List of sweet potato cultivars

This list of sweet potato cultivars provides some information about varieties and cultivars of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). The sweet potato was first domesticated in the Americas more than 5,000 years ago.^[1] As of 2013, there are approximately 7,000 sweet potato cultivars. People grow sweet potato in many parts of the world, including New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, Hawaii, China, and North America. However, sweet potato is not widely cultivated in Europe.^[2]

A sweet potato plant in bloom at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology botanical garden

Edible sweet potato roots photographed in Karlsruhe, Germany

People breed sweet potatoes mainly either for food (their nutritious storage roots) or for their attractive vines. (The variety 'Vardaman' is grown for both.) The first table below lists sweet potato cultivars grown for their edible roots; the second table lists cultivars bred as ornamental vines. In the first table, the Parentage column briefly explains how the sweet potato cultivar was bred. Sweet potato plants with desirable traits are selectively bred to produce new cultivars.

Sweet potato cultivars differ in many ways. One way people compare them is by the size, shape, and color of the roots. The more orange the flesh of a sweet potato root is, the more nutritious carotene it has. (Humans metabolize carotene into vitamin A.) The skin of a sweet potato root is a different color than the flesh. The biological word for the outer skin is epidermis; the flesh is called the pith or medulla. The first table below has a general description of the color of the root's flesh and skin.

In the mid-20th century, sweet potato growers in the Southern United States began marketing orange-fleshed sweet potatoes as "yams", in an attempt to differentiate them from pale-fleshed sweet potatoes.^[3] Even though these growers called their products yams, true yams are significantly different. All sweet potatoes are variations of one species: I. batatas. Yams are any of various tropical species of the genus Dioscorea. A yam tuber is starchier, dryer, and often larger than the storage root of a sweet potato, and the skin is more coarse.^[3] This list does not include yams.

Cultivars bred for edible roots

Many of the sweet potato cultivars below were bred at agricultural experiment stations. An agricultural experiment station (AES) is a research center where scientists work to increase the quality and quantity of food production. Agricultural experiment stations are usually operated by a government agency and/or a university.

