UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 





Washington, D. C. 



January 11, 1922 



A STUDY OF SWEET-POTATO VARIETIES, WITH 

 SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THEIR CANNING 

 QUALITY. 



By C. A. Magoon and C. W. Culpepper, Office of Horticidtural and Pomological 



Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introductiou 1 



Chemical composition of sweet po- 

 tatoes 3 



Experimental canning tests 6 



1 )iscoloration 13 



Heat penetration and sterilization — 16 



Page. 



Consistency 16 



Varieties and strains of sweet pota- 

 toes used in these tests 23 



Summary 30 



Literature cited 33 



INTRODUCTION. 



To the people of the Southern States the sweet potato constitutes 

 one of the most important food crops. Owing, hoAvever, to its highly 

 perishable nature in the raw state, the shipment of this crop to dis- 

 tant markets is attended with considerable risk. The introduction 

 of modern methods of preservation is overcoming some of these 

 difficulties, and the sweet potato is rapidly coming into its own as an 

 important addition to the dietary of the American people. North as 

 well as South. In 1917 the total pack of canned sweet potatoes, 

 according to figures compiled by the United States Food Adminis- 

 tration, amounted to 238,250 cases of cans of all sizes; in 1920 the 

 pack, according to the best figures obtainable, was 473,384 cases (all 

 sizes being reduced to No. 3 cans). 



For a number of reasons it is important that the canning of sweet 

 potatoes and the wider use of the product by the housewife should 

 be encouraged. The sweet potato, as shown by analysis and by the 

 experience of its users, is very high in food value; it is adapted to a 

 wide variety of culinary uses ; and a greater market for the canned 

 product only awaits development. 



