“Yams is nothing but a marketing term,” Stoddard explains. Have you ever stood in the produce section of the grocery store, scanning piles of beige root vegetables, variously labeled as sweet potatoes or yams and trying to figure out what’s the difference? Confusion is common, and kind of intentional. Sweet potatoes, purple and orange, are in a different family than potatoes (Russet, Idaho, and the like), which are actually in the same family as tomatoes. In fact, the industry prefers the term “sweetpotato” as one word to distinguish it from the other root vegetable. Stoddard helped develop the variant of these that grows in California. They are a striking purple on the outside but a creamy white on the inside. Murasaki sweet potatoes, also known as Japanese sweet potatoes, are sort of the inverse of the Okinawan. They’re a little bit creamier than Stokes, and are often found in the Hawaiian classic, Haupia pie. Okinawan sweet potatoes, also known as Hawaiian sweet potatoes, are beige on the outside, but on the inside, they are a lavender-purple. They have a dry, dense texture, and are less sweet than their orange cousins. Stokes, the aforementioned “purple/purple,” is perhaps the easiest to find in your local supermarket, and is sometimes mixed in with other sweet potato types.

While Stoddard is working to develop a variety that is easier to grow and more consistent in shape, you can still get your hands on savory purple sweet potatoes (several, in fact). There are several kinds of purple sweet potato. Purple sweet potatoes have that too, just less. Your typical orange sweet potato takes its color from its high amount of beta carotene. “That’s one of the criticisms of the Stokes,” Stoddard says, “sometimes it’s so dark purple it’s bitter to eat.” The key to developing a new potato is to make sure it has anthocyanins, but not too many, otherwise it becomes too bitter. Anthocyanins are known for their anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.Ī cup of cooked purple sweet potato has about 500 mg of this powerful antioxidant, says Stoddard, just shy of the amount in a cup of blueberries (600 mg). Purple sweet potatoes get their striking interior color from the same source as blueberries, the antioxidant anthocyanin. They’re purple for the same (healthy) reason blueberries are. The holiday season is a perfect time to get to know purple sweet potatoes, before they become the next California food phenomenon (kale, anyone?) Here’s 10 things you should know about this unique root vegetable: 1. If Stoddard is successful, that would mean more delicious purple sweet potatoes on the market and in the market, nestled against orange sweet potatoes. “We think we can improve yield and the overall appearance - it tends to grow a little bit long and it can also get bumps and whatnot on the skin,” Stoddard said.

So Stoddard is working on taking the “purple/purple” one step forward. But farmers have a hard time getting a great yield out of this tasty tater.

You can already find the Stokes, a variety of “purple/purple” which originated in North Carolina, on the market, especially in specialty markets. Stoddard’s goal is to create a new “purple/purple” variety of sweet potato: One that is purple-skinned on the outside, with a vibrant purple interior, and make it available year-round. Not to mention that they’re eye-popping on both your dinner table, and Instagram. “They’re good with things like butter and salt and pepper,” Stoddard says.

Purple hawaiian potato