2 minute read
SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Did you know that sweetpotatoes (growers and scientists use one word, not two) are not related to potatoes? Even though both of them originated in Central and South America, the potato is from the nightshade family and the sweetpotato belongs to the morning glory family. Also, sweetpotatoes are root vegetables; potatoes are tubers. Sweetpotatoes aren’t related to yams — which are also tubers — either.
The National Sweetpotato Collaborators adopted the one-word spelling in 1989 to help differentiate sweetpotatoes from potatoes and dispel the idea that “sweet” was simply an adjective describing a type of potato. And in 2022, the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission launched a petition to make the one-word spelling official in dictionaries and style guides. (Spoiler alert: The effort hasn’t been successful yet; AP Style still insists it’s two words.)
Happily, the argument over semantics isn’t hindering the sweetpotato research at UNH, which has led directly to more sweetpotato growers in New England. You can read more on page 19 about Professor Becky Sideman’s work, which has been supported by many graduate and undergraduate students over the years.
