Yams

Sweet potatoes and yams (Dioscorea) are sometimes mistaken. However, they are not the same vegetable. They come from two different plants, even though they grow underground as tubers. Unlike a sweet potato’s smooth surface, yams have rough, scaly skin, and their flavor is less sweet. Yams, native to Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, have a long history of use in traditional medicine. Most yam health research has focused on particular chemicals isolated from the plant root.