Sweet Potato Sweet potato, a root vegetable often called a yam, is not really a yam at all, but rather a distinct variety of the Ipomea Batata family. Cultivated for thousands of years in the Western Hemisphere, sweet potatoes have become an important part of traditional American cuisine. Purple Sweet Potato Deliciously purple from its skin to its core, it gets its distinct color from anthocyanin, a flavonoid found in abundance in this sweet potato. Batata (Boniato or Cuban Sweet Potato) Light brown in color, yet darker than the Yuca. Batata has been savored in the Caribbean for centuries.