Yam is a plant that grows creeping above the ground, produces tubers in the soil, and can grow on less fertile land. Yam is grown in sandy, loose soil, contains lots of nutrients, has good drainage, and has a soil acidity of pH 5.5 - 7.5. Yam is one of the agricultural products found in almost all areas of Gunungkidul, including in Jelok Pacarejo Semanu where the community service location of the Faculty of Vocational UNY students is located. This point encourages them to utilize the local potential to be processed into alternative food. Raidha Maharani and Vida Corniawati, students of Food Engineering UNY, successfully developed a method to process purple sweet potato into sticks.

According to Raidha Maharani, yam farming has good prospects as a superior agricultural commodity. Yam contains vitamin A, vitamin B, and antioxidant substances. "This time, we use purple sweet potato as the base material for purple sweet potato stick product innovation," she said on Monday (10/4). In addition to its attractive color, the benefits of purple sweet potatoes are no less interesting. The purple color is caused by antioxidants and anthocyanins that have health benefits and can even cure various diseases. This purple sweet potato can boost the immune system as an anti-cancer and maintain blood sugar balance.

Purple sweet potato sticks were practiced on the women of Jelok residents, who followed enthusiastically. Many of the women took part in making their own purple sweet potato sticks. One of the residents, Suharyati, said the purple sweet potato sticks tasted good and had just the right amount of sweetness. "I will practice it at home because the ingredients are affordable and easy to make," she said. (Author: Dedy, Editor: Sudaryono, Tj.Lak)