UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
ii| BULLETIN No. 468 A 
Contribution from States Relations Service 
SZJ^^SL 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. 
Page. | Page. 
Introduction 1 The Jerusalem artichoke 21 
Potatoes 2 Some tropical starch-bearing roots 22 
Sweet potatoes 17 | 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 
i 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. X 
61353°— Bull. 468—17 1 
