"Seen for the First Time in 85 Years"…70 Sweet Potatoes Hanging from a Single Root 'Jureongjureong'

Expert: "Such a high number of cases is extremely rare"

A root with about 70 sweet potatoes attached was discovered in Ulsan, drawing attention.

At around 10:30 a.m. on the 29th, Song Jeong-jo (85) found a root with a string of sweet potatoes while digging sweet potatoes in his field located in Buk-gu, Ulsan.

Carefully digging up the entire root, he found more than 70 sweet potatoes attached. The root was about 70 cm long, densely covered with sweet potatoes about the size of an adult palm.

Song said, “Usually, one root has 5 to 8 sweet potatoes, and at most 20 to 25, but this many is the first time in my life.”

Sweet potato root with 70 sweet potatoes found in Ulsan
[Image source=Provided by Im Chae-o, Ulsan Buk-gu Councilor]

Im Chae-o, a member of the Buk-gu Council in Ulsan who came after receiving Song’s call, said, “I asked an expert on the way to the site, and they said it is extremely rare for so many sweet potatoes to grow on one root,” adding, “The sweet potatoes grew so large that if you touch them by hand, they come off the root as is.”

Sweet potatoes belong to the Convolvulaceae family and are perennial plants that spread along the ground, producing oval-shaped tuberous roots used for food. They are usually harvested from late September to mid-to-late October before the frost arrives.

The origin of sweet potatoes is the tropical regions of the Americas. They were introduced to Korea through Japan and have been cultivated in earnest since the late 1700s. Due to their high value as a crop, their distribution was encouraged nationwide, establishing them as a major agricultural product.

Meanwhile, Song said about the sweet potatoes he dug up this time, “I plan to leave them in the field for a while to inform people around, then harvest and dispose of them.”