Name	Plant breeder	Parentage	Root skin (epidermis) colour	Root flesh (medulla) colour	Notes	Origin
Acadian	Louisiana State University[4]	L21 × L131[4]	copper	orange	Does not appear	US
Allgold / Okla. 240	Oklahoma State University–Stillwater[4]	Creole × Triumph (Parent 10)[4]	tan[1]	orange	Does not appear	US
Americana	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Apache	USDA (United States Department of Agriculture)[4]	(Yellow Yam 149 × Nancy Hall 42–1) × (Pelican Processor Triumph)[4]	orange	?	Does not appear	US
Australian Canner	Department of Agriculture (Australia)[4]	?	?	?	Adaptation trials/naming by USDA et al.[4]	Australia
Ayamurasaki	?	indigenous	sangria	plum	Also called beniimo	Okinawa
Baker / V 2158	Norfolk, Virginia[4]	Virginian × numbered seedling[4]	?	?	Does not appear	US
Beauregard	Baton Rouge, Louisiana[4]	open-pollinated seedling of L78-21[4]	rose[5]	orange[5]	First cultivated in 1987[5]	US
Bonara	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Campeon	?	?	light red[6]	white[6]	Commonly called boniato[6] (a word for sweet potato in Cuban Spanish)	?
Canbake / G-52-15-1	Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station (AES)[4]	?	?	?	Does not appear	US
Caro-Gold	Clemson College[4]	C317 × Goldrush[4]	bright purple	orange	Does not appear	US
Carolina Bunch	US Vegetable Laboratory (USDA Agricultural Research Service); South Carolina AES[4]	open pollinated seedling of Excel[4]	light copper	deep orange	Does not appear	US
Carolina Nugget	North Carolina State University[4]	HM1-36 × Lakan[4]	rosy	medium orange	First cultivated in 1954[4]	US
Carolina Ruby	North Carolina Agricultural Research Service (NCARS)[4]	open pollinated seedling of Beauregard[4]	dark red to purple-red[5]	dark orange[5]	First cultivated in 1988[5]	US
Caromex	North Carolina State University[4]	NC228 × NC234[4]	dark copper	deep orange	First cultivated in 1971[4]	US
Carver	Tuskegee Institute[4]	Centennial × Jewel[4]	deep rose	deep orange	Does not appear	US
Centennial / L-3-77	Louisiana AES (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)[4]	Unit IPR × Pelican Processor[4]	orange[7]	orange[7]	Does not appear	US
Chipper	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Covington NC98-608	North Carolina State University[4]	?	rose[5]	orange[5]	Smooth skin[5]	US
Cliett Bunch Porto Rico / Georgia Bunch Porto Rico	University of Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station (Tifton, Georgia)[4]	mutation from Vining Porto Rico[4]	?	?	Similar to Vining Porto Rico[4]	US
Coastal Red	University of Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station (Tifton, Georgia)[4]	open-pollinated seedling from GA-76[4]	red	medium orange	First cultivated in 1978[4]	US
Coppergold	L. A. Sharum (Fort Smith, Arkansas)[4]	selected mutation in Allgold[4]	russet copper	?	Does not appear	US
Cordner	Texas AES and Oklahoma State University[4]	copper[5]	medium orange[5]	?	First cultivated in 1983[5]	US
Creole	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Darby	Louisiana AES (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)[4]	open pollinated seedling of L 83-523[4]	dark rose	orange	Purple stems[4]	US
Don Juan	Puerto Rico AES (Río Piedras, Puerto Rico)[4]	selected from native stock[4]	?	?	Does not appear	Puerto Rico
Earlyport	Louisiana AES (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)[4]	(Mameyita × seedling L-4-6) × (seedling L-5 × Triumph)[4]	copper	orange	Similar to Porto Rico[4]	US
Earlysweet / T-3	University of Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station (Tifton, Georgia)[4]	Porto Rico × unnamed breeding lines[4]	light-skinned	deep orange	Does not appear	US
Eureka	Louisiana State University AES; University of California AES[4]	L9-163 × LO-132[4]	copper	orange	Does not appear	US
Evangeline	Louisiana[8]	?	rose	orange[8]	Does not appear	US
Excel	USDA and the South Carolina AES[4]	open-pollinated seedling of Regal polycrossed in 1981 to 29 other parental selections[4]	light copper	orange	Skin color is slightly lighter than that of Jewel[4]	US
GA90-16	Georgia AES; US Vegetable Laboratory (USDA ARS)[4]	?	?	white	Low sugar, low maltose[4]	US
Garnet	?	?	pale copper	brilliant orange	Commonly called "yams" in the United States to distinguish them from O'Henry sweet potatoes[4]	US
Georgia Jet	?	?	purplish red	deep orange	Does not appear	US
Georgia Red / T-6	University of Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station (Tifton, Georgia)[4]	Porto Rican crosses[4]	coppery-red skin	?	Similar to Porto Rico[4]	US
Gold Rush	Louisiana AES (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)[4]	(Mameyita × Seedling L4-6) × (Seedling L-5 × Triumph)[4]	light copper	deep orange	Purple stems[4]	US
Golden Belle	Bryce Woods (Rogers, Arkansas)[4]	Nancy Gold mutation[4]	?	golden	Flesh color differs from Nancy Hall.	US
Goldmar	Maryland AES (College Park, Maryland)[4]	Redmar mutation[4]	golden	?	Cultivated in 1973. Similar to Redmar, but different skin color.[4]	US
Grand Asia	?	?	pink	white	Boniato-type similar to 'Japanese'[9]	?
