The purple sweet potato, the latest food item presented to the general public as a potential superfood

We have seen it before with a number of different berries: the white cranberry, the pomegranate, and most recently with the Acai berry.  Even beyond just the simple berries: a whole slew of fruits, vegetables and whatnots that all have been the subject of vigourous claims of being the latest and greatest ‘Super Food’.  Well now a strain of purple sweet potato is being developed and tested as the new superfood, and it already has scientists saying that the vegetable may actually stop people from getting cancer. Wow, that is apretty heavy claim to make about any item from any food group. The belief here is that the designer sweet potato, grown for its purple anti-cancer pigment, is also supposed to contain within it some anti-ageing and antioxidant chemicals. A crop-development expert in the United States has developed this new variety of purple sweet potato with a thicker purple skin and flesh to increase its inherent cancer-fighting properties. Soyoung Lim, a researcher from Kansas State University, said that it differed from purple sweet potato varieties already found in most grocery outlets because both the newer potato’s flesh and skin were purple.

Lim said the potato’s colouring contained the chemical anthocyanin, which is known to lower the risk of cancer and could even possibly slow down certain types of the disease.  According to Lim, “The colour is the important part because the purple colour is responsible for the amount of anthocyanin in the potato.”  Scientists have already used two strands of anthocyanin to treat colon cancer and found that the pigment slowed down the growth of cancerous cells.  Anthocyanin, which produces red, blue or purple colours in different types of food, can also be found in blueberries, red grapes and red cabbage, however the specially grown purple sweet potato has a higher concentration of the chemical than any other species of potato.  Dr Weiqun Wang, who was also involved in testing the potato, has said that the new purple sweet potato tasted sweeter than other potatoes but was still perfectly edible.  According to Wang, “It’s good not only for cancer prevention but other benefits like antioxidants as well.”

The high-concentration purple sweet potato is due for a series of clinical trials next year, so it might actually be a while before it is made available for retail to the general public.  Of course like I mentioned before, there have been so many other food stuffs that have been the subject of claims as to their potential health benefits, however I do not recall before any variety of food that was tagged with such a basic claim that carried with it such potentially major implications for human health and wellness.  This is definitely a story that bears following as it develops through the next year.