Sweet and Nutritious!! All About Sweet Potato Benefits, Calories : Harvesting vs. Seasonal Timing

Through Sweet and Nutritious!! All About Sweet Potato Benefits, Calories : Harvesting vs. Seasonal Timing post, we will thoroughly explore the benefits, nutritional components, calories, seasonal timing, selection, and storage methods of sweet potatoes.

If I were to describe sweet potatoes in one sentence:

“A low-calorie superfood rich in sweet and abundant nutrients.”

Sweet potatoes, which originated in the jungles of South America, spread worldwide during the Age of Exploration and became a ‘miracle food’ that helped overcome famines during Japan’s Edo period. In the southern United States, they are a traditional food that retains the taste of home and is loved by many historically and culturally.

We have summarized the benefits, nutritional components, seasonal timing, and selection methods of sweet potatoes in an easy-to-understand format with pictures and tables.

Let’s find out together from now on.

1. Diet

– Sweet potatoes are low in calories and rich in various nutrients such as vitamins and minerals, which helps manage weight without nutritional deficiencies while restricting calorie intake during a diet. Also, the rich dietary fiber slows down digestion and keeps you full for a long time.

※ Low calorie, rich in nutrients : Provides various essential nutrients, helping manage weight without nutritional deficiencies.

※ Dietary fiber : Slows digestion, leading to gradual post-meal blood sugar increase, regulating insulin secretion, reducing fat accumulation, and maintaining satiety to prevent overeating.

2. Blood Sugar Control

– Sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index, preventing rapid blood sugar spikes and maintaining balanced insulin secretion. The natural sugars help maintain stable blood sugar levels.

※ Low glycemic index : GI 44 ~ 45, helps maintain balanced insulin secretion, prevents blood sugar spikes.

※ Natural sugars : Unlike refined sugar, they are slowly digested and absorbed, moderating insulin secretion and stabilizing blood sugar levels.

3. Immune System Boost

– Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin C, which is essential for maintaining and strengthening the immune system, and beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A (important for immune function) in the body, helping enhance immunity and resistance to diseases.

※ Vitamin C : Promotes the production and function of white blood cells, acts as a powerful antioxidant, preventing immune cell damage and enhancing immune response.

※ Beta-carotene : Converts to vitamin A in the body, which is crucial for skin and mucous membrane health, preventing pathogen entry, promoting immune cell growth and differentiation, and improving immune response to infections.

4. Digestive Health

– Sweet potatoes promote intestinal peristalsis, aiding digestion with their rich dietary fiber and antioxidant components like vitamin C and beta-carotene, enhancing digestive system function and maintaining health.

※ Dietary fiber: Promotes intestinal peristalsis, aids smooth bowel movements, serves as food for beneficial gut bacteria, maintaining gut health.

⦁ Insoluble fiber: Increases stool bulk, aids smooth bowel movements, prevents constipation.

⦁ Soluble fiber: Slows digestion, aids nutrient absorption, serves as food for beneficial gut bacteria, playing a crucial role in maintaining microbial balance.

※ Antioxidant components: Vitamin C, beta-carotene, anthocyanins protect intestinal cells, maintain a healthy intestinal environment, reduce inflammation, and prevent inflammatory bowel diseases (like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis).

5. Cardiovascular Health

– Sweet potatoes are rich in potassium, which helps control blood pressure by promoting sodium excretion, and antioxidants that neutralize free radicals, preventing cellular damage and promoting heart and vascular health.

※ Potassium : Promotes sodium excretion, dilates blood vessels, lowers blood pressure, prevents hypertension.

※ Antioxidant components : Neutralize free radicals, prevent cellular damage, reduce inflammation, protect blood vessel walls, prevent atherosclerosis.

6. Other Benefits

– Benefits for skin health, constipation, eye health, bone health, anti-cancer effects, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory effects.

※ Skin health : Vitamin C promotes collagen production, keeping skin elastic, and beta-carotene converts to vitamin A, aiding skin cell regeneration.

※ Anti-cancer effects : Contains various antioxidants and anti-inflammatory components that help prevent cancer.

⦁ Anthocyanins: Abundant in purple sweet potatoes, prevent oxidative cell damage, inhibit cancer cell growth.

⦁ Beta-carotene: Reduces the risk of various cancers like lung, breast, and colon cancer.

⦁ Polyphenols: Inhibit cancer cell growth through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions.

※ Eye health : Beta-carotene converts to vitamin A in the body, essential for visual cell regeneration, maintains retinal function, and prevents night blindness.

– Sweet potatoes have 86 Kcal.

– Sweet potatoes are relatively low in calories compared to other starchy foods. They have a low glycemic index of 44 ~ 50 and are rich in various minerals and nutrients, helping maintain a balanced diet.

※ Seasonal timing: The peak season for sweet potatoes is from September to February.

– Harvesting season: The period when sweet potatoes mature fully and are ready to be harvested.

– Seasonal timing: After harvesting, sweet potatoes can be stored for a period, allowing them to be fresh and nutritious in the market for several months.

※ Seasonal Timing by Sweet Potato Type

– Regular sweet potatoes: September ~ February, most commonly grown sweet potatoes.

– Purple sweet potatoes: September ~ February, rich in the purple pigment anthocyanin.

– Pumpkin sweet potatoes: October ~ February, sweeter and softer texture.

– Chestnut sweet potatoes: September ~ February, characterized by a hard and nutty flavor.

– Color: Choose sweet potatoes with uniform color. Those with uneven or discolored parts may have lower quality.

– Skin: Smooth surface without scratches or wounds, thin and firm skin.

– Shape and Size: Uniform and consistent shape with moderate size. Sweet potatoes that are too bumpy or irregular may not be uniform inside. If they are of the same size, heavier sweet potatoes often contain more moisture and nutrients.

– Texture: Firm and resilient when pressed.

1. Storage: Proper storage can maintain the freshness and taste of sweet potatoes for a long time

– Temperature: Store at a cool temperature of 12 ~ 15℃. Too low temperatures can cause cold damage.

– Humidity: 85-90% is ideal. Maintaining slight humidity is important.

– Place

① Store in a cool, dark place: Avoid direct sunlight.

② Well-ventilated area: Ensuring air circulation keeps sweet potatoes fresh.

– Storage

① Store in a well-ventilated box or basket.

② Wrap in paper or newspaper: Prevents damage and mold.

③ Do not pile too many sweet potatoes at once: Store in layers and proper height for good ventilation.

– Precautions

① Avoid refrigeration: Refrigerator temperatures can spoil sweet potatoes and alter taste and texture.

② Regularly check the condition.

③ Separate damaged sweet potatoes: Immediately separate and remove spoiled or moldy sweet potatoes.

Conclusion

Through Sweet and Nutritious!! All About Sweet Potato Benefits, Calories : Harvesting vs. Seasonal Timing post, we thoroughly explored the benefits, nutritional components, calories, seasonal timing, selection methods, and storage methods of sweet potatoes. We hope this post helped you learn more about sweet potatoes.

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Thank you for reading this long post.