Sweet potatoes get new role in Bali

A professor says Bali is gearing up to make syrups, beverages, like wine, and even ice cream from sweet potatoes, aiming at domestic and foreign markets.

“They are ready to be produced on a large scale in a factory in Karangasem regency,” Udayana University professor Dewa Ngurah Suprapta said as quoted by antaranews.com.

Dewa said the new food products were the result of a seven-year, Rp 3.5-billion (US$385,000) research project including, among other institutions, Gadjah Mada University’s medical school in Yogyakarta.

The food products have all been patented with the Law and Human Rights Ministry, he added.

Both local and foreign consumers enjoyed the sample products made during the trials, Dewa said.