin, whereas yams possess rough skin, and they are usually black in color.