IPOMOEA BATATAS

Common name: Sweet potato, Shakrkand शकरकंद (Hindi), Mangra (Manipuri), சக்கர வள்ளிக்கிழங்கு Sarkaraivallikizangu (Tamil), Sihigensu (Kannada), Ratalu (Gujarati), Genusu (Telugu), Madhurakkilannu (Malayalam)

Botanical name: Ipomoea batatas   

Family: Convolvulaceae (Morning glory family)

Introduction: The sweet potato is a vine whose large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. The sweet potato is only distantly related to the potato (Solanum tuberosum) The genus Ipomoea that contains the sweet potato also includes several garden flowers called morning glories, though that term is not usually extended to Ipomoea batatas. Some cultivars of Ipomoea batatas are grown as houseplants because of its attractive foilage. It is a perennial vine, bearing alternate heart-shaped or palmately lobed leaves and medium-sized morning-glory like flowers that are white in color with a purple throat. The edible tuberous root is long and tapered, with a smooth skin whose color ranges between red, purple, brown and white. Its flesh ranges between white, yellow, orange, and purple. The root is eaten roasted or boiled in India.

Chemical constituents:

The root and skin contain most of the studied medicinal components. High levels of polyphenols, such as anthocyanins and phenolic acids (eg, caffeic acid), have been isolated from sweet potato. Chlorogenic, dicaffeoylquinic, and tricaffeoylquinic acids are derivatives of caffeoylquinic acid that protect the root from fungal diseases and have potential cancer chemoprotective effects. The numerous acylated anthocyanins are the major color constituents in the storage roots and are important in the plant's use in diabetes. Sesquiterpenoids include 6-myoporol and ipomeamarone. Structural properties of the anthocyanins important for bioactivity include phenolic esters of the sugar, presence of 2 hydroxyl groups on the aromatic ring, and the presence of an unsaturated alkyl chain in the acylated moiety. 

The plant's antioxidant activity is associated with its alpha-tocopherol content, which is the most common form of vitamin E, and comprises 25 mg per 100 g of sweet potato shoots. The 2 storage proteins, sporamins A and B, account for more than 80% of the total protein isolated from the roots of sweet potato. 

Medicinal Uses

Antidiabetic, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activity of sweet potato in animals have been conducted.