ABSTRACT
This chapter presents nutritional components of sweet potatoes and the effect of harvest and postharvest handling and preparation techniques on the quality and nutritional components of fresh roots for human consumption. Human consumption is one of the most important uses of sweet potatoes in both temperate and tropical growing areas and they are used either as fresh or processed products. The orange color and sweet taste relegate sweet potatoes to a special use category and limit its consumption. If cultivars are developed embodying the concept of high starch, white color, and low sugar, the sweet potato may indeed become accepted in the tropics as a staple item and, thus, serve to alleviate malnutrition. Proper handling and packaging cultural practices to minimize diseases and even curing under ambient conditions can lead to a commercial product with improved quality and storage life for human consumption.
