Sweet potato

Sweet potato

(compendium)

[synonym] Ganchu (Southern vegetative), Shanshu (agricultural administration book).

[source] sweet potato tuber of dioscoreaceae.

[plant morphology] sweet potato

Vines perennial, ca. 5 m tall. Underground there are fleshy tubers, spherical, white meat, sweet. Stem cylindrical, pubescent. Leaves alternate, nearly cordate, rudimentary cordate, 8.5-12 cm long, 13-20 cm wide, papery, apex abruptly pointed, base cordate auricular, or deeply curved, entire, pubescent below, with 11 veins from base; long petiole, about 13.5 cm long, 2 spines at petiole base, opposite. Flowers small, unisexual, perianth lobes 6. Capsule, winged 3.

It is cultivated in the south of China.

[chemical composition] protein 2.3 g%, fat 0.2 g%, carbohydrate 29 g%, crude fiber 0.6 g%; carotene 1.31 mg%, thiamine 0.12 mg%, riboflavin 0.04 mg%, nicotinic acid 0.5 mg%, ascorbic acid 30 mg%; ash 0.9 g%, calcium 18 mg%, phosphorus 20 mg%, iron 0.4 mg%.

[nature and taste] Compendium: "sweet, flat, non-toxic. "

[function indications] Compendium: "tonifying deficiency, tonifying Qi, strengthening spleen and stomach, strengthening kidney yin, the same as Dioscorea. "