The potential of the sweet potato in the tropics is an everyday staple. A chief limitation to achieving this potential is lack of quality. The quality features of the sweet potato at the table are attractiveness, softness, mouthfeel,,fiber, and flavor. Quality in appearance is having a uniform color, and the absence of gray and greenish tints, and of cracks and erosion. Quality in mouthfeel is an intermediate sensation, neither too moist nor too dry and choking. Quality in flavor is complex. It involves lack of strong flavors, blandness, and a low amount of sweetness. Observations and experimental data are mustedered to demonstrate these characteristics.