Some 3 billion people in the world live outside the cash economy in the world’s poorest nations. Food security and regular supply are their daily concerns. Chronic malnutrition is a leading cause of death and disease for them. Young children are amongst the most affected. One child every 5-10 seconds dies from undernutrition. Vitamin A deficiency causes night blindness for someone every minute. Most people in tropical and subtropical countries are iron deficient.
Our goal is to provide information that enables people to choose the right plant for their environment, to give them stable food production and a greater choice of plants to enrich their diets and improve their nutritional wellbeing.
The plant fact sheets listed in this collection are only a small portion of those available from FPI. Please check your plant inquiries in the ECHO Search and reference the FPI plant database for further information.
Most of the plants selected to list here are further described in country-specific publications by Food Plant Solutions (FPS in the Search).
8000 Starchy Staples
7000 Legumes
6000 Leafy Greens
5000 Fruits
4000 Vegetables
3000 Nuts, Seeds, Herbs, and other foods
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Artocarpus heterophyllus
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds, Leaves, Flowers, Vegetable
An evergreen tree up to 20 m tall and in the breadfruit family. Trees form many branches but have one or two main trunks. The bark is smooth and dark green. Leaves of young trees have 1 or 2 lobes but mature leaves are long (15 cm) and entire. They are leathery, deep green and glossy. Flowers occur on spikes, on stalks from the trunk or main branches. Some stalks only have male flowers, others only have female flowers while some have both male and female spikes. Generally male flowers are on short stalks among the leaves, and female flowers are on trunks. Male flowers are 5 cm long by 2 cm wide and are dull green. Female flowers are bright green. The very large spiny fruit grow on main branches and the trunk. The fruit is a composite fruit made up from the many individual flowers of the flower cluster. Fruit can be 1 m long and weigh 36 kg. They have 6 sided fleshy spines. Each seed is surrounded by a yellow fleshy sheath. Seed are 2-4 cm long and 1-2 cm wide. There can be 100-500 seed in a fruit. Unlike breadfruit, there are no seedless Jackfruit. When ripe the unopened fruit has a strong smell.
Common names : Jackfruit, Ampalibe, Banun, Bu luo mi, Cempedak hutan, Ekifenensi, Fene, Herali, Jaca-dura, Jaca-mole, Jaca, Jacquier, Jak, Jakobo, Jangphong, Jaquero, Kaathal, Kadal, Kaihal, Kanoon, Kanthal, Katahal, Katahar, Kathal ke beej, Kathal, Katthar, Khanum, Khanun, Khatal, Khnaor, Kifenensi, Kos, Kothal, Kulu jaka, Lamasa, Lamkhong, Lamkhuang, Langka, Long di biu, Ma mi, Mak lang, Makmi, Malasa, Ma mi, Mfenesi mfuu, Mfenesi, Mfenesi, Mi duo luo, Miiz hnang, Miiz, Mit, Moe ulu initia, Mung-dung, Murasabalam, Nangka, Ndung, Nongko, Pala, Pana, Panasa chettu, Pandicho, Panwe, Peignai, Peinne, Phanas, Pilaka, Pilapalam, Plavu, Podushi, Pohon nangka, Polos, Rima, Sakkeyo, Tak bela, Te mai rekereke, Thaiphlung, Thaipung, Theibong, Tshackka, Tsjaka, Uto ni idia, Varaka, Yaca, Yakobo,
Synonyms :
Artocarpus brasiliensis Gomez;
Artocarpus heterophylla Lam.;
Artocarpus integer auct.;
Artocarpus integra Merr.;
Artocarpus integrifolius auct. non L.f.;
Artocarpus philippensis Lamarck;
Artocarpus maxima Blanco;
Polyphema jaca Lour.;
Saccus arboreus major Rumph.;
Artocarpus altilis - Breadfruit
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds, Leaves, Flowers, Vegetable
A large tree up to 20-26 m in height. The trunk can be 6 m tall before branching. The trunk can be up to 1 m across. It is an evergreen tree but can lose its leaves in dry weather. The leaves are large and vary in the amount the leaves are divided. They can be entire or divided into 5 to 11 lobes. The leaves are bright green on the upper surface with yellow veins and are pale and dull on the under surface. They have very small stiff hairs underneath. Male and female flowers occur on the same tree. The male flowers are cylindrical spikes which droop and are 12-30 cm long. The female flowers are grouped in a round head. The flower head develops into the compound fruit. The fruit are large and green. They can be 20 cm across. Seeded kinds have spines, and seedless kinds have a more smooth surface. Seeded, small seeded, and non seeded types occur. There are a number of cultivars of each. Seed can be 2 cm across and with darker lines.
