Sweet potatoes for sale at the North Carolina State Farmer's Market in the Fall.

Dr. Mike Boyette Receives Research Impact Award

Dr. Mike Boyette was honored with the National Research Impact Award from the National Sweetpotato Collaborators Group. Dr. Boyette, Philip Morris Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, has spent the last two decades working to best measure and characterize sweetpotatos.

Research Impact AwardFactors like shape, size and appearance can greatly impact the price of a sweetpotato. While a U.S. No. 1 sweet potato would retail for 75 cents a pound, potatoes considered too large or too small may only retail for 10 to 15 cents a pound. However, these factors have no effect on the nutritional value or taste of the crop.

Sweet potato measurements and data can be used by researchers to test for and ultimately determine the ideal growing conditions for the perfectly-sized sweet potato.

Read more on Dr. Boyette’s work on sweetpotatos.