Bioscience Evidence 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 260-269 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/be 261 very different nutritional components, which has also driven more research on their health effects (Laveriano-Santos et al., 2022). Systematically organizing the nutritional and health benefits of sweet potatoes is conducive to public health, food development and sustainable agricultural development (Tedesco et al., 2023). This review will provide a comprehensive overview of the global production and consumption of sweet potatoes, and also analyze their cultural, economic and dietary values in different regions. The following will focus on introducing the main nutritional components and health benefits of sweet potatoes, including their role in the prevention of chronic diseases. This review will also discuss the application prospects of sweet potatoes in the food industry and sustainable agriculture, and point out the shortcomings of current research as well as possible future development directions. 2 The Botanical Background and Variety Differences of Sweet Potatoes 2.1 Botanical classification of sweet potatoes Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) belongs to the Convolvulaceae family and is a perennial herb of the Ipomoea genus. It mainly consists of tuberous roots as its edible part. Taxonomic studies have shown that sweet potatoes are closely related to some wild species. However, nowadays, the sweet potatoes grown by people no longer have the true wild type and mostly reproduce asexually through tubers or stem segments (Davis et al., 2024). More than 6 500 sweet potato varieties have been recorded worldwide, including traditional varieties, breeding materials and some wild relatives. 2.2 Overview of main sweet potato varieties: orange, purple, white, and yellow flesh types The common flesh colors of sweet potatoes' tubers are orange, purple, white and yellow. Different colors indicate different types of pigments and nutritional components inside (Rosell et al., 2024). Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes usually contain A lot of beta-carotene and are an important source of vitamin A. They are also often used to prevent vitamin A deficiency. Purple-fleshed sweet potatoes have a high content of anthocyanins and polyphenols, and also have strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capabilities. White-fleshed sweet potatoes have very little pigment, with relatively low levels of beta-carotene and anthocyanins. Some varieties have a slightly higher protein content, but their overall nutritional level is relatively low. The composition of yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes lies between that of orange-fleshed and white-fleshed ones, containing a certain amount of carotenoids and polyphenols. 2.3 The influence of variety differences on nutritional components and bioactive substances Sweet potatoes of different varieties vary greatly in terms of nutritional components and the content of bioactive substances, mainly reflected in the following aspects. Purple-fleshed sweet potatoes have the highest anthocyanin content, up to 18.35 mg/100 g, and also have higher contents of polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins. Therefore, they have the best antioxidant capacity (Jiang et al., 2022; Rahman and Nurdin, 2023). The orange-fleshed sweet potato has A particularly high content of carotenoids, with β -carotene reaching approximately 47.2 mg/100 g dry weight. It is an ideal source for supplementing vitamin A. Some white-fleshed sweet potatoes have slightly higher protein content, while purple-fleshed and orange-fleshed ones have more prominent dietary fiber content (Wan et al., 2024). There are also differences among different varieties in trace elements such as iron, zinc, calcium and vitamin C. Yellow and purple sweet potatoes perform better in certain mineral contents (Drapal et al., 2019; Ngcobo et al., 2024). The antioxidant activity of purple-fleshed sweet potatoes is the strongest, followed by orange-fleshed ones, while white-fleshed and yellow-fleshed ones are relatively weak. 3 The Nutritional Components of Sweet Potatoes 3.1 Carbohydrates and dietary fiber The main component of sweet potatoes is carbohydrates, among which starch is the most abundant, generally ranging from 22.6 to 69.7 g per 100 g (dry weight). It also contains a certain amount of soluble sugar, ranging from 10.3 to 40.0 g/100 g (dry weight). Sweet potatoes are also rich in dietary fiber, approximately 7.99 to 26.0 g/100 g (dry weight), and most of it is insoluble fiber (Waidyarathna et al., 2021; Zhao et al., 2024). Dietary fiber is beneficial to the intestines and also helps control blood sugar.
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