Acrocomia aculeata - Gru-Gru Palm
Edible Portion: Kernels, Sap, Fruit, Nuts, Seeds, Cabbage, Young Leaves, Palm Heart, Oil,
A single stemmed palm. It is spiny on the trunk. It grows 12 m tall. The trunk is stout and grey. It is 30 cm across. The leaves are feather like. They are 1-2 m long. The fronds are dark green but paler underneath due to whitish hairs. They have spines. The flowering stalk is about 1.5 m long. The bract is woolly and forms a sheath. The flowers are yellow. Single plants can produce fertile seed. The fruit are round and 5 cm across. They are greenish yellow. The flesh is thin and firm. It is orange. The skin splits when fully ripe.
Agave americana - Agave
Edible Portion: Flower Stalk, Seeds, Shoots, Drink, Sap, Pith, Vegetable
A perennial plant up to 7.5 m tall and 2.5 m wide. It does not have a trunk and has suckers. The plants have a very sharp and tough spine at the tip of each leaf. The leaves are grey-green and occur in rings at the base. There are spines on the edges of the leaves. There are 5-8 mm long and 2-6 cm apart. The leaves are word shaped and 1-2 m long. The flowers are tubular and yellow-green. These occur on stems 6 m high.
Ananas comosus - Pineapple
Edible Portion: Fruit, Shoots, Vegetable
A perennial herb with a rosette of long, thick, spiky leaves up to 1 m high & spreading 1-1.5 m. The leaves are arranged in spirals. Some kinds have thorns along the edges of the leaves. The plant produces suckers both near the base of the stem and also higher up the stem near the fruit. These are called slips and these, and the suckers, are broken off and used for planting. The main plant dies after producing a fruit but the suckers keep growing. The plant produces a flower and fruit at the end. The fruit is made up of about 150 berry-like fruitlets that are almost fused together. There is a small crown of leaves on top of the fruit. The fruit can be 25 cm long and weigh 0.5-4 kg. The two main kinds of pineapples are the rough leafed variety which has spines on the leaves and produces a smaller but sweeter fruit. The other kind is the smooth leaf kind with spineless leaves and larger fruit. There are several cultivated varieties.
Annona muricata - Soursop
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves, Vegetable
It is a low bushy tree 8-10 m high. The leaves are long (14 cm) and narrow (4 cm). The leaves are thick and slightly shiny on top. The flowers are large (2-3 cm), rounded and produced on short stems on the branches. They occur singly, or in groups of three. The flowers have two layers of thick fleshy petals. The fruit are 10-30 cm long. The fruit is spiny and the flesh is juicy. Many black seeds are embedded in the white flesh. Fruit are often distorted due to only some of the ovules being fertilised. Beetles are normally thought to do the pollinating. This means fruit end up heart shaped when unevenly pollinated. The flesh of the fruit is white. Several kinds with different sweetness, shape and juiciness occur.
Annona reticulata - Bullocks Heart
Edible Portion: Fruit
A small tree up to 7.5 m tall. It has several branches near the base. Trees loose their leaves at some times of the year. New shoots have short brown hairs but older wood is smooth and shiny. The leaves are long and spear shaped with short leaf stalks. Around the edge of the leaf is a clear edge. The leaves smell when crushed. Flowers are greenish yellow. They occur in groups where the leaves join the stalk. Flowers occur on new wood growth. The fruit are reddish brown in colour and 10-12 cm across.There is a fine hexagonal pattern over the fruit. Inside there are large brown seeds. The fruit are edible but the seeds are not eaten.
Annona squamosa - Sweetsop
Edible Portion: Fruit
A bushy deciduous tree up to 6 m high. It has irregular spreading branches. The leaves are oblong and narrow, often 12 cm long by 4 cm wide. The leaves have fine hairs underneath. The leaves are dull green and smell when crushed. The flowers droop or hang from branches either singly or in groups of 2 or 3. The flowers are greenish colour. The fruit are 8-10 cm across and greenish in colour. The fruit is covered with round fleshy scales which drop off as the fruit ripens. Inside the fruit are several shiny black seeds about 1.5 cm long. The fruit flesh is white and soft.
Argemone mexicana - Mexican Poppy
Edible Portion: Leaves, Caution, Vegetable, Seed, Stem
A spreading clump forming annual herb. It grows up to 1 m high and spreads to 30-40 cm across. The leaves do not have leaf stalks. The leaves have a green and white pattern. The leaves have deep irregular teeth along the edge. The flower has a very short stalk. It is at the end of the plant. It is yellow and has 6 petals. The fruit is a capsule and is prickly. This contains round, pitted, brown seeds which are sticky.
Attalea crassispatha - Carossier
Edible Portion: Seeds, Fruit
A tall palm. It grows 20 m high. The trunk can be 25-35 cm wide. The crown is nearly rounded. There are 15-19 leaves. The leaves are 3.1-4 m long. There are regularly spaced leaflets. They grow in a single flat plane. The flowering stalk is borne among the leaves. They are crowded among the leaf bases. The fruit have one seed. They are oval and 3.5-4 cm long by 2 cm wide. They are reddish.