LADYBUG SAYS ... DET'S SING PRAISES OF THE SWEET POTATO

Scientists now sing praises of the sweet potato.

More than 20 countries were represented recently at Tuskegee University in Alabama. The meeting was so important that the Atlanta Constitution devoted a section to this vegetable which has been often neglected vegetable for such a long time. The sweet potato is said to be simple nutritional fare that has received little respect from our affluent society.

Now, spurred by the problems of world hunger and the demands of health conscious consumers, agricultural scientists and nutritionists are taking a new look at one of our oldest crops.

At this meeting it was noted that it was George Washington Carver, the former slave, who concocted 118 uses for the humble tuber at Tuskegee Institute almost a century ago. Crop scientists now are finding further uses for this versatile vegetable.

In our country, per capita consumption of sweet potatoes peaked during the Depression. It is not that we do not like sweet potatoes. A University of Georgia survey found that 80 percent of those questioned said that they ate them only once or twice a year, usually at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Even the space agency, which pioneered freeze-dried, dehydrated "space food", has an interest in sweet potatoes as a promising crop for permanent bases in space. NASA wants crops that not only provide food but generate oxygen to support human life.

In the face of such bounty, researchers could soon face a bigger challenge than growing sweet potatoes in space -- figuring out how to get astronauts to eat them.

Sweet potatoes were one of mankind's first domesticated crops. There is archaeological evidence that they were grown in South America more than 8,000 years ago.

Columbus brought the first sweet potatoes to Europe in 1493. English colonists reintroduced them in North America in the mid-1600s.

The sweet potato is a member of the morning glory family.

Color varies widely from the red-skinned, orange flesh varieties known to most Americans. Other colors include purple skin with light yellow flesh, pink skin with white flesh, and brown skin with cream colored flesh.

Japan and the U.S. are the only industrialized countries in the world with significant sweet potato production.

China grows 90 percent of the world's 114 million tons of sweet potatoes. The highest per capita consumption is the Solomon Islands, where sweet potatoes provide 22.7 percent of the total calories consumed.

In Africa, the carotene rich roots and leaves of the sweet potato are being hailed as a simple, economical answer to the acute vitamin deficiency that causes blindness among children in at least 40 countries.

The scientists at Tuskegee found the roots are a veritable cornucopia of nutritional goodies -- rich in vitamin A and packed with significant quantities of vitamin C, vitamin E, riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, iron and calcium. A half cup of sweet potatoes even has as much, or more fiber than a bran muffin.

For all these nutritional attributes, the sweet potato is hardly taking the world by storm. Worldwide, the production has declined since the mid-70s. China, which produces 90 percent of the world's sweet potatoes, now feeds more of its crops to livestock than to its people.

Researchers at Tuskegee said anyone can grow this vegetable in their own backyard because they do not need fertilizer, much water or attention, and are an ideal crop for this era of sustainable agriculture.

Tasters of products made from sweet potatoes there favored yogurt mixed with apricots.

American cooks can fix sweet potatoes boiled, fried, candied, baked, in pies or puddings or many other ways. Recently at a party, they were served with other vegetables on a hors d'oeuvre tray with a tasty dip.

When we reached Williamsburg on our recent trip, we found Williamsburg Sweet Potato Muffins served in many places -- so here is the recipe.

WILLIAMSBURG SWEET

POTATO MUFFINS

IP0,11 1/4 cups butter or margarine

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups mashed sweet potatoes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup milk

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup raisins

Extra sugar

IP1,0Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar and add eggs, mixing well. Blend in potatoes. Sift dry ingredients and mix alternately with milk. Do not overmix. Fold in raisins and pecans. Fill greased muffin tins two-thirds full. Sprinkle top with extra sugar.

Bake for 25 minutes. Turn out of tins and cool.