Hansen sweet potato

The fundamentals

Produces shades:

Latin name: Ipomoea batatas

Pigment: Anthocyanins

E-number: E163

Five facts about Hansen sweet potato

Hansen sweet potato delivers a unique natural red food color

Hansen sweet potato is the industry's first vegetable specially developed for its unique coloring properties.

It typically takes 12-15 years to breed a new plant variety using traditional, non-GMO methods.

Oterra spent more than 10 years developing this sweet potato variety via non-GMO breeding.

The anthocyanins in Hansen sweet potato are more stable than most other anthocyanins.

Compared to other raw materials colored with anthocyanins, red from Hansen sweet potato is more tolerant to pH and remains stable at higher pH values.

Hansen sweet potato is adapted to multiple micro-climates and grows on farms spread over 1000 kilometers and multiple latitudes to ensure a constant supply and high quality.

Non-GMO plant breeding

Hansen sweet potato is actually several varieties which evolve due to continuous selective, non-GMO breeding for robust, productive plants.

How Hansen sweet potato is grown

Like all sweet potatoes, Hansen sweet potato can be propagated from seeds or tubers. The crop cycle is long (6-7 months) so the root can gather a high concentration of anthocyanins. Crops are planted monthly, and acreage adjusted according to our long-term forecasts.

All fresh fruits and vegetables begin to degrade soon after harvest, and anthocyanins are particularly fragile. Our factory is placed in the heart of the growing area so we can stabilize the pigments immediately after harvest.

Harvest calendar and growing areas

Sweet potatoes are a common vegetable. The top 10 commercial growing regions are in China, Africa and the US. Our Hansen sweet potato is harvested year-round.

Harvest calendar Hansen sweet potato

Caring for our planet

Hansen sweet potato is cultivated with a minimum of chemicals and mechanical handling. Combined with crop rotation, this reduces the negative effects on the soil, the crop and workers. We also help farmers limit water consumption by optimizing irrigation throughout the crop cycle and defining precise ways to wash the crop before delivery to our factory.

Hansen sweet potato gives a rural local economy an enormous boost

We engage with a network of farmers on long-term contracts, thereby securing them a higher margin compared to subsistence crops, as well as continuous technical support.

Our factory in the heartland creates jobs in production and quality control as well as periphery jobs in transport, maintenance and more.

An award winning, clean label innovation

Hansen sweet potato was launched in late 2018 and won innovation awards in Europe, USA and Latin America.

What you should know about anthocyanins from Hansen sweet potato

Oterra's stable, industry-leading formulations allow you to benefit from all of the advantages of Hansen sweet potato as a natural food color while minimizing any intrinsic challenges associated with this vegetable.

Hansen sweet potato™ anthocyanins are water soluble and are less sensitive to oxidation and pH than other anthocyanins.

They are the most optimal clean label replacement for carmine

Natural Strengths

  • Heat and light stable

  • Performs well in acidic applications

  • Best anthocyanin for maintaining red/pink color in products pH >5

  • No to low off-flavor

Natural Challenges

  • Changes in pH cause shade shift

  • Sensitive to oxygen, metal ions and vitamins

Food colored naturally with Hansen sweet potato

Hansen sweet potato products