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Kamote—sweet potato 0809

Page history last edited by ecop 14 years, 10 months ago
Kamote (Sweet Potato)
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Supporting a Healthy Diet

 

 

  By: Hye In Oh

 

 


Description and Rationale 

 

             Kamote, also known as sweet potato, is one of the most extensively cultivated crops in the Philippines. The reason for this is mostly because it can be planted at any time of the year, it has high nutritional values, and it can also be used for many medicinal purposes. Kamote can be found in many places throughout the Philippines, but that does not mean that it is being consumed as much as it is being produced (or if it is consumed, then it is usually deep fried or mixed with sugar which takes out all the nutrients in the vegetables). Kamote is usually only used for medical needs and for things other than food, because in Manila, people living in both rural and urban areas prefer to eat meat and high-cholesterol foods (Stuartxchange.com).

What are the specific uses for Kamote for medical purposes? What kind of vitamins does the Kamote give? Are the vitamins contained in the edible roots, or leaves, or the fruit itself? If mixed with some other ingredient (such as sugar, salt, oil…etc), will the nutrition level decline? Can Kamote plants be easily grown, or are special processes needed to cultivate them? Are they safe to eat right off the plant or do they need to go through some sort of procedure to cleanse them?

Like every country, the Philippines also have their share of growing vegetables. There are literally hundreds of vegetables that can be found in the Philippines. Vegetables are convenient and can be found in supermarkets, nearby sari-sari stores, and even in stalls along the side of the streets. The only problem is that the people do not take advantage of this blessing they have. Philippines is known for their high-fat, high-salt diet, and this is partly caused because of the lack of vegetables they take in. This is still one of the growing concerns in the Philippines today.

The initial purpose of this project will be to research and find ways that Kamote can be beneficial to the Philippines, especially for the Filipino’s nutrition level. Another goal is to find a way that Kamote can be made appetizing to Filipinos, all the while keeping its nutrition level at a high range. It would also be necessary to research about Kamote and the vitamins it supplies the consumer. This will be done so that it would help increase the appeal for healthy vegetables in the Philippines while attempting to decrease the solute and fats they take in with their current diet. It would also try and help teach Filipinos of the importance of a healthy diet.

It is hoped that awareness will be brought into the Filipino community of the unhealthy diet hindering them from better health and a better community, as well as of their misconception that vegetables are unappetizing.

 

 

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Biology

 

Common Names and Synonyms

 

Sweet potato plants are also known as Ipomoea batatas. Indonesians call this Ubi Jalar; the name giving reference to the plants’ creeping (menjalar) vines. Sometimes, sweet potatoes are often confused with another vegetable called yam, as well as a type of purple yam, ube, even though they are only distantly related to each other. Other names for sweet potatoes are Kamote (Philippines); Bathala (Sinhala); and Goguma (Korea).

 

 

Classification

 

Kingdom:          Plantae

Phylum:             Angiosperms

Class:                Eudicots (3-grooved pollen)

Sub-Class:         Asterids (monophyletic – common-ancestor)

Order:               Solanales (annual or perennial plants – live 1 or 2 years)

Family:              Convolvulaceae (bindweed)

Genus:               Ipomoea (morning glories)

Species:             I. batatas (root vegetable)

 

 

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Morphology and Physical Description

 

   

 

Sweet potato plants have alternate heart-shaped or palmate-lobed leaves as well as medium sized flowers. Leaves and shoots that grow out of these vegetables are edible and are also sometimes eaten as greens.

 

Out of these plants also grow tuberous roots, which are the important root vegetables that we call sweet potatoes. They are long and thin, and they have outer coverings to protect themselves. The colors of the coverings range between red, purple, brown and white. The colors of the flesh of the vegetables range from white through yellow, orange, and purple.