Hannah Sweet	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Hayman White	?	?	tan[10]	cream[10]	An heirloom variety of the Eastern United States[11][12]	US
Heartogold	Louisiana State University[4]	Mameyita × Yellow Yam[4]	flesh-colored	deep orange	Does not appear	US
Hernandez	Louisiana State University AES[4]	seedling of L70-323[4]	burnt orange[5]	deep orange[5]	First cultivated in 1992[5]	US
HiDry	Clemson University; USDA[4]	fourth-generation, open-pollinated selection from MK-14[4]	white	cream	Cultivated for industrial use[4]	US
Hoolehua Gold	?	?	pale red	orange	Does not appear	?
Hoolehua Red	?	?	red	off-white	Does not appear	?
Hopi / HM-122	USDA Horticultural Field Station (Meridian, Mississippi)[4]	?	?	?	Does not appear	US
Houhere	Māori traditional	pre-European "kūmara" type[13]	pink	yellow	Rectangular tubers	New Zealand
Hutihuti	Māori traditional	pre-European "kūmara" type[14]	cream	cream	Long, thin, up to 20 roots per plant[13]	New Zealand
Iliua	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Japanese / Oriental	?	?	purplish red	pale	Boniato-type.[9] Comparatively lower moisture.[8]	?
Jersey Orange / Orange Little Stern	Kansas State College; Rutgers University[4]	?	orange-brown	deep orange	Size and shape are similar to that of Jersey Yellow[4]	US
Jersey Red	?	?	?	?	An heirloom variety[10]	US
Jersey Yellow	?	?	golden, buff, or tan	cream to bright yellow	An heirloom variety[10]	US
Jewel	North Carolina State University	?	copper[5]	deep orange[5]	First cultivated in 1970.[5] Commonly called "yams" in the United States to distinguish them from O'Henry sweet potatoes.	US
Kandee / K1716	Kansas State College[4]	La 1946 Cross 17 × 1 (yellow yam × Nancy Hall)[4]	reddish bronze	bright orange	Does not appear	US
Kona B	?	?	pale red to orange-red	light orange	Does not appear	?
Kote Buki	?	?	purplish red	white	Mid-season	?
Lakan / L-0-123	Louisiana AES (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)[4]	(Unit IPR × Pelican. Processor) × (Mameyita × L-4-6)[4]	reddish-bronze to reddish-tan	bright orange	Does not appear	US
Mameyita	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Maryland Golden	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	US
Miguela	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Murasaki	?	?	hybiscus	pale	Low moisture[8]	?
Murff Bush Porto Rico	E. L. Murff (Normangee, Texas)[4]	Porto Rico mutation[4]	copper[7]	orange[7]	First cultivated in 1949. Similar to Porto Rico.[4]	US
Nancy Gold	Kansas State College AES[4]	Nancy Hall mutation[4]	buff-colored	deep-orange	Skin color differs from Nancy Hall[4]	US
Nancy Hall	?	?	tan	yellow	Does not appear	?
Nemagold / Okla. 46	Oklahoma State University–Stillwater[4]	Yellow Jersey (Orlis strain) × Okla. 29[4]	?	?	Does not appear	US
Northern Star	?	?	?	?	Cultivated in Australia	?
Nugget / NC-171	North Carolina AES (Raleigh, North Carolina)[4]	NC-124 × (NC-41 × B5965)[4]	?	?	Does not appear	US
O'Henry	Henry Wayne Bailey [(Vardaman, MS)][15]	Beauregard mutation[15]	coppery tan	lemon cream	Variant of Beauregard[8]	US
Okla. 46	Oklahoma State University–Stillwater[4]	Okla. 29 × Orlis [Okla. 29-Parent 10 (see Allgold) × L37 (see Red Gold)][4]	golden russet	orange	Roots and vines are like yellow Jersey or Orlis; shouldered leaves	US
Oklamar / Okla. 52	Oklahoma State University–Stillwater AES[4]	Oklahoma 5 × Australian Canner[4]	purple	salmon	Does not appear	US
Oklamex Red	Oklahoma and New Mexico AES	B 1564 × PI 153655	dark red	salmon	Extremely sweet, moist root; yam-type	US
Onokeo	?	?	violet	ivory	Does not appear	?
Onolena / HES number 14	Vegetable Crops Department, University of Hawaii (Honolulu)[4]	Porto Rico × Nancy Hall[4]	tan	dark orange	Similar to Porto Rico[4]	US
Orange Sunset	Plant & Food Research	?	purple	orange and purple	First cultivated in 2014[16]	New Zealand
Orlis	Kansas State College[4]	mutation from Common Little Stem Jersey[4]	bronze	?	Similar to Little Stem Jersey	US
Owairaka Red	Fay Gock and Joe Gock[17]	waina type[18][16]	dark red	yellow	As of 2000, the preeminent cultivar of New Zealand (followed by Toka Toka Gold and Beauregard)[19]	New Zealand
Papota	USDA ARS; Tropical Agricultural Research Station[4]	International Institute of Tropical Agr. seedling[4]	white	beige	Turnip-shaped root[4]	US
Parapara	Māori traditional	?	pink	?	Medicinal variety, used to feed babies, the elderly, and the sick[20]	New Zealand
Pelican Processor / L-5 / L-4-5	Louisiana AES (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)[4]	selfed seedling of Americana[4]	cream	light cream	Does not appear	US
Picadita	?	?	purple-red[6]	white[6]	Commonly called boniato[6] (a word for sweet potato in Cuban Spanish)	?
Pope	North Carolina State University[4]	NC 288 × 304[4]	light salmon	medium orange	Does not appear	US
Poporo	Māori traditional	?	purple	purple	traditional sweet and dry variety[20]	New Zealand
Porto Rico 198 / Porto Rican / Puerto Rican	North Carolina[5]	?	rose-pink[5]	orange mottled[5]	First cultivated in 1966[5]	US
Purple Dawn	Plant & Food Research	?	purple	purple	First cultivated in 2014[16]	New Zealand
