Bioscience Evidence 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 260-269 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/be 260 Review Article Open Access Review of Nutritional Components and Health Benefits of Sweet Potato ZhenLi Hainan Institute of Biotechnology, Haikou, 570206, Hainan, China Corresponding email: zhen.li@hibio.org Bioscience Evidence, 2025, Vol.15, No.6 doi: 10.5376/be.2025.15.0026 Received: 24 Sep., 2025 Accepted: 28 Oct., 2025 Published: 11 Nov., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Li, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Li Z., 2025, Review of nutritional components and health benefits of sweet potato, Bioscience Evidence, 15(6): 260-269 (doi: 10.5376/be.2025.15.0026) Abstract Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) have received increasing attention in recent years due to their high nutrition and the variety of active substances they contain. In this article, we have sorted out the main components of different parts of sweet potatoes, such as leaves and roots, and focused on introducing dietary fiber, beta-carotene, anthocyanins, vitamin C, minerals, etc., as well as the possible benefits they may bring to health. Nowadays, there are numerous in vitro experiments, animal experiments, and A small number of human studies, all of which show that eating sweet potatoes may have many benefits, such as improving vitamin A status, regulating blood sugar and lipid levels, antioxidation, anti-inflammation, protecting the cardiovascular system, anti-cancer, and even helping intestinal health. Generally speaking, sweet potatoes with orange flesh contain A lot of beta-carotene, which is helpful in preventing vitamin A deficiency. Purple sweet potatoes have a high content of anthocyanins and a stronger antioxidant effect. Sweet potato leaves themselves are also a good source of protein, minerals and polyphenols, and have high nutritional value. Although sweet potatoes have been regarded as a crop with high nutritional density and the ability to promote health, there are still not enough high-quality human clinical studies at present. The mutual influence among different genotypes, environmental conditions and processing methods also requires further research. In the future, cooperation among different disciplines should be strengthened to enable sweet potatoes to play a greater role in functional foods, nutritional intervention and breeding, and to promote more innovation. Keywords Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.); Nutritional components; Health benefits; Functional food; Antioxidant 1 Introduction Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is the sixth largest food crop in the world. It has strong adaptability, high yield and rich nutrition, so it is widely cultivated and consumed in many countries. China is the world's largest producer of sweet potatoes. The combined output of Asia and Africa accounts for more than 95% of the world's total. In the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, sweet potatoes are particularly important to the locals (Behera et al., 2022). Sweet potatoes are not only a staple food in tropical and subtropical regions, but are also often used as food for humans and animals worldwide (Otálora et al., 2023). The output and consumption vary in different regions, but Asia and Africa are the main planting and consumption areas. In these places, sweet potatoes provide important energy and nutrients for millions of people. In many countries, sweet potatoes are not just common crops; they also have cultural and economic significance. It can ensure food security and also generate income through processing into starch, flour or fermented beverages, etc. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, sweet potatoes are often used as staple food or important side dishes. They can help alleviate malnutrition and also supplement some micronutrients. Because sweet potatoes have a wide variety and strong adaptability, they are also an important source of income for small-scale farmers and residents in remote areas. In recent years, people have paid more and more attention to sweet potatoes, mainly because they contain many beneficial nutrients, such as dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, minerals, and some antioxidant substances, etc. Meanwhile, it may also be helpful in some chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer, etc. (Grebla-Al-Zaben et al., 2021). Sweet potatoes of different colors - such as orange, purple, and white - have
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