Dioscorea alata

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This article is about the vegetable. For the Japanese city, see Ube, Yamaguchi.

For "UBE" as an abbreviation, see UBE.

Ube (Purple Yam)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Dioscoreales
Family:	Dioscoreaceae
Genus:	Dioscorea
Species:	D. alata

Binomial name

Dioscorea alata
L.

A piece of cake made with ube

Ube (or ubi) is the Filipino word for purple yam (Dioscorea alata). It contains pigments that gives its violet color.

In India, this vegetable is known as ratalu or Kand or violet yam or the Moraga Surprise. In other parts of the Malay world, the word ubi refers to any yam or tuber. In Tonga: ʻufi (and is considered there as a royal food), in Hawaiʻi: uhi, in Tahiti: ufi. In the Philippines, ube is cooked with sugar and eaten as a sweetened dessert or jam called ube halaya which is a bright violet color. Ube is also an ingredient in the fruity dessert halo halo, another popular Filipino dessert.

In botany, this species is also known by the names "water yam" and "winged yam."

1 History
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

History

Ube jam

Ube is now used in a variety of desserts, as well as a flavor for ice cream, milk, Swiss rolls, tarts, cookies, cakes, and other pastries. Ube also sometimes is used in the Philippines to denote the colour purple or violet.