The definition of sweet potato

What are sweet potatoes ?

Sweet potatoes are some of the most consumed vegetables around the world, from the shade plant species such as eggplant, and the potato origin goes back to South America, especially the Andes region, as they can have their delicious taste and thin multi-colored veneers ranging from yellow, orange, red, and purple, which vary in color depending on the climate and soil in which they grow.

Sweet potato types

Sweet potatoes have different varieties of flavor, size and shape, but all are similar in nutritional value and can be divided into 3 types:-

Purple color: These potatoes are soft in color and are tasty, and are covered with orange crust and are frequently grown in the United States.

Orange color: One of the sweet potato types found in pink or red crust, along with steel strength.

White color: This type may have a pale copper cortex that tends to be golden or brown, and has more taste of it than other species.

The Uses of sweet potato

Sweet potatoes are vegetables rich in simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates, and they are a rich source of nutrients and many vitamins useful to the body, which may be used to prepare a wide range of dishes in many countries around the world.

In China, roasted potatoes are popular, served as a sweet and honey-side, and are also essential in Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean cuisine, in India they are a sacred thing after religious fasting, and in the United States the sweet potato pie is a popular dessert.

Sweet potatoes are also used for purposes other than cooking. In South America, the juice extracted from them is mixed with the juice to prepare the textile dye, as well as serving as animal feed, while researchers are experimenting with the production of potato varieties used in the production of biofuels.

From the production side, sweet potatoes have been growing since 2014, with China being one of the first  producing countries, more than 70 million tons in 2014.

• China 70,000, 526,000
• Nigeria 3,689,696
• Tanzania 3,470,304
• Indonesia 2,386,729
• Uganda 810,000
• Ethiopia 1,782,725
• Mozambique 1568575
• Vietnam 1,358,175
• Angola, 749199
• India 1,132,40

On the continental level, sweet potatoes are produced in Asia by (75%), because of huge production in China, while Africa is second only 20% of world production, and the Americas contribute about 4%, while Europe has received only a small percentage of world production of 0.05%.

The percentage of sweet potato production in the European market is still relatively small, Europe has imported 124,000 tons of sweet potato and even more imports in the past years, with the United States the largest supplier with a share in the European market of 70%, while those exports are destined for both the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Exporting Sweet potatoes from Egypt 

Sweet Potatoes are grown in Egypt during April and March and can be grown late in May and June. Egypt may have the advantage of achieving all the conditions of agriculture and irrigation, so that a good crop of sweet potatoes can be produced should be grown in a good, light, salt-free yellow soil. 

The most famous of the Egyptian sweet potato is “Abis, Bioregard, Mabrouka, Puerto Rico, Nancy Hall”.

Egyptian sweet potato has become increasingly popular with the world’s countries, especially the Gulf countries and Russia, many of which go to the European market, as the Export Council for Agricultural crops revealed that sweet potato exports rose to 56 thousand tons during the export season 2018-2019 to reach more than 30 million dollars.

Here is an illustration of Egypt’s exports to the European market in recent years:

• 2013: European imported about 96,000 tons of Egyptian sweet potato
• 2014: exports of sweet potatoes to the European market have reached 10,000 tons
• 2017: the Egyptian export market to the European market is “the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium”.

At the beginning of 2020, the percentage of sweet potato exports of the “Biorigard” quality rose to more than 11.1 billion dollars compared to last year, as a result of the drop in prices of Egyptian potatoes compared to others in the world market, one box with 6 kilograms of potatoes could be sold at 5.25 euros in the European market. High quality.

We are therefore in “EG Gate”to ensure that our products has all the requirements that are in conformity with European specifications, as we export “sweet potato” from our farmers or use some suppliers, as we have exported it to a number of European countries, led by the Holland, along with some Arab countries.

EG Gate’s Packing & Packaging Producers For Sweet Potato 

• Type: Sweet potatoes.
• Grade: First.
• Color: Red – White.
• Size: 100 to 600 g.
• Fill: “Carton box”.
• Standardization of weight: Starting at 5 kg / at the customer’s request.
• Shipping: 40 ft container of 20:25 tons based on packing.