 

There are a variety of sweet potatoes, distinguished by their shape, size, and color. Some are moderately purple, with red root skin, and orange root flesh color. They are oftentimes smoother and smaller than others, and can be noted for their white fruit flesh color. Some others have purple skin on the outside, but on the inside flesh, are white. There are also sweet potatoes reverse of this description – white on the outside skin but purple on the inside. However, one characteristic that all of them share in common is of their long and lumpy structure.

 

The flesh color of the sweet potato is said to be directly related to its beta-carotene content. Beta-carotene in orange-fleshed sweet potato is something that our bodies can use to produce vitamin A, thus, calling it, “Provitamin A.” However, the purple-fleshed sweet potatoes have the highest antioxidant activity (activity protecting cells against the effects of free radicals – damage due to oxygen – such as heart disease and cancer) among any other sweet potatoes. Also, the skin is found to have the highest antioxidant activity in any other part of the plant.

 

 

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Cultivation Practices

 

Sweet potatoes can be grown in all different kinds of soil, but the most productive choice of area would be sandy earth, high organic matter with permeable sub-soil. Alkaline and saline soils are to be avoided, because of the plant’s sensibility to them.

 

Generally, sweet potatoes need relatively high temperature during their growing stage, but temperature level is best above 24˚C.

 

Shading is best avoided, because sweet potato does best where light intensity is relatively high. However, 13.5 hours or more day-length prevents flowering, while only 11 hours or less promotes it. Sweet potatoes flower more in tropic areas like the Philippines because favorable root formations are also promoted by short-day conditions. Short days with low intensity promote storage root formation.

 

The best time to plant sweet potatoes are early in the rainy season, so that it can grow quickly. But this must be also done with great caution, just in case the rainy season happens to be very long. It is ideal that the crops are maturing just as the rainfall begins to decline.

 

 

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Reproduction

 

The actual sweet potato vegetable is part of the plant’s roots underground, and it stores nutrients to help the plant reproduce. Five to seven sweet potato vegetables typically sprout from one plant. If replanted once again, then new sprouts will shoot out using the nutrients stored up in the sweet potato itself (an asexual reproduction).

 

Especially during the first 1-3 weeks, the plants need frequent watering. Sweet potatoes may be ready for harvest in about 10 weeks, or can even require up to about 9 months in the field. Hot temperatures speed up sweet potato plants’ growth, so the crops requiring 9 months are usually the plants grown in cold temperatures. Majority usually requires about four and a half months in the field.

 

 

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Environmental Factors

 

There are several pests associated with the sweet potato. One of the few is referred to as the Sweet Potato Weevil. Female Weevils can lay up to 200 eggs in her lifetime. They usually lay their eggs in the storage roots, but in times when they cannot reach the roots, they lay their eggs on portions of vines instead. Grubs emerging from the eggs damage the roots or vines, making it harmful for humans (sometimes even for the livestock) to consume.

 

Another pest is commonly known as the Sweet Potato Bug. These are considered minor pests of sweet potatoes, but when present, they give significant harm to the plants as well. The nymphs and adults of these bugs suck the plant sap, causing the crop to wilt and stunt. Philippines is well aware of these pests, because they are mostly found in the Southern part of Asia.

 

Sweet Potato Whiteflies are very harmful and are considered to be the most common and important whitefly vector of plant viruses throughout the world. They lay their eggs under the leaves of crops. Aside from injecting viruses, they also conduce towards the withering and the death of the plants. They also contribute to the growth of black sooty mold, making the plants unmarketable.

 

Field mice, rats, wild pigs, and other stray animals are also causes for some of the plants’ deterring growth.

 

 

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Origin and Distribution

 

Sweet potatoes are native to Central Americans, and are one of the oldest vegetables known to be eaten in that region. After Christopher Columbus came back from voyaging around the “New World,” he introduced the fine tasting sweet potatoes to the Europeans. From there, the Spaniards brought it into the Philippines, while the Portuguese spread it across Africa, India, Indonesia and southern Asia.

