UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



siW^eLru 



1 BULLETIN No. 468 A 



Contribution from States Relations Service 

 A. C. TRUE, Director. 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



January 17, 1917 



POTATOES, SWEET POTATOES, AND OTHER 

 STARCHY ROOTS AS FOOD. 



By C F. Langwokthy, Chief, Office of Home Economics, States Relations 



Service. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 1 



Potatoes 2 



Sweet potatoes 17 



The Jerusalem artichoke 21 



Some tropical starch- "bearing roots 22 



Conclusion 23 



INTRODUCTION. 



Among vegetable food products those plants are very important 

 which lay up a supply of edible material during the favorable days 

 of summer in the form of thickened roots or underground stems and 

 bulbs. These root vegetables have different habits and characteris- 

 tics and accordingly belong to separate botanical groups; some are 

 well known the world over, while others are rarely seen outside of 

 their native country. For convenience in discussing food problems 

 they may be divided into two groups: (1) Those which, like potatoes 

 and sweet potatoes, contain a fairly high proportion of food material, 

 chiefly starch and other carbohydrates; and (2) those like beets, 

 turnips, parsnips, and so on, which, although they resemble the first 

 group in many ways, nevertheless are different from them in other 

 respects, being more succulent, quite commonly of higher flavor, and 

 used in the diet in a somewhat different way. This group is dis- 

 cussed in another department bulletin. 1 



1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bui. 503. 



Note. — This bulletin, which is a revision in part of Farmers' Bulletin 295, summarizes 

 the results of experimental and other data regarding the nature and uses of potatoes and 

 other starchy roots as food, and is primarily of interest to housekeepers and to teachers 

 and students of home economics. 1 



61353°— Bull. 46S— 17 1 



