Benefits of Purple Sweet Potato

I believe everyone is familiar with purple sweet potatoes. We also call purple sweet potatoes black potatoes. Purple sweet potatoes have very high edible value. Purple sweet potatoes can be eaten as well as used for medicinal purposes. Eating purple sweet potatoes regularly can have very good health and wellness effects. Purple sweet potatoes have very good anti-cancer effects. Eating purple sweet potatoes regularly can also have anti-aging and anti-fatigue benefits. Let’s take a look at the introduction to purple sweet potatoes below.

Purple sweet potatoes not only contain rich vitamins and various trace elements, but also contain anthocyanins which are very beneficial to the human body. It can be seen that the nutritional value of purple sweet potatoes is very high. Eating purple sweet potatoes often can bring us a healthy body.

Purple sweet potato (correct name: Dioscorea alata Linn.), also known as black sweet potato, has purple to dark purple flesh. In addition to the nutrients of ordinary sweet potatoes, it is also rich in selenium and anthocyanins. Purple sweet potato is one of the main raw materials of anthocyanins.

Edible value

It is rich in protein, starch, pectin, cellulose, amino acids, vitamins and various minerals, as well as selenium and anthocyanins. Purple sweet potatoes are rich in nutrients and have special health functions. The protein and amino acids in them are easily digested and absorbed by the human body. The rich vitamin A can improve vision and skin mucosal epithelial cells, vitamin C

It can promote the normal synthesis of collagen protein and prevent the occurrence of scurvy. Anthocyanin is a natural and powerful free radical scavenger.

In addition to the nutrients of ordinary sweet potatoes, it is also rich in selenium, iron and anthocyanins. It ranks first among anti-cancer vegetables published by the National Vegetable Cancer Research Center of Japan. In addition, purple sweet potatoes can be peeled, dried, crushed and processed into powder. They have beautiful color and rich nutrition. They are excellent food processing raw materials and can be used as the main ingredient or ingredient of various pastries. At the same time, purple sweet potato will also become one of the main raw materials of anthocyanins. From the tender leaves at the stem tip to the tubers, purple sweet potatoes have certain health functions and are one of the current pollution-free, green and organic foods.

Medicinal value

The selenium and iron in purple sweet potatoes are necessary elements for the human body to resist fatigue, anti-aging, and blood tonic. Selenium, in particular, is known as the "king of anti-cancer" and is easily absorbed by the human body. It can remain in the serum, repair the myocardium, enhance the body's immunity, eliminate free radicals in the body, inhibit the synthesis of DNA in cancer cells and the division and growth of cancer cells, and prevent the occurrence of gastric cancer, liver cancer and other cancers. Purple sweet potatoes are rich in cellulose, which can increase stool volume, promote gastrointestinal motility, clear mucus, gas and decayed matter retained in the intestinal cavity, excrete toxic substances and carcinogens in stool, maintain smooth bowel movements, improve the digestive tract environment, and prevent the occurrence of gastrointestinal diseases. In addition to the nutrients of ordinary sweet potatoes, it also contains polysaccharides, flavonoids, and is rich in selenium and anthocyanins. It has certain functions in preventing hypertension, alleviating liver dysfunction, and anti-cancer.

Yoshimot et al. used Salmonella typhimurium TA98 to evaluate the anti-mutagenic activity of water extracts of four different colored potatoes and found that purple potato anthocyanins can effectively inhibit the mutagenic effects caused by heterocyclic amines. Two anthocyanins isolated from purple sweet potatoes have strong anti-mutagenic effects.

Animal experiments have shown that purple sweet potato beverages containing a large amount of anthocyanins can significantly inhibit the increase of glutamate-oxalacetate transaminase (GOT) and glutamate-pyroglucose transaminase (GTP) in the serum of mice with liver damage caused by carbon tetrachloride, and have a certain inhibitory effect on the increase of thiobarbituric acid (TBA) reactants and oxidized lipoproteins in serum and liver; while yellow-fleshed sweet potato beverages cannot - Fredenck et al. gavaged rats with 2.5 mL of 5% ethanol aqueous solution containing 1%, 5% and 10% anthocyanins/kg body weight, 5 days a week for a total of 4 weeks; and then gavaged rats with 0.5 mL of carbon tetrachloride/kg body weight. After 18 hours, the levels of aspartate and alanine transaminase in the serum were significantly lower than those of the control group that was only gavaged with carbon tetrachloride, indicating that anthocyanins can inhibit acute liver damage caused by carbon tetrachloride.

Above we introduced what purple sweet potatoes are. We know that purple sweet potatoes are also called black sweet potatoes. Purple sweet potatoes are very rich in nutrients. Eating purple sweet potatoes regularly can have good health and wellness effects. Purple sweet potatoes are rich in anthocyanins and selenium. The above article introduces in detail the various benefits of purple sweet potatoes.