What is ube?

Ube is a species of yam, Dioscorea alata. The name comes from Tagalog, and in the Philippines the plant is called ube or ubi. Wikipedia places the purple yam’s centre of origin in the Philippines, where it is most common in the cuisine and is used in many desserts, including the sweetened dessert ube halayá. Big Moca’s full explainer on what ube is goes deeper into its flavour and its uses in the kitchen; this page looks at how ube is labelled and sold in Europe.

In Europe, ube is mostly sold as a dried powder for lattes and baking. Of the 78 ube products we checked on 9 November 2026, 47 were sold as 100% ube powder; the rest were blends, latte mixes, syrups, liquid flavourings, a jam and snacks with a little ube in them.

The tubers taste slightly sweet, earthy and nutty, according to the Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden. A 100% ube powder carries only that flavour, so it tastes mild on its own and is usually sweetened in drinks and desserts.

Many “ube” products taste of something else. Ube syrups and pastes add sugar and flavourings, and some flavourings contain no ube at all: Butterfly’s paste lists artificial sweet potato flavour, and Koepoe Koepoe’s “Talas Ube pasta” lists synthetic taro flavour. We did not run taste tests, so these points come from labels and botanical sources.

Ube is purple because of anthocyanins, natural plant pigments. Wikipedia’s entry on Dioscorea alata says the tubers are usually violet-purple to lavender because of their high anthocyanin content, and that they contain more anthocyanin than sweet potatoes. Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden notes that violet cultivars colour food purple for the same reason.

Not every purple “ube” product gets its colour from ube. Liquid flavourings in our data list dyes such as E122, E127, E129 and E133, and Monin’s ube concentrate lists E163. Albert Heijn’s ube pastries are coloured with five added colourings. Our powder vs extract page lists them.

Ube, taro and purple sweet potato are three different plants from three different families. Wikipedia notes that ube is sometimes confused with taro and is commonly confused with purple varieties of sweet potato.

If you want ube, look for Dioscorea alata, purple yam or ube in the ingredient list. A list that says purple sweet potato (in Dutch “paarse zoete aardappel”, in French “patate douce violette”) is not ube, whatever the title says.

We make no health claims, and the sources we use do not support specific health benefits. What can be said from labels is limited and factual.

• Anthocyanins. Ube contains anthocyanins, the pigments that make it purple (Wikipedia).
• No added sugar in pure powder. A single-ingredient ube powder has nothing added. Big Moca’s powder, for example, is unsweetened and caffeine-free according to its label.
• Latte mixes can be mostly sugar. Barú Ube Latte lists sugar and glucose syrup before its 9% ube; NüMorning’s mix lists coconut blossom sugar first.
• Colourings in liquids. Several flavourings contain azo dyes such as E122 and E129.

Some sellers make health claims on their pages, about immunity, skin, energy or digestion. We have not verified those claims and do not repeat them. For nutrition values, read the table on the pack you buy.

Most ube in European shops is a dried powder, with liquids and mixes as smaller groups. The table summarises the 78 products we checked; the home page ranks the best of them.

Format	Products in our data	Example	Typical label
100% ube powder	47	Big Moca Premium Ube Powder, €17.99 / 100 g	Ube only
Ube powder blend	8	UBE.25, 99.7% ube + 0.3% vanilla	Ube plus vanilla, starch, fibre or coconut
Latte mix	2	Barú Ube Latte, 9% ube	Sugar first
Syrup or concentrate	2	Monin Le Concentré Ube	Sugar, colouring, flavouring
Extract or flavouring	7	McCormick, Pondan, Royal Brand	Mostly flavouring and dyes
Jam (halaya)	1	Buenas, 62% purple yam	Yam, sugar, water

The remaining 11 are purple sweet potato powders sold as ube, one powder whose type could not be determined, and foods with a little ube in them, such as KoRo’s cashew cream (0.5% ube). Prices checked 9 November 2026.