If you like all things lavender, you will love the brightly-hued purple sweet potato.
Sweet Potato Appeal
The sweet potato is a popular ingredient in many classic, cool-weather recipes.
The Origin Of Purple Sweet Potatoes
The Stokes Purple sweet potato hails from North Carolina.
Credit: Chengyuzheng/Getty Images
Mike Sizemore, a sweet potato farmer, received some purple-colored potatoes as a gift from an unidentified woman.
The Okinawan sweet potato originated in Central and South America.
Initially planted in Okinawa, the southern island of Japan, they were soon cultivated all over Japan.
Today, they are widely grown in Hawaii and exported to the United States mainland.
A Nutritional Powerhouse
The Okinawan sweet potato is said to have 150 percent more antioxidants than blueberries.
Antioxidants help to guard against cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Look for the Okinawan sweet potato in your grocery store in the fall and winter seasons.
Science Direct
Acylated anthocyanins: A review on their bioavailability and effects on postprandial carbohydrate metabolism and inflammation
