Where to find yams

Some yams are the size and shape of small potatoes; others can grow up to 1. Skins may be dark brown or light pink; insides white, yellow, purple, or pink.

Very nutritious. Has more sugar, protein, calcium, iron, sodium, vitamin A, beta-carotene, and water than yams do. Has more fat, carbs, fiber, potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and vitamin E than sweetpotatoes do. In the U. Its flesh is typically starchier and less sweet than sweet potatoes, and can be ground into starches and flours. Yams are seldom eaten raw, except as grated fresh mountain yam, and have a mildly sweet flavor. They are extremely versatile and varied plants, having unique culinary associations throughout the world.

However, like potatoes, they are most commonly eaten by boiling, baking or roasting. Requiring about one year and plenty of water to grow, yams are highly susceptible to pest, fungus and diseases. Infected plants have been known to wipe out entire crops in recent years.

As a result, many studies have been undergone to understand and manage yam healthiness. Another contributing factor to crop failure lies in the storage of yams after harvest: diseases like dry rot can easily destroy yams post-harvest if they are not properly stored and handled.

To counteract these threats, yam crops have been treated to a number of chemical pesticides during propagation, growth and post-harvest. It can be difficult to locate or determine non-chemically treated yams in the market in the United States.

As a perennial plant, yams can be cultivated at any time of year, but they are often treated as an annual crop. In West Africa, yams are commonly planted at the beginning of the warm, rainy season and harvested in early autumn of the next one.

Fall is around the corner which means sweet potato season is upon us. Or is it yam season? In grocery stores across the country, the labeling of sweet potatoes and yams has been used interchangeably, leading to identity loss for these root veggies and leaving consumers confused. We decided to set this longtime debate straight once and for all, so you can fully be prepared to take on fall and all of its root vegetable glory. Our favorite part of fall? Sweet potatoes!

Or possibly yams! Yams are often mistakenly called sweet potatoes and vice versa, but these are actually two different vegetables. A true yam is the tuber of a tropical vine that can grow over seven feet in length, and it's not even distantly related to the sweet potato. Yams are a popular vegetable in Latin American and Caribbean markets, but the genuine article can be difficult to find in U.

The yam's botanical name is dioscorea batatas. True yams are indigenous to Africa and Asia, with most grown in Africa, but there are over varieties of yams available worldwide. Yams are mostly sold in chunks, sealed in plastic wrap—if you can even find them in the U.

They can reach up to pounds, but they can also be as small as your average spud. True yams have rough, dark skin, and their flesh can range from white to reddish color, but it's usually white. Although you might find canned vegetables labeled as yams, these probably aren't true yams.

Even the "yams" found in fresh produce sections of grocery stores are rarely real yams. They're soft sweet potatoes, which are different from firm sweet potatoes. The FDA has never gotten involved in this case of mistaken identity to sort out the discrepancy.