Sweet potato leaves: properties and synergistic interactions that promote health and prevent disease

Abstract

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) leaves provide a dietary source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, dietary fiber, and essential fatty acids. Bioactive compounds contained in this vegetable play a role in health promotion by improving immune function, reducing oxidative stress and free radical damage, reducing cardiovascular disease risk, and suppressing cancer cell growth. Currently, sweet potato leaves are consumed primarily in the islands of the Pacific Ocean and in Asian and African countries; limited consumption occurs in the United States. This comprehensive review assesses research examining the nutritional characteristics and bioactive compounds within sweet potato leaves that contribute to health promotion and chronic disease prevention. Research has affirmed the potential cardioprotective and chemopreventive advantages of consuming sweet potato leaves, thus indicating that increased consumption of this vegetable should be advocated. Since reducing the prevalence of chronic diseases is of public health concern, promoting the consumption of sweet potato leaves warrants further and more intensive research investigation.

De novo sequencing and a comprehensive analysis of purple sweet potato (Impomoea batatas L.) transcriptome

“…Except for starch, sweet potato leaves are also rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary Wbers, -carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin B6 (Bovell-Benjamin 2007). Interestingly, scientiWc analyses have proposed that the sweet potato ranks very high among all other vegetables in terms of its anticancer eVect, even higher than ginseng, due to the high content of secondary metabolites and anthocyanins in its leaves (Johnson and Pace 2010). Sweet potato leaves contain at least 15 biologically active anthocyanins that have signiWcant medicinal value.…”

“…Sweet potato leaves contain at least 15 biologically active anthocyanins that have signiWcant medicinal value. Anthocyanins are the predominant group of visible polyphenols that comprise the red, purple, and blue pigmentation of many plants (Johnson and Pace 2010) and have therapeutic eVects on a series of diseases and cancers. Therefore, apart from producing edible pigments and food colorants, the sweet potato has great potential as a candidate for developing drugs, such as antineoplastic agents, antiinXammatory agents, and antioxidant agents (Bovell-Benjamin 2007;Johnson and Pace 2010).…”

Cardio-Protecting Effect of Natural Bioactive Compound (Polyphenol) by Inhibiting LDL Oxidation with the Scavenging of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)

“…Among the natural substances polyphenol is found to be beneficial than other compound. Several natural compound, leaves, fruits seeds etc are essential for our health due to their antioxidant capacity [17]. Flavonoids from almond skins are bioavailable and act synergistically with vitamins C and E to enhance hamster and human LDL resistance to oxidation [18].…”

Strategies for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Rural Southern African American Communities

“…Sweet potato greens and purslane, two novel foods, and several traditional foods included in the African-American diet such as butter beans, purple hull peas, muscadine grapes, collards, butter peas, figs, okra, mustard greens, green onions, rutabagas, and eggplant are examples of foods that contain significant levels of antioxidants (Huang et al, 2007a(Huang et al, , 2007b(Huang et al, , 2008(Huang et al, , 2009. In an article by Johnson and Pace (2010),the nutritional characteristics of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) leaves were reviewed in terms of health promotion and disease prevention. The supply an abunadnce of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, dietary fiber and essential fatty acids.…”