Yangxi Xitou Colorful Sweet Potatoes

Yangxi Xitou Colorful Sweet Potatoes

　　Sweet potatoes, also known as yams, red potatoes, or white potatoes, and historically referred to as Dioscorea, can serve as a staple food. According to the "Compendium of Materia Medica," sweet potatoes help relieve fatigue, dispel summer heat, calm the mind, benefit the spleen and stomach, and prolong life. After years of experimentation, a new variety of sweet potato — the "Colorful Sweet Potato" — was successfully cultivated. The "Colorful Sweet Potato" has a fine and smooth texture, and a fragrant, delicious taste, along with its vibrant, multicolored appearance that is very appetizing. Experts also note that the "Colorful Sweet Potato" is rich in fiber, potassium, iron, and vitamin B6, which can effectively prevent skin aging, guard against arteriosclerosis and tumors, making it a natural health food.

　　The sweet potatoes from Yong’an Village in Xitou Town are widely renowned locally. Yangxi Xitou, nestled between mountains and the sea, boasts beautiful scenery and pristine waters. The sweet potatoes here grow in a pollution-free natural environment, with a diverse range of varieties including purple-fleshed, red-fleshed, yellow-fleshed, white-fleshed, and colorful types. The quality is exceptionally high, especially the Colorful Sweet Potatoes from Yong’an in Yangxi Xitou, which are prized for their powdery texture, fragrance, sweetness, smoothness, and tenderness. As early as the 1970s, sweet potato cultivation in Xitou Town set the highest autumn sweet potato yield record in the then-Zhanjiang region, earning a "Provincial Scientific Research Third Prize." In 1992, agricultural experts from twelve Asia-Pacific countries gathered in Xitou Town to inspect sweet potato farming, where the sweet potatoes from Yong’an Village received unanimous praise from the experts. In recent years, Xitou Town has tailored its efforts to local conditions, fully supporting the development of the sweet potato industry in Yong’an Village. Currently, the village grows ten varieties of "Colorful Sweet Potatoes," among which "Colorful No. 1" is the best-selling. Over 85% of the village’s 800 households are engaged in the planting and trading of "Colorful Sweet Potatoes." The village’s total sweet potato cultivation area exceeds 3,000 mu, with an annual output value of nearly 9 million yuan. The products are also exported to countries and regions such as Canada, Singapore, and the United States. Local businesses, seeing the broad commercial potential of this variety, have flocked to Xitou to purchase "Colorful Sweet Potatoes." This has allowed the once overlooked "Colorful Sweet Potato" to proudly appear on the menus of many hotels and restaurants, becoming a "signature dish" that attracts customers. Late last year, a feature program on Yangxi’s "Colorful Sweet Potatoes" aired on a Guangdong TV station, generating widespread attention.