When searching the canned vegetable aisle, you’ve probably seen cans of yams. Are they the same as sweet potatoes? The truth is, what we call a yam is actually a sweet potato. It is likely you’ve never tasted a yam!
The sweet, orange-colored vegetable is truly a sweet potato. A true yam is from the Dioscorea genus and is imported from the Caribbean. It has a rough, scaly exterior and is more white in color due to low beta-carotene content.
Sweet potatoes can vary in color from white, to orange, to purple. The traditional orange variety was introduced several decades ago and were labeled as “yams” which is the English form of the African word “nyami.”
Test your knowledge of sweet potatoes and yams with this quiz from the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission.
