Kūmara

Availability

Kūmara are available all year round.

Storage and Handling

Store in a cool dark place, unless cut and then refrigerate. Handle all fresh produce with care and wash before eating.

History

Kūmara has been grown and eaten in New Zealand since the Māori first arrived. In about the 10th century Kupe brought the kūmara here from Hawaiki. This variety was a bush with tubers much smaller than the kūmara we know today. Later the bigger sweet potato was introduced which came to be known as the kūmara too.

Facts and Varieties

Kūmara is also known as the sweet potato
The majority of our kūmara is grown in Northland in the Northern Wairoa region where soil type and climatic conditions suit kūmara perfectly
There are different varieties of kūmara; gold, red and orange
Gold kūmara, sometimes sold as Toka Toka, it has a golden skin and flesh and has a sweeter taste than red
The most common is the red-skinned, Owairaka Red, with a creamy white flesh
Orange kūmara or Beauregard kūmara has the sweetest flesh

Growing Facts

Plant in October and harvest in February
Kūmara are sensitive to frost and like a long and warm growing period
Plant in loose, free-draining soil

Nutrition Information

1 gold kumara = 150 g

	Average Quantity per serving	% Daily Intake per serve	Average Quantity per 100 g
Energy (kJ/Cal)	721/172	8%	481/115
Protein (g)	1.9	4%	1.3
Fat, total (g)	0.3	0%	0.2
- saturated (g)	0.08	0%	0.05
Available carbohydrate (g)	38.6	12%	25.7
- sugars (g)	14.4	16%	9.6
Dietary Fibre (g)	2.9	10%	1.9
Sodium (mg)	60	0%	40
Folate (µg)	72	36% RDI*	48
Riboflavin (mg)	0.45	26% RDI*	0
Vitamin A Equiv. (µg)	201	27% RDI*	134
Vitamin B6 (mg)	0.63	39% RDI*	0
Niacin (mg)	1.2	12% RDI*	0.8
Thiamin (mg)	0.11	10% RDI*	0.07
Copper (mg)	0.3	10% ESADDI**	0.2
Magnesium (mg)	45	14% RDI*	30
Potassium (mg)	615		410