Origin, Distribution, Taxonomy, Botanical Description, Genetics and Cytogenetics, Genetic Diversity and Breeding of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)

Sweet potato belongs to the family Convolvulaceae, genus Ipomoea and species Ipomoea batatas. The English word potato is from the word batata (sweet potato) of the Taino Indians of the West Indies by way of the Spanish word patata. The English word originally referred to the sweet potato, but was later applied to the common potato, which is called papa in Spanish. The word yam is probably from nyami in the language of the West African Wolof people. It is likely that when African people were brought to the New World as slaves that they used the word that they knew for the native sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are often called yams in the United States. Sometimes a distinction is made with the darker fleshed roots called "yams" and the lighter "sweet potatoes." Another Spanish word for sweet potato is camote, which is sometimes used in the southwestern United States. In New Zealand, sweet potatoes are called by their Maori name, kumara. The cultivated species I. batatas includes plants that are very variable in their morphology. Thousands of cultivars have been selected and cultivated in Latin America since ancient times. At the present time, it is cultivated throughout the tropics. However. the largest plantings of sweet potatoes are found in China and other countries of Asia. Sweet potato from the family Convolvulaceae, is an important food crop, which is widely grown in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions. Asian countries, particularly China, are the main producers with 113.6 Mt in 2004, representing 88.9% of the world production. The storage roots of sweet potato are used as staple food, raw material for alcohol production and animal feed. In this review article on Origin, Domestication, Taxonomy, Botanical Description, Genetics and Cytogenetics, Genetic Diversity, Breeding of Sweet potato are discussed.