Growing sweet potatoes [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)] for their greens and the impact on storage roots

Abstract

Sweet potato greens are an underused but highly nutritious vegetable that grows well in urban environments and could help alleviate food insecurity and related health problems. Therefore, trials were conducted in field rows and a green roof with seven varieties of sweet potatoes to determine whether 1) they differed in their production of greens and 2) harvesting greens influenced yield or nutrients of storage roots. There was no difference in the mass of sweet potatoes greens harvested among the varieties in either production system. Harvesting greens severely reduced the harvested mass of storage roots, although it increased the content of eight minerals in storage roots, including boron, calcium, copper, iron, phosphorous, potassium, sulfur, and zinc. Urban farmers may have to decide whether harvesting greens or storage roots are their primary objective if harvesting the former limits the latter. Future research should explore the timing of harvesting greens and the amount taken to see if different methods allow for a high yield of storage roots that are high in nutrients.