Sweet Potatoes: Origin and Storage Practices

Thanksgiving is a holiday full of good food. Every year a staple in my holiday meal are sweet potatoes. Whether you steam them up as a side or make a casserole with brown sugar, cinnamon, or marshmallows, sweet potatoes are a tasty and nutritious food. I read an article on sweet potatoes from Economic Botany. It is titled "The Sweet Potato--Its Origin and Primitive Storage Practices" written by J. S. Cooley. J.S. Cooley is from the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

The exact origin of the Sweet Potato is unknown. It is believed that the sweet potato comes from a cross of a few wild plants. Even after using genetic databases to trace the sweet potatoes genetics, there is not one, or even two plants that can be called its ancestors. Without any definitive ancestor it is difficult to say exactly where the sweet potato originated. Scientists can only trace places where plants like the sweet potato were thought to be.

In prehistoric times the sweet potato was eaten by people in the pacific islands and the tropical Americas. Other cultures were eating similar plants from the same family, but scientists do not know exactly if they were sweet potatoes. The sweet potato was spread around the world but the debate is how it was spread and where it was spread to first. One issue in transporting the sweet potato is that it requires special storage to keep it viable to plant or eat after the trip.

In it's native tropical habitat, the sweet potato had no problems storing. When it was taken to other countries with climates where there was a winter, and not enough humidity, the sweet potato would rot. The sweet potato is different from most foods when it is stored. The cold and lack of humidity will make it go bad. When properly curing and storing the sweet potato the room needs to be around 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit with a humidity of 85-90 percent saturation for at least a week, sometimes longer.

I know when I buy sweet potatoes they always seem to go bad quickly. As with most foods I try to store them in a cool, dry place. Now I know that this will not work for sweet potatoes and that I was actually helping them to go bad. The key is warm storage with humidity.