W

ith help from a passionate professor, the sweet potato has reemerged as a favorite food in Bali.

In earlier times, Balinese simply boiled their yams, or used it in recipes for various traditional cakes. Now, however, it is being turned into cakes and delicious ice creams.

Seven years ago, Dewa Ngurah Suprapta, the head of the bio-pesticide laboratory at the Udayana University’s School of Agriculture, began actively campaigning to raise awareness that locally grown yams were a nutritious food rich in antioxidants and protein.

Every 100 grams of sweet potato contains between 100 to 250 milligrams of protein, 27.9 milligrams of carbohydrates and 30 milligrams of calcium.

“Purple sweet potatoes contain the highest amounts of these micro- and macro-nutrients. The more purple, the higher the antioxidant content,” Suprapta, who has been experimenting with yam extract to make syrup, said.

The plant is easy to cultivate and can be used to make flour, which can then be used in various recipes.

“Many dishes made of purple sweet potatoes are now available at markets and some snack outlets,”
he said.

“We need to continue campaigning for and developing alternative food sources that are easy to cultivate. This would lead to better food security.”

Some dishes made of yams were showcased at the Denpasar Festival held in the capital last month.

“Our sweet potato ice cream is quite popular,” Kadek Eka, an ice cream vendor at the festival, said. He sold the ice cream at Rp 4,000 per scoop.

Other vendors at the event sold chips and steamed cake, all made of yams.

Denpasar Agriculture Agency head Gede Ambara said his agency had assisted a number of local entrepreneurs in the last two years to turn the root vegetable into tantalizing treats.

“The steamed cake has become a hit at religious festivals. It tastes as good as flour-based cakes and has an attractive color, making it suitable for religious offerings.”

Bali farmers grow at least 75 different cultivars of sweet potato, most of which were protein rich, Suprapta said.

The sweet potato is not only a culinary alternative, but may hold medical properties.

Research by Udayana University and Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University showed that purple sweet potatoes could help and lower cholesterol levels.

“They contain high levels of antioxidants that prevent cell damage,” Suprapta claimed.

He has studied the effects of the vegetable in treating cervical and breast cancer.

“Substances contained in the extract are proven to be able to kill the cancerous cells.”