Bioactive Compound Diversity in a Wide Panel of Sweet Potato ( Ipomoea batatas L.) Cultivars: A Resource for Nutritional Food Development

This study provides an overview of the composition of the raw root flesh of a panel of 22 sweet potato ( L.) cultivars, with a focus on bioactive compounds. The large diversity of the proximate and phytochemical compositions observed between cultivars and within and between different flesh colors pointed out the importance of composition analysis and not only color choice for the design of foods with nutritional benefits. The nutritional composition (starch, protein, total dietary fibers) and bioactive compound composition of 22 cultivars from Reunion Island, maintained in the Vatel Biological Resource Center, were investigated. Orange and purple cultivars stood out from white and yellow cultivars for their higher nutritional composition. Purple sweet potatoes were notable for their high contents of anthocyanins (55.7 to 143.4 mg/g dry weight (DW)) and phenolic compounds, in particular chlorogenic acid and ferulic acid, contributing to antioxidant activities, as well as their fiber content (14.1 ± 2.1% DW). Orange cultivars were rich in β-carotene (47.2 ± 0.7 mg/100 g DW) and to a lesser extent α-carotene (4.8 ± 1.2 mg/100 g DW). In contrast, certain white cultivars demonstrated suboptimal nutritional properties, rendering them less relevant even for applications where the lack of coloration in food is desired. Those characteristics enable the selection of sweet potato varieties to design food products ensuring optimal nutritional benefits and culinary versatility.