Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) introduced VitAto, a new variety of sweet potatoes in June 2007. Sweet potatoes (vitato) are starchy root vegetables that are rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals. There are also high in antioxidants that protect your body from free radical damage and chronic disease. Innovation Centre in Agritechnology for Advance Bioprocessing (ICA) UTM has been researching to investigate sweet potatoes’ fibre content and antioxidants that can help to promote the growth of good gut bacteria and contribute to a healthy gut.

 Research has shown that sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene and anthocyanins, antioxidants that may help prevent vision loss and improve eye health. In addition, sweet potatoes are an excellent source of beta-carotene which can be converted to vitamin A and help your immune system and healthy gut.