Sweet Potato Is a Healthy Vegetable Rich in Antioxidants and Nutrients
Sweetpotato Leaves and Tips Contain Antioxidants That Help Maintain Good Health.
Sweetpotato is one of the most important summer food crops in Korea. It is a versatile plant which is put to different uses. For example, it is used as a food and a livestoack feed, and for starch and alcohol production.
Koreans value sweetpotato tips as a very nutritious and tasty vegetable (Fig. 1). The tips can be cooked together with other ingredients in various Korean dishes, or can be dried and stored for later use as a boiled or fried vegetable.
Nutritive Value of Sweetpotato Tips
Sweetpotato tips (leaf blades and petioles) contain protein, ash, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients.
When they are eaten raw, their nutrient content is not high compared to that of other vegetables. However, when they are boiled or used in their dried form, their content of protein, ash, carbohy-drates,calcium, phosphorus and Vitamin A compares favorably with those of other vegetables.
Sweetpotato Leaves and Tips
Leaves and tips of sweetpotato contain nutrients that are useful in maintaining a healthy body (Table 1).
In order to increase the utility of sweetpotato, leaves and tips were evaluated for their content of antioxidants, such as chlorogenic acid, isoclorogenic acid and caffeic acid (Table 2).
The levels of chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid and caffeic acid were higher in leaves than in the other parts of the sweetpotato plant. On the other hand, the antioxidant content was lower in the tips than in leaves, but higher in the tips than in the roots and petioles.
Cropping Systems for Sweetpotato in Korea
In Korea, sweetpotato cropping methods are of three types: (1) Early-season crops which are planted in April and harvested in July-August; (2) Mid-season crops, which are planted in May and harvested in September, and (3) Late-season crops, which are planted in June and harvested in October.
Cultivation Method for Sweetpotato Tip Production
- In Korea, with a cold winter, sweetpotato roots are planted at a density of 5 cm x 5 cm in a polyethylene greenhouse in February
- After 2 months, harvest tips every 10 days.
- Basic amount of fertilizer: 120 kg N/ha;70kg P/ha, and 90kg K/ha.
- Apply 30kg N/ha after every harvest.
Index of Images
Figure 1 Sweetpotato Tips
Table 1 Nutritive Value of Sweetpotato Plants.
Table 2 Antioxidative Content of Sweetpotato (MG/100G F.W.)
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