Purple Heart / Okinawa	Okinawa Island	?	tan	grape	Also cultivated in Hawaii	Japan
Queen Mary / L-126	Louisiana AES (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)[4]	Porto Rico × Nancy Hall[4]	?	?	Similar to Porto Rico[4]	US
Ranger	Louisiana State University[4]	Porto Rico × Nancy Hall[4]	flesh-colored	orange	Similar to Nancy Hall	US
Rapoza	?	?	ivory	purple	Does not appear	?
Rekarawa	Māori traditional	?	white	?	chestnut flavour[20]	New Zealand
Rekamaroa	Māori traditional	pre-European "kūmara" type[13][14]	white	?	Does not appear	New Zealand
Red Diane	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Red Garnet	?	?	deep red to purple[15]	orange[15]	Does not appear	?
Red Jewel	?	?	red	deep orange	Does not appear	?
Red Nancy	Kansas State College[4]	mutation of Nancy Gold[4]	red	orange	Similar to Nancy Gold[4]	US
Redglow	University of Georgia AES; California AES[4]	open pollinated seedling of GA-109[4]	light, purple-red	deep orange	Does not appear	US
Redgold / Okla. 26	Oklahoma State University–Stillwater[4]	Okla. 2 × L37 (seedlings involving Creole, Nancy Hall and Porto Rico)[4]	red	orange	Does not appear	US
Redmar / Md 2416	Maryland AES (College Park, Maryland)	[(K18400 × B6313) × Shoreland × (Virginian × K1846)]	red	?	First cultivated in 1971. Similar to Nemagold[4]	US
Regal	USDA ARS; South Carolina AES (Clemson University); Texas Agricultural Station (Texas A&M University)[4]	seedling of W-99 polycrossed with 29 other parental selections[4]	dark purplish-red	orange to deep orange	Does not appear	US
Resisto	USDA; South Carolina AES; Texas AES[4]	seedling of W-56[4]	reddish-copper	dark orange	Does not appear	US
Rojo Blanco	Tuskegee Institute[4]	Rose Centennial × White Triumph[4]	deep red	milk white	Does not appear	US
Romanawa	Māori traditional[20]	?	gold	yellow/orange	Does not appear	New Zealand
Rose Centennial	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Ruddy	US Vegetable Laboratory (USDA ARS); South Carolina AES[4]	open pollinated seedling of W-119[4]	red skin	orange	Does not appear	US
Scarlet	North Carolina Agricultural Research Service (NCARS)[4]	selected from meristem-tip culture derived clones of Jewel[4]	?	orange	Does not appear	US
Shore Gold	Virginia Tech Experiment Station[4]	open pollinated seedling of L7-177 from the Louisiana breeding program[4]	light copper	bright orange	Does not appear	US
Southern Delite	USDA ARS; Clemson University[4][15]	an open pollinated seedling of W-99[4]	rose to dark copper	orange	Made publicly available in 1986.[15] Skin color varies with soil type[4]	US
Stokes Purple	Unknown (North Carolina)[21]		purple gray	dark purple	Made publicly available in 2012.	US
Sumor	USDA ARS; United States Vegetable Laboratory; South Carolina AES (Clemson University); Edisto Research and Education Center[4]	open pollinated seedling of W-154[4]	light tan	white to yellow	Comparatively high vitamin C[15]	US
Sunnyside	USDA (Beltsville, Maryland and Louisiana)[4]	(Yellow Yam × Nancy Hall) × (Pelican Processor × Triumph)[4]	?	?	Does not appear	US
Sweet Red	North Carolina State University[4]	open pollinated seedling of NC 258[4]	deep copper-red	deep orange	Does not appear	US
Tango	USDA; Missouri AES (Columbia, Missouri); Sweet Potato Cooperative Group (Beltsville, Maryland)[4]	Nancy Hall × Porto Rico 1-10[4]	?	?	Does not appear	US
Tanhoma	Oklahoma State University–Stillwater AES[4]	selection Australian Canner[4]	?	?	Does not appear	US
Taputini	Māori traditional	pre-European "kūmara" type[14]	cream	cream	Long, thin, up to 20 roots per plant[13]	New Zealand
Toka Toka Gold	?	?	gold	white	Became commercially available in 1972[22][16]	New Zealand
Topaz	Texas AES[4]	open pollinated seedling of W-26[4]	bronze	medium orange	Does not appear	?
Travis	Louisiana AES[4]	polycross with L3-217 as seed parent[4]	rose	deep orange	First cultivated in 1980	US
UPLSP-1	?	?	?	?	Cultivated in the Philippines[23]	?
UPLSP-2	?	?	?	?	Cultivated in the Philippines[23]	?
U.P.R. number 3	Puerto Rico AES (Río Piedras, Puerto Rico)[4]	selected from Mameya; open-pollinated[4]	?	?	Does not appear	Puerto Rico
U.P.R. number 7	Puerto Rico AES (Río Piedras, Puerto Rico)[4]	L-240[4]	?	deep orange	Does not appear	Puerto Rico
Vardaman	?	?	golden[7]	light orange	Does not appear	US
Virginian / V-53	Truck Experiment Station (near Norfolk, Virginia)[4]	Maryland Golden × B-219[4]	purplish-red to copper-red	bright orange	Does not appear	US
VSP-5	?	?	?	?	Cultivated in the Philippines[23]	?
VSP-6	?	?	?	?	Cultivated in the Philippines[23]	?
Waimanalo Red	?	?	red	pearl	Does not appear	?
Waina	?	?	?	?	Vining variety brought to New Zealand in the 1800s[18]	?
White Delite	North Carolina State University[4]	cross between a University of Georgia breeding clone (GA41) and an unknown pollen parent[4]	purplish pink[5][9]	white[5]	First cultivated in 1979[5]	US
White Triumph	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?
Whitestar	USDA (Beltsville, Maryland)[4]	cultivar Laupahoehoe (Hawaii)[4]	white	pale	Does not appear	US
Yellow Yam	?	?	?	?	Does not appear	?

