PURPLE   SWEET POTATOES   The Ancient Superfood

COMPANIES SPECIALIZING IN exotic produce make it their priority to supply community supermarkets that would otherwise go without access to unique produce items. These companies have helped spark the appearance of more recent and now-familiar items, such as persimmons, rambutan, and cucamelon. Not only fruit products have gained in popularity, though — specialty vegetable items have also been attracting attention.

Unbeknownst to some consumers, sweet potatoes come in a variety of colors besides the traditional orange, including red, yellow, and white. And there are also purple sweet potatoes, offering unrivaled health benefits. “It’s definitely not your typical sweet potato,” says Mary Landis. She’s a former “forager” for Frieda’s, a specialty produce company based in California that introduces unusual fruits and vegetables to American tables. If you like kiwis and dragon fruits, you have Frieda’s to thank for convincing grocery stores to carry these unique produce items and others like them.

In 2010, a sweet potato supplier of Frieda’s, A.V. Thomas Produce, told Landis they’d planted a trial of a North Carolina sweet potato that had rich, nearly black-purple skin and flesh that turned-purple.”