Description
Yam Sweet potatoes and yam, freshly pulled out of ground. Sweet potatoes and yam varieties come in many natural colors.Yams are monocots, related to lilies and grasses. Native to Africa and Asia, yams vary in size from that of a small potato to over 60 kilograms. There are over 600 varieties of yams and 95 percent of these crops are grown in Africa.
- Differences between yam and sweet potato
Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier. Yams are a monocot (a plant having one embryonic seed leaf) and from the Dioscoreaceae family. Sweet Potatoes, in parts of the world called ‘yams’, are a dicot (a plant having two embryonic seed leaves) and are from the Convolvulacea family. The table below lists some important differences between yam and sweet potato.
| Factor | Sweet Potato | Yam |
|---|---|---|
| Plant Family | Morningglory | Yam |
| Chromosomes | 2n=90 | 2n=20 |
| Flower | Monoecious | Dioecious |
| Origin | Tropical America (Peru, Ecuador) | West Africa, Asia |
| Edible part | Storage root | Tuber |
| Appearance | Smooth, with thin skin | Rough, scaly |
| Shape | Short, blocky, tapered ends | Long, cylindrical, some with "toes" |
| Mouth feel | Moist | Dry |
| Taste | Sweet | Starchy |
| Beta carotene | Usually high | Usually very low |
| Propagation | Transplants/vine cuttings | Tuber pieces |
Read more about this topic: Yam (vegetable)
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“To give an accurate description of what has never occurred is not merely the proper occupation of the historian, but the inalienable privilege of any man of parts and culture.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“As they are not seen on their way down the streams, it is thought by fishermen that they never return, but waste away and die, clinging to rocks and stumps of trees for an indefinite period; a tragic feature in the scenery of the river bottoms worthy to be remembered with Shakespeare’s description of the sea-floor.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)