What Are Yams?

The Difference Between Sweet Potatoes and Yams

The yam is a premium product commanding the high regard of consumers all over the country. It is an outgrowth of the Bruce Foods growing area's ideal growing conditions, industry dedication, and long years of scientific research.

Yams have been part of the landscape of the South for over 250 years, but it was not until 1937 that they began to be marketed nationally as a commercial crop.

Botanically, the yam is a sweet potato. But the name is applied only to a scientifically developed sweet potato which can be grown to perfection only in certain soil-rich areas. The variety is distinguished physically by its coppery skin, deep orange flesh and when cooked, its smooth and syrupy texture.

Southerners chose to call their 'moist flesh' sweet potato the yam to differentiate it from the other sweet potato varieties grown elsewhere. There is also another type of yam, called Discorea batatas, which is the tuber of a tropical vine and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato. This yam tuber has a brown or black skin which resembles the bark of a tree and off-white, purple or red flesh, depending on the variety. Generally sweeter than the sweet potato, this tuber can grow over seven feet in length. They are at home growing in tropical climates, primarily in South America, Africa, and the Caribbean and are popular in Latin American and the Caribbean, with over 150 varieties.

The word 'yam,' long common in the South can be traced to the Senegalese work 'Nyami' meaning 'to eat,' a term introduced by African slaves who used it when referring to the other sweet potato-like root vegetable they found growing in the West Indies.

It is believed that the sweet potato, its origin likely in the West Indies or Central America, inhabited the Western Hemisphere long before the white man. History books record the natives of the West Indies presented Columbus with a gift of sweet potatoes when he first arrived on the Islands. And, at the time of the discovery of the Americas, the natives were already growing many varieties of the vegetable.

The soil and climatic conditions of the prime Bruce Foods growing area are ideally suited for the nurture of its prize yams. The yam is a particularly pleasant way to add essential nutrients to the diet and children are fond of this golden vegetable because of its smooth texture and naturally sweet taste.

The yam's deep orange color is more than just attractive, for it denotes large quantities of carotene, the element the body utilizes as Vitamin A. Vitamin A helps maintain healthy skin and eyes and good general health. According to the USDA, one medium yam supplies more than the RDA of Vitamin A and from 40-60% of the amount suggested for Vitamin C. In addition, the yam is an excellent source of energy-giving carbohydrates; it also provides about 10% of the RDA of thiamine (Vitamin B1) and iron, plus lesser amounts of riboflavin (Vitamin B2), calcium and other nutrients, making it one of the most nutritious root crops grown.

Yams cook up moist and tender and are one of the most versatile of foods. Baked, boiled or fried, they can be varied endlessly with different seasonings. They combine well with fruits and other vegetables and make an eye and appetite-appealing compliment to meats and poultry. In soups, breads, biscuits and muffins, and in desserts such as pies, puddings, cakes and cookies, yams add an interesting flavor and texture.