Sweet Potato

srirachaseahawk

srirachaseahawk

Fledgling
I know that sweet potato is something that’s good for Linnies (and parrots in general), and that it can be cooked a number of different ways.
However, my bird seems to really prefer it raw so that he can really get the most out of it.
Are there any downsides to offering raw sweet potatoes? He seems to really like thin coins with the skin on (properly washed). I was planning to offer them 2-3 times a week.
 
Eddie's Aviary

Eddie's Aviary

Administrator
Staff member
Sweet Potato is great as it is high in Vitamin A, which is a vitamin parrots are often deficient in. So then there comes the confusing aspect.... is raw sweet potato safe and/or the best way to feed it? It is debated in the avian community. I always serve them cooked but yet are still firm. The reason behind this is explained in this snippet I found on the web -

"Sweet potato shows trypsin inhibitor activity. That means it contains an enzyme inhibitor that blocks the action of trypsin, an enzyme that digests proteins. The trypsin inhibitor prevents the digestion of protein. Sweet potatoes with higher protein levels have more of the trypsin inhibitor. This makes raw sweet potato difficult to digest. The trypsin inhibitor is deactivated by cooking.
One way the raw food diet helps people is by supplying food enzymes. Food enzymes do part of the work of digesting the raw food. Enzyme inhibitors increase the amount of work that your body needs to do to digest foods. Enzyme inhibitors force your body to produce more digestive enzymes. This uses up resources that could be used to produce detoxifying enzymes. When animals are regularly fed enzyme inhibitors in research, they become sick. Sweet potato should not be eaten raw."
 
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