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Sweet potato vs. Potato — In-Depth Nutrition Comparison

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How are sweet potato and potatoes different?

  • Sweet potato is higher in vitamin A and vitamin B5; however, potatoes are richer in vitamin C and vitamin B6.
  • Daily need coverage for vitamin A for sweet potato is 284% higher.
  • Sweet potato contains 5 times more sugar than potatoes. While sweet potato contains 4.18g of sugar, potatoes contain only 0.82g.
  • Sweet potato has a lower glycemic index (70) than potatoes (86).

Sweet potato, raw, unprepared and Potatoes, flesh, and skin, raw are the varieties used in this article.

Infographic

Sweet potato vs Potato infographic
Infographic link

Mineral Comparison

Mineral comparison score is based on the number of minerals by which one or the other food is richer. The "coverage" charts below show how much of the daily needs can be covered by 300 grams of the food.
Magnesium Magnesium Calcium Calcium Potassium Potassium Iron Iron Copper Copper Zinc Zinc Phosphorus Phosphorus Sodium Sodium Manganese Manganese Selenium Selenium 18% 9% 30% 23% 50% 8.2% 20% 7.2% 34% 3.3%
Potato
Potato
4
Magnesium Magnesium Calcium Calcium Potassium Potassium Iron Iron Copper Copper Zinc Zinc Phosphorus Phosphorus Sodium Sodium Manganese Manganese Selenium Selenium 16% 3.6% 38% 30% 37% 8.2% 24% 0.78% 26% 2.2%
Contains more CalciumCalcium +150%
Contains more CopperCopper +37.3%
Contains more ManganeseManganese +29%
Contains more SeleniumSelenium +50%
Contains more PotassiumPotassium +26.1%
Contains more IronIron +32.8%
Contains more PhosphorusPhosphorus +21.3%
Contains less SodiumSodium -89.1%
~equal in Magnesium ~23mg
~equal in Zinc ~0.3mg

Vitamin Comparison

Vitamin comparison score is based on the number of vitamins by which one or the other food is richer. The "coverage" charts below show how much of the daily needs can be covered by 300 grams of the food.
Vitamin C Vit. C Vitamin A Vit. A Vitamin E Vit. E Vitamin D Vit. D Vitamin B1 Vit. B1 Vitamin B2 Vit. B2 Vitamin B3 Vit. B3 Vitamin B5 Vit. B5 Vitamin B6 Vit. B6 Vitamin B12 Vit. B12 Vitamin K Vit. K Folate Folate Choline Choline 8% 236% 5.2% 0% 20% 14% 10% 48% 48% 0% 4.5% 8.3% 6.7%
Potato
Potato
5
Vitamin C Vit. C Vitamin A Vit. A Vitamin E Vit. E Vitamin D Vit. D Vitamin B1 Vit. B1 Vitamin B2 Vit. B2 Vitamin B3 Vit. B3 Vitamin B5 Vit. B5 Vitamin B6 Vit. B6 Vitamin B12 Vit. B12 Vitamin K Vit. K Folate Folate Choline Choline 66% 0% 0.2% 0% 20% 7.4% 20% 18% 69% 0% 5% 11% 6.6%
Contains more Vitamin AVitamin A +∞%
Contains more Vitamin EVitamin E +2500%
Contains more Vitamin B2Vitamin B2 +90.6%
Contains more Vitamin B5Vitamin B5 +171.2%
Contains more Vitamin CVitamin C +720.8%
Contains more Vitamin B3Vitamin B3 +90.5%
Contains more Vitamin B6Vitamin B6 +42.6%
Contains more Vitamin KVitamin K +11.1%
Contains more FolateFolate +36.4%
~equal in Vitamin D ~0µg
~equal in Vitamin B1 ~0.081mg
~equal in Vitamin B12 ~0µg
~equal in Choline ~12.1mg

