Sweet potatoes are healthy food. The various elements contained in sweet potatoes themselves play a very important role for human body. Health products are too expensive, but sweet potatoes are different. They are suitable for all kinds of people and will not bring adverse effects to the human body. The effect of purple sweet potato for health has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Therefore, as far as the satisfaction of health needs is concerned, purple sweet potato is the most ideal food for the people of the new century. Sweet potato is one of the main foods. Sweet potato can not only be eaten but also used as medicine. It can be said that sweet potato is full of treasures. It contains several times more nutrients than wheat, and its dry powder yield per acre is three or four times that of wheat at the same time. Its price is much higher than that of wheat. Some people predict that sweet potato will become one of the main foods with nutrition and delicious taste in the future. Sweet potato can also be used as raw material for extracting natural sweet potato red pigment.
Researcher She Yibin from Nanjing Academy of Agricultural Sciences told reporters that the tender buds of common sweet potatoes are often green, but the tender buds of purple sweet potatoes are purple. The starch content of purple sweet potato is about 20% higher than that of sweet potato, so it tastes chewier. She Yibin introduced that the secret why purple sweet potato is purple lies in its high anthocyanin content. Currently, the market price is generally around 2.5 yuan per catty, and large vegetable markets usually have them on sale.
The sweet potato extract not only can be eaten but also used as medicine. It can be said that sweet potato is full of treasures. Its nutrition is several times that of wheat, and its dry powder yield per acre is three or four times that of wheat at the same time. Its price is much higher than that of wheat. Some people predict that sweet potato will become one of the main foods with nutrition and delicious taste in the future. The emergence of sweet potato is an inevitable product of life development. People's cherishing of their own lives is incomparable to all animals. The color of sweet potato is also one of the hotspots of attention for people. Life is filled with unpredictable events big and small. The color of sweet potato has been guessed by many people, and purple is the color symbolizing mystery, which is slightly melancholic, making people unable to forget. It also represents the authority, prestige, profundity, and spirit. Human beings are peculiar animals who love adventure and the unknown. Sweet potato not only meets the changes of the times but also satisfies people's longing for mystery. Most importantly, it satisfies people's desire for health.
Doctor Wang Dongxu, a nutrition expert from Nanjing Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, introduced that sweet potato has the characteristics of integrating edible, medicinal, and health care functions. Everyone knows that sweet potato has the effect of promoting defecation, the reason being that sweet potato contains a lot of crude fiber. And the crude fiber contained in purple sweet potato is even richer, so the effect of defecation and detoxification is superior.
The color of sweet potato has been guessed by many people, and purple is the color symbolizing mystery, which is slightly melancholic, making people unable to forget. It also represents authority, prestige, profundity, and spirit. Human beings are peculiar animals who love adventure and the unknown. Sweet potato not only meets the changes of the times but also satisfies people's longing for mystery. Most importantly, it satisfies people's desire for health.
Doctor Wang Dongxu introduced that, apart from having the nutritional components of ordinary sweet potatoes, purple sweet potatoes are also rich in selenium and anthocyanins. Selenium is an essential trace element for the human body. Many secrets of longevity in long-lived areas are related to selenium. For example, according to authoritative department measurements, the soil in Rugao, Jiangsu Province, is rich in the trace element selenium, and vegetables and crops grown in this soil are also rich in selenium. The selenium content in pickled radish in Rugao is several times that of ordinary pickled radish, and the selenium content in cabbage and other vegetables is also several times that of ordinary varieties, known as "longevity food". The dietary habits of local residents mainly consist of coarse grains and vegetables, supplementing selenium through the food chain, bringing longevity. Selenium-rich foods can enhance the human immune system and prevent aging.
Sweet potato red pigment has the fragrance of tubers, good heat resistance, and light resistance. Compared with similar anthocyanin products, it has certain advantages in these aspects; furthermore, the high selenium content in the sweet potato skin, and its main component acylated anthocyanin has obvious antioxidant effects, while also having special nutritional and health-care functions; therefore, adding this pigment to formulated wine, carbonated beverages, fruit (flavor) drinks, candies, pastries, jams, jellies, dried fruits, etc., can not only colorize but also enrich nutrition and promote health.
Doctor Wang Dongxu introduced that anthocyanins in purple sweet potatoes have preventive and therapeutic effects on more than 100 diseases. Anthocyanins are known as the seventh essential nutrient after water, protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. Anthocyanins are currently the most direct, effective, and safe free radical scavengers discovered by the scientific community for disease prevention and maintaining human health. Its ability to clear free radicals is 20 times that of vitamin C and 50 times that of vitamin E. Anthocyanins in purple sweet potatoes have a small molecular structure and are the only substances that can pass through the blood-brain barrier to clear free radicals and protect brain cells.
Purple sweet potato can also be used as a raw material for extracting natural purple sweet potato red pigment. The purple sweet potato red pigment extracted from purple sweet potato belongs to the class of anthocyanidins pigments, which are processed by water extraction from purple sweet potato tubers and roots, followed by resin adsorption and other refined processes. This product is a purple-red liquid or powder, and its main component is anthocyanin. Its main characteristics are: easily soluble in water and ethanol solution, relatively easy to undergo acid hydrolysis under thermal acidic conditions, and shows significant color change reactions under different pH values. When pH is less than 5, its aqueous solution appears red to reddish-purple; when pH is greater than 5, the color increases, gradually changing from purplish-red to unstable blue-green.
Since purple sweet potato has so many benefits, how can we eat it both healthily and scientifically? Doctor Wang Dongxu introduced that when processing purple sweet potato, it must be thoroughly steamed or boiled. Because the cell membranes of starch in purple sweet potato cannot be destroyed without high temperature, making it difficult to digest. Moreover, the gasifying enzyme in purple sweet potato cannot be destroyed without high temperature, eating it afterwards would cause discomfort. Due to the low protein content in purple sweet potato, eating it alone would lead to unbalanced nutrition intake, so cooking it with rice into porridge is a relatively scientific method.