Cultivars bred for ornamental vines

Name	Cultivator(s)	Leaf color	Leaf shape	Notes
Black Heart / Ace of Spades / Purple Heart	?	dark purplish with purple veins	heart	Does not appear
Blackie	?	purple and green blend	?	Darker than Black Heart
Bronze Beauty	?	copper	?	Same leaf shape as Blackie
Copper	?	chartreuse to purple	?	Does not appear
Freckles	?	green and yellow mottled	?	Does not appear
Gold Finger	?	lime green	lobed	Does not appear
Ivory Jewel	?	green and ivory streaked	heart	Does not appear
Lady Fingers	?	green with purple veins	lobed	Does not appear
Marguerite / Chartreuse / Sulfur	?	chartreuse	?	Does not appear
Mini Blackie	?	dark green with purple veins	?	Leaf color is lighter than that of lacinato kale
NCORNSP011MNLC / Illusion® Midnight Lace	?	dark green with purple veins	?	Does not appear
NCORNSP012EMLC / Illusion® Emerald Lace	?	chartreuse	lobed	Does not appear
Purple Tuber	?	?	?	Does not appear
Seki Blakhrt / Chillin™ / Blackberry Heart	?	?	?	Does not appear
Sidekick Black	?	deep purple	lobed	Does not appear
Sidekick Lime	?	green	lobed	Does not appear
Sweet Caroline Bewitched Purple / PP18574	Craig Yencho; Ken Pecota (2006)[24][25]	dark green to vivid burgundy	?	Does not appear
Sweet Caroline Bronze / PP15437	Craig Yencho; Ken Pecota; Cindy Pierce (2002)[24][25]	?	?	Does not appear
Sweet Caroline Green	?	?	?	Does not appear
Sweet Caroline Green Yellow	?	?	?	Does not appear
Sweet Caroline Light Green	?	?	?	Does not appear
Sweet Caroline Purple	?	?	?	Does not appear
Sweet Caroline Red	?	?	?	Does not appear
Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Light Green	?	?	?	Does not appear
Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Red	?	?	?	Does not appear
Sweet Georgia Heart Purple	?	?	?	Does not appear
Terrace Lime	?	?	?	Does not appear
Tricolor	?	green, white, pink	?	Medium-size leaves
Vardaman	?	?	?	Does not appear

See also

• Food security
• Lists of cultivars
• Plant breeding
• Staple food