Heyang Sweet Potatoes

Heyang Sweet Potatoes

Heyang sweet potatoes are a product with a geographical indication.

　　Heyang sweet potatoes have a long planting history and are renowned for their premium quality, dominating the northwestern China market.

　　According to the county annals, in the third year of the Republic of China (1914), villagers from Nanshun Village in Xinchigou Township introduced sweet potatoes and began cultivating them sporadically. From the 1960s to 1970s, to address food shortages, high-yield sweet potato cultivation spread across the entire county. In 1987, the county planted 105,000 mu of sweet potatoes, marking the largest planting area in history. In 1996, a trial of plastic-film mulching for sweet potato cultivation succeeded, achieving an average yield of 1,760 kg per mu, setting a historical record.

　　Geographic Scope

　　The protected area for Heyang sweet potatoes includes 61 administrative villages across three towns in Heyang County, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province: Xinchigou, Heichi, and Chengguan. It extends east to Xingjiazhuang Village in Xinchigou Town, south to Lujiazhuang Village in Heichi Town, west to Pulu Village in Heichi Town, and north to Beili Village in Chengguan Town. The geographical coordinates are longitude 110°09′35.61″ to 110°12′21.77″ and latitude 35°05′40.83″ to 35°08′57.45″. The protected area spans 30,000 mu, with a total output of 90,000 tons.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　1. External Sensory Features: Heyang sweet potatoes are typically about 18–22 cm in length, 8–10 cm in diameter, and weigh around 150–300 g. They have a purplish-red skin and light yellow flesh, with an oblong spindle shape. Their texture is dry, mealy, and sweet, crisp when eaten raw, and rich in chestnut flavor, making them a premium variety among sweet potatoes. 2. Unique Internal Quality Indicators: Heyang sweet potatoes are rich in nutrients, containing abundant starch, crude fiber, soluble sugar, vitamin A (VA), vitamin C (VC), calcium, and more. Specifically, per 100 g, they contain no less than 18.0 g of starch, no less than 0.7 g of crude fiber, over 7.8 g of soluble sugar, over 18.0 mg of VC, and no less than 75 mg of calcium. 3. Safety Requirements: Growers using the Heyang sweet potato label must ensure that their production bases and products meet the standards for pollution-free agricultural products, or pass batch inspections in accordance with the quality and safety requirements for root and tuber vegetables (including sweet potatoes) as outlined in Document No. Nongban Zhi [2015] No. 4.