All nutrients comparison - raw data values

Nutrient Sweet potato Potato DV% diff.
Vitamin A 709µg 0µg 79%
Vitamin C 2.4mg 19.7mg 19%
Vitamin B5 0.8mg 0.295mg 10%
Vitamin B6 0.209mg 0.298mg 7%
Copper 0.151mg 0.11mg 5%
Fiber 3g 2.1g 4%
Manganese 0.258mg 0.2mg 3%
Iron 0.61mg 0.81mg 3%
Vitamin B3 0.557mg 1.061mg 3%
Potassium 337mg 425mg 3%
Calcium 30mg 12mg 2%
Vitamin B2 0.061mg 0.032mg 2%
Sodium 55mg 6mg 2%
Vitamin E 0.26mg 0.01mg 2%
Protein 1.57g 2.05g 1%
Carbs 20.12g 17.49g 1%
Starch 12.65g 15.29g 1%
Phosphorus 47mg 57mg 1%
Folate 11µg 15µg 1%
Fructose 0.7g 0.26g 1%
Calories 86kcal 77kcal 0%
Fats 0.05g 0.09g 0%
Net carbs 17.12g 15.39g N/A
Magnesium 25mg 23mg 0%
Sugar 4.18g 0.82g N/A
Zinc 0.3mg 0.3mg 0%
Selenium 0.6µg 0.4µg 0%
Vitamin B1 0.078mg 0.081mg 0%
Vitamin K 1.8µg 2µg 0%
Choline 12.3mg 12.1mg 0%
Saturated fat 0.018g 0.025g 0%
Monounsaturated fat 0.001g 0.002g 0%
Polyunsaturated fat 0.014g 0.042g 0%
Tryptophan 0.031mg 0.021mg 0%
Threonine 0.083mg 0.067mg 0%
Isoleucine 0.055mg 0.066mg 0%
Leucine 0.092mg 0.098mg 0%
Lysine 0.066mg 0.107mg 0%
Methionine 0.029mg 0.032mg 0%
Phenylalanine 0.089mg 0.081mg 0%
Valine 0.086mg 0.103mg 0%
Histidine 0.031mg 0.035mg 0%

Macronutrient Comparison

Macronutrient breakdown side-by-side comparison
20% 77%
Protein: 1.57 g
Fats: 0.05 g
Carbs: 20.12 g
Water: 77.28 g
Other: 0.98 g
Potato
Potato
4
2% 17% 79%
Protein: 2.05 g
Fats: 0.09 g
Carbs: 17.49 g
Water: 79.25 g
Other: 1.12 g
Contains more CarbsCarbs +15%
Contains more ProteinProtein +30.6%
Contains more FatsFats +80%
Contains more OtherOther +14.3%
~equal in Water ~79.25g

Fat Type Comparison

Fat type breakdown side-by-side comparison
55% 3% 42%
Saturated fat: Sat. Fat 0.018 g
Monounsaturated fat: Mono. Fat 0.001 g
Polyunsaturated fat: Poly. Fat 0.014 g
Potato
Potato
2
36% 3% 61%
Saturated fat: Sat. Fat 0.025 g
Monounsaturated fat: Mono. Fat 0.002 g
Polyunsaturated fat: Poly. Fat 0.042 g
Contains less Sat. FatSaturated fat -28%
Contains more Mono. FatMonounsaturated fat +100%
Contains more Poly. FatPolyunsaturated fat +200%

Carbohydrate type comparison

Carbohydrate type breakdown side-by-side comparison
75% 15% 6% 4%
Starch: 12.65 g
Sucrose: 2.52 g
Glucose: 0.96 g
Fructose: 0.7 g
Lactose: 0 g
Maltose: 0 g
Galactose: 0 g
Potato
Potato
1
95% 2%
Starch: 15.29 g
Sucrose: 0.17 g
Glucose: 0.31 g
Fructose: 0.26 g
Lactose: 0 g
Maltose: 0 g
Galactose: 0 g
Contains more SucroseSucrose +1382.4%
Contains more GlucoseGlucose +209.7%
Contains more FructoseFructose +169.2%
Contains more StarchStarch +20.9%
~equal in Lactose ~0g
~equal in Maltose ~0g
~equal in Galactose ~0g

References

All the values for which the sources are not specified explicitly are taken from FDA’s Food Central. The exact link to the food presented on this page can be found below.

  1. Sweet potato - https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/168482/nutrients
  2. Potato - https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170026/nutrients

All the Daily Values are presented for males aged 31-50, for 2000-calorie diets.

Data provided by FoodStruct.com should be considered and used as information only. Please consult your physician before beginning any diet.