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  6. Sweet potato vs. Yam

Sweet potato vs. Yam — In-Depth Nutrition Comparison

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How are sweet potato and yam different?

  • Sweet potato is richer in vitamin A and vitamin B5, while yam is higher in vitamin C, potassium, vitamin B6, and manganese.
  • Sweet potato covers your daily need for vitamin A, 281% more than yam.
  • Sweet potato contains 8 times more sugar than yam. Sweet potato contains 4.18g of sugar, while yam contains 0.5g.
  • Sweet potato has a higher glycemic index (70) than yam (51).

Sweet potato, raw, unprepared and Yam, raw types were used in this article.

Infographic

Sweet potato vs Yam 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%
Yam
Yam
6
Magnesium Magnesium Calcium Calcium Potassium Potassium Iron Iron Copper Copper Zinc Zinc Phosphorus Phosphorus Sodium Sodium Manganese Manganese Selenium Selenium 15% 5.1% 72% 20% 59% 6.5% 24% 1.2% 52% 3.8%
Contains more MagnesiumMagnesium +19%
Contains more CalciumCalcium +76.5%
Contains more IronIron +13%
Contains more ZincZinc +25%
Contains more PotassiumPotassium +142.1%
Contains more CopperCopper +17.9%
Contains more PhosphorusPhosphorus +17%
Contains less SodiumSodium -83.6%
Contains more ManganeseManganese +53.9%
Contains more SeleniumSelenium +16.7%

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%
Yam
Yam
7
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 57% 2.3% 7% 0% 28% 7.4% 10% 19% 68% 0% 5.8% 17% 9%
Contains more Vitamin AVitamin A +10028.6%
Contains more Vitamin B2Vitamin B2 +90.6%
Contains more Vitamin B5Vitamin B5 +154.8%
Contains more Vitamin CVitamin C +612.5%
Contains more Vitamin EVitamin E +34.6%
Contains more Vitamin B1Vitamin B1 +43.6%
Contains more Vitamin B6Vitamin B6 +40.2%
Contains more Vitamin KVitamin K +27.8%
Contains more FolateFolate +109.1%
Contains more CholineCholine +34.1%
~equal in Vitamin D ~0µg
~equal in Vitamin B3 ~0.552mg
~equal in Vitamin B12 ~0µg

All nutrients comparison - raw data values

Nutrient Sweet potato Yam DV% diff.
Vitamin A 709µg 7µg 78%
Vitamin C 2.4mg 17.1mg 16%
Potassium 337mg 816mg 14%
Vitamin B5 0.8mg 0.314mg 10%
Vitamin B6 0.209mg 0.293mg 6%
Manganese 0.258mg 0.397mg 6%
Starch 12.65g 5%
Fiber 3g 4.1g 4%
Vitamin B1 0.078mg 0.112mg 3%
Folate 11µg 23µg 3%
Carbs 20.12g 27.88g 3%
Copper 0.151mg 0.178mg 3%
Vitamin B2 0.061mg 0.032mg 2%
Sodium 55mg 9mg 2%
Calories 86kcal 118kcal 2%
Phosphorus 47mg 55mg 1%
Calcium 30mg 17mg 1%
Zinc 0.3mg 0.24mg 1%
Magnesium 25mg 21mg 1%
Choline 12.3mg 16.5mg 1%
Fructose 0.7g 1%
Iron 0.61mg 0.54mg 1%
Vitamin E 0.26mg 0.35mg 1%
Protein 1.57g 1.53g 0%
Fats 0.05g 0.17g 0%
Net carbs 17.12g 23.78g N/A
Sugar 4.18g 0.5g N/A
Selenium 0.6µg 0.7µg 0%
Vitamin B3 0.557mg 0.552mg 0%
Vitamin K 1.8µg 2.3µg 0%
Saturated fat 0.018g 0.037g 0%
Monounsaturated fat 0.001g 0.006g 0%
Polyunsaturated fat 0.014g 0.076g 0%
Tryptophan 0.031mg 0.012mg 0%
Threonine 0.083mg 0.054mg 0%
Isoleucine 0.055mg 0.052mg 0%
Leucine 0.092mg 0.096mg 0%
Lysine 0.066mg 0.059mg 0%
Methionine 0.029mg 0.021mg 0%
Phenylalanine 0.089mg 0.071mg 0%
Valine 0.086mg 0.062mg 0%
Histidine 0.031mg 0.034mg 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
Yam
Yam
2
28% 70%
Protein: 1.53 g
Fats: 0.17 g
Carbs: 27.88 g
Water: 69.6 g
Other: 0.82 g
Contains more OtherOther +19.5%
Contains more FatsFats +240%
Contains more CarbsCarbs +38.6%
~equal in Protein ~1.53g
~equal in Water ~69.6g

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
Yam
Yam
2
31% 5% 64%
Saturated fat: Sat. Fat 0.037 g
Monounsaturated fat: Mono. Fat 0.006 g
Polyunsaturated fat: Poly. Fat 0.076 g
Contains less Sat. FatSaturated fat -51.4%
Contains more Mono. FatMonounsaturated fat +500%
Contains more Poly. FatPolyunsaturated fat +442.9%

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. Yam - https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170071/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.