 

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Importance to People

 

In the Philippines, sweet potato plants are used in many different ways. Sometimes they eat it or use it for animal feed formulation, and other times, they use the raw material in starch, alcohol, carotene-juice, glue or syrup of the sweet potatoes to manufacture things, such as starch used for textile or paper industries. They also use them as herbal medicines, even though none of them were found to be efficient.

 

Families rely on their sweet potato sales to provide for their financial needs as well. Approximately 30 percent of the harvested sweet potatoes are sold to local markets or inside the farmers’ neighborhood.

 

Sweet potatoes also contain a lot of nutrients, such as Vitamins A and C, manganese, copper, dietary fiber, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), potassium, and iron (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64).

 

 

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Survivability and Endangered Status

 

Many sweet potatoes are cultivated in the country. Mostly because of the financial convenience as well as the environmental convenience the Philippines have for sweet potato crop production. Compared to other crops, sweet potatoes require the least cost of fertilizers as well as other farm inputs to cultivate them. Farmers plant sweet potatoes during the start of the rainy season, causing irrigation not to be a big concern because of the even distribution of rainfall.

 

Sweet potato is a hot weather crop, capable to survive an extremely hot temperature, an extremely cold temperature, as well as a normal temperature.

 

Sweet potato plants are cultivated in more than 100 tropical, non-tropical, and temperate climate countries all throughout the world. It is one of the most commonly used vegetables all around, especially in China. Sweet potatoes are rarely used as an export, but instead, are used more to satisfy local needs. However, they are still one of only seven world food crops producing more than 100 million metric tons annually.

 

 

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Potential Solutions

 

There are many Filipinos who are affected by their high-fat, high-salt diet. Some examples of these are high blood pressure, which is linked to high salt intake, and diabetes, which is related to the high dietary energy and fat. Some people are aware of these problems that are caused by an unbalanced diet, but most Filipinos are not (especially the people in the province). Typically, the people that are already aware do not take any action in changing their diets, because they do not enjoy eating unappetizing vegetables, while others cannot do anything about it, because they are not aware of the health damages their diets cause them. With more research, I have come up with possible solutions to help Filipinos with their diet so that their health may be stabilized. Below are some of the possibilities of the benefits, along with an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages for each.

 

Possibility 1 - Teaching a Class

 

Even if some Filipinos would be willing to eat healthily, they might not feel a need to change their diet habits in order to do so. Especially when the food that they consume are delicious (yet high in salt as well as fat), they might not think it crucial for themselves to give up those kinds of food if they are not aware of the problems they may have to face in the future. Teaching a class or a group of Filipinos might help establish more awareness and the seriousness of health and nutrition.

 

Advantages

1)      People will be taught about the dangers of unbalanced, unhealthy diets.

2)      More people will be aware of these problems and see a need to alter their diets. More education of how and why they should take care of their body leads to more understanding, and soon, possibly to more action.

3)      Chain reactions may occur. Once some people are educated, they might teach others towards awareness as well. Or, if some people start to make a change in their diets, others might take their example, too.

Disadvantages

1)      Different age groups might have different disadvantages. If teaching a class of children ranging from an age from 5 to 15, they might not listen and possibly not understand what I am talking about, or how important it is. People of an older age might also just choose to dismiss these teachings and consider them lightly. It might not prod them on enough to take action.

2)      Language might also be a factor, because I cannot speak Tagalog (the main language of the Philippines), and most Filipinos do not understand or speak English fluently enough to communicate with me. Before this possibility can be taken into action, a translator may be needed.

 

 

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Possibility 2 - Plant More Kamote Plants

 

In order for people to consume more vegetables, or make Kamote delicacies, it should be made sure that there is enough accessibility to these vegetables essential for their nutrition and their good health. In places where vegetable plants or crops cannot be found, Kamote plants can be planted to give the local Filipinos a chance to experience vegetables and their goodness.

