UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
f BULLETIN No. 1041 
jvjgr^ Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
■SZfif"$-*SU 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. Culpeppek, Office of Horticultural and Pomological 
Investigations. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
Chemical composition of sweet po- 
tatoes 3 
Experimental canning tests 6 
i )iscoloration 13 
[leat 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, however, 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 
difficult ies, and the sweet potato is rapidly coming into its own as an 
important addition to the dietary of the American people, North as 
w r ell 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 w T ider use of the product by the housewife should 
be encouraged. The sweet potato, as showm 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. 
1 
