Purple sweet potato (PSP, Ipomoea batatas) has various biological effects including antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. In this study, the antioxidant activity of PSP after roasting were compared using DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays. In addition, the total phenolics and flavonoid contents, Maillard reaction products, and phenolic acid contents were measured to identify the factors that changed PSP,s antioxidant activity due to roasting. The roasted PSP exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activity than unroasted PSP. In particular, the PSP roasted at $200^{circ}C$ for 10 min showed the highest antioxidant activity among all the PSPs that were roasted under different conditions. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents, Maillard reaction products and phenolic acid contents markedly increased, corresponding to the general increase in antioxidant activities after roasting. These results suggest that roasted PSP extracts are potential source of natural antioxidants that may be used in certain food applications.