 

Advantages

1)      Kamote is easy to plant. It only needs a little bit of tending, such as getting rid of weeds, pest control, and general tending. Other than that, not even irrigation is needed much, if planted at the start of the rainy season. This is because Kamote can be planted at any time of the year, and because Philippines is a tropical country.

2)      Kamote planted in more areas mean that there is more Kamote available for more people to consume. People can gradually overcome their malnutrition and become healthy.

3)      If more accessible and used more in their daily lives, people might come to appreciate vegetables and see its many uses.

 

Disadvantages

1)      Filipinos might think it a burden for more plants to be cultivated. Especially if they don’t see the importance of vegetables.

2)      People might think it a waste of time and effort to take this action because of their prior commitments.

3)      Even though planting Kamote is not complicated, it still needs care, time, and money to do so successfully. These contributions they may not have to spare.

 

 

 

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Possibility 3 - Create a Healthy but Desirable Kamote Delicacy

 

Filipinos do not eat a lot of vegetables, because they are not as sweet, or as delicious, as some of the other food they eat. From the personal interviews I had with some Filipinos, I learned that they did not think that vegetables cooked healthy were a good substitute for the “delicious food” that they could take in instead. These “delicious food” are mostly made up of meat or vegetables deep fried or covered in sugar, which cancels out all the nutrition the food once carried. However, there are many ways in which vegetables can be delicious, as well as healthy. I tried to find a way to make a Kamote delicacy simple but good, so that lots of people can make and afford it, and it would be appetizing and convenient to eat for the Filipinos.

 

Ingredients:

5 Steamed Kamote

1 Masher

1 Mixing Bowl

1 Cup of Water

1 Cup of Glutinous Rice (Sticky Rice)

¼ Cup of Sugar

1 Bowl full of Coconut Shreddings

 

Cooking Methods:

1.      After you steam the Kamotes, peel the outer peels, and mash them in the mixing bowl.

2.      With the mashed up pieces, mix in 1 cup of water, 1 cup of glutinous rice, and ¼ cup of sugar.

3.      After fully mixed, scoop a handful and roll it up into a bite-size piece ball.

4.      Once the balls are made, steam or microwave it up for 1 more minute.

5.      While warm, roll the Kamote ball in the bowl contained with the coconut shreddings and apply it onto the outer surface of the ball (like a covering).

 

                                      My Sample Kamote Balls

 

 

 

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Bibliography

 

Aril, Lala. Personal interview. 03 May, 2009.

Collins, Wanda W. "Sweetpotato." NewCROP FactSHEET. 24 Feb. 1998. Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Purdue University. 12 Apr. 2009 <http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropfactsheets/sweetpotato.html>.

"IPM of Sweet Potato Weevil, Life Cycle." Welcome to AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center. 25 Apr. 2009 <http://www.avrdc.org/LC/sweetpotato/Weevil/life.html>.

"Kamote / Ipomoea batatas / Sweet potato: Herbal Therapy / Philippine Herbs / Alternative Medicine in the Philippines." StuartXchange - SX - Godofredo Umali Stuart's Cyber Warehouse. 22 Mar. 2009 <http://www.stuartxchange.com/Kamote.html>.

Maglente, Richmon. Personal interview. 03 May, 2009.

Martin, Franklin W. "Sweet Potato." Echo Technical Note. 1998. ECHO. 03 May 2009 <http://www.echotech.org/mambo/images/DocMan/SweetPot.PDF>.

Norlander, Britt. "Not so sweet potato | Science World | Find Articles at BNET." Find Articles at BNET | News Articles, Magazine Back Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics. 06 Apr. 2009. CBS Interactive Inc. 12 Apr. 2009 <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1590/is_12_65/ai_n31483943/>.

Penaranda, Joenathan. Personal interview. 03 May, 2009.

"Spotlight: The double burden of malnutrition:Fighting hunger - and obesity." FAO: FAO Home. Feb. 2006. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department. 03 May 2009 <http://www.fao.org/Ag/Magazine/0602sp1.htm>.

 

 

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