Sweet Potatoes

The sweet potato is native to South and Central America, with the earliest domestication happening over 5,000 years ago. There’s a lot of debate among researchers as to which country in South or Central America sweet potatoes are native to, but there’s also a lot of evidence that point to the tubers to having most likely originated in Peru.

Sweet potatoes are in the plant family ipomoea batatas, with ipomoea being Greek for “worm like” and batatas being the Taíno word for potatoes. Learn more about the etymology of this rich root in our sweet potato profile.