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
948 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 5000 - 5000) Previous | Next
Aegle marmelos - Bael Fruit, Bengal Quince
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves Condiment, Spice, Vegetable
A medium sized tree. It loses its leaves. It grows to 3-6-12 m tall and spreads 2 m across. The stem is erect and thorny. The leaves are green and with 3 leaflets and generally sword shaped. They are aromatic. The flowers are yellowish-white. They have a strong sweet smell. They contain both sexes and occur in clusters. The fruit is large and with a hard shell about 3 mm thick. It is 8-10 cm across. The fruit is yellow-green when ripe. The pulp is reddish or orange. The pulp of the fruit is edible. The fruit is made up of small cells (about 15) each with woolly seeds.
Annona macroprophyllata - Ilama
Edible Portion: Fruit
A small deciduous tree. It grows to 7-8 m tall. It has 2 kinds of leaf. One is the broadly oval smooth leaf with a leaf stalk. The others are like round bracts without a leaf stalk and these fall off. These grow at the base of the small branches. Under the leaves, fruit and branches has a powdery appearance. The flowers are maroon coloured and 2-3 cm across. There are 3 outer petals. These are 2-5 cm long. There are 3 small inner petals. The fruit are large and pink or white. They are 12 cm long. They have a thin skin. Fruit vary in colour and texture.
Baccaurea ramiflora - Burmese-Grape
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves, Flowers
An evergreen tree. It grows 10-15 m tall. The trunk is 20-30 cm across. The branches have velvety hairs pressed against them. The leaves are broadly sword shaped and taper to a very short tip. The leaves are oval and 10-20 cm long by 4-9 cm wide. The leaf stalks are 1-8 cm long. The leafy growth at the base of the leaves (stipule) is sword shaped and with a fringe on the edge. The flowering stalks occur on the branches and the trunk. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. The male flowering stalks are 3-8 cm long. Female flowering stalks are 14 cm long. Fruit are oval and about 3-4 cm across. The fruit do not have hairs. They ripen to pinkish or bright red.
Bactris gasipaes - Peach Palm
Edible Portion: Fruit, Flower Shoots, Cabbage, Palm Heart, Vegetable, Seed
A tall slender palm with thorny trunk and suckers at the base. It often has between 1 and 13 stems. The stems are straight and un-branched. They are 6-24 m tall, 12-26 cm in diameter, with nodes 2-9 cm long and internodes 7-27 cm long at breast height. The canopy has 10-30 pinnate leaves which are spineless. The petiole-sheath is 49-179 cm long, the rachis is 179-396 cm long, and has 180-386 leaflets. The leaflets are twice forked and leaflets are 58-115 cm long, 3-6 cm wide. Flowers are separately male and female on the same stalk of the same palm. Female flowers are irregularly arranged among male flowers. Fruit are orange when ripe. and about 5-8 cm across. They have yellow oily flesh. Fruit without seeds often occur.
Bunchosia argentea - Peanut Butter Fruit, Silvery Bunchosia
Edible Portion: Fruit
A small tree or shrub. It grows to 10 m tall. It forms a dense cone shaped crown. The leaves are in pairs and have wavy edges. They are simple and rich green. They are 10 cm long. They taper to the base. The flowers are yellow and showy. They are in long racemes. The petals have wavy edges. The fruit is oval and fleshy. The fruit are small and orange with a sticky pulp. They are 2.5 cm across. They are edible. They are cream coloured and have the consistency and texture of peanut butter.
Butia capitata - Jelly Palm, Pindo Palm
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds - Oil, Stem
A small palm. It grows up to 5 m tall. It has 40-50 leaves. The trunk has a pattern from the old leaf stubs. The trunk is stout and woody. The leaves hang over and are blue-green. They are 1.3-2 m long and the leaflets form a V shape. Along the edge of the leaf stalk there are sharp spines. The leaflets are 0.8 m long and 2-3 cm wide. The flowers are small and cream. They are 3-8 mm long. They occur as many small flowers along a 1 m long flower stalk. Separate male and female flowers occur along the same stalk. Pollination is by wind and insect. The fruit are yellow to orange and 2-3 cm across. They occur in bunches. The fruit are round with one seed inside. The fruit are edible.
Carissa macrocarpa - Natal Plum, Large Num-Num, Carissa
EdiblePortion: Fruit
A small evergreen shrub. It grows up to 5 m tall. It branches densely and has many forked spines. They are usually in pairs at the top of shoots. The branches are smooth and light brown. branches exude milky latex when cut. The leaves are produced opposite one another. They are simple leaves with short stalks. The leaves are oval and shiny. The top surface is dark green and the lower surface is paler green. The leaf has a thorn like tip. The flowers are in clusters at the ends of twigs. The flowers are 5 cm across and white. They have a sweet smell. The flowers a like tubes and the petals spread out. The fruit are oval red berries. They are 2.5-5 cm long. They are produced on the tips of young shoots. Seeds are flat and papery. The number of seeds varies. The fruit are edible.
Ceratonia siliqua - Carob
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves, Seeds, Spice
An evergreen tree. It grows 12-15 m tall. It spread to 4 m across. It has a dark green round crown of compound leaves. These almost hide the trunk. The trunk is short, erect and thick. The leaves are leathery. The tree flowers in autumn. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. They grow in flower clusters on the previous year's growth. The flowers are small and red. The pods develop in spring. The flat pods are 30 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. They are thick, brown rough and leathery. The seed are constant in size and were used for the carat weight (200 mg). There are several cultivated varieties.
Chrysobalanus icaco - Cocoplum, Icaco
Edible Portion: Fruit, Kernel, Seeds, Oil, Nuts
A shrub or small evergreen tree. It grows 1-6 m tall. The branches are long, flexible and whip-like. The leaves are evenly spaced and leathery. They are rounded and stiffly erect. They are simple and rich green. The flowers are small and greenishwhite. They are in erect clusters in the axils of the leaves. The fruit is smooth and white, yellow, red, black or purple. It has a cotton like pulp. The fruit contains a large nut-like edible seed with 5 ridges.
Citrofortunella microcarpa x - Calamondin Orange, Panama Orange
Edible Portion: Fruits
Probably a natural hybrid of Citrus reticulata and Fortunella sp. A small citrus tree. It is 2-8 m tall. It is slightly thorny. The leaves are smaller than most citrus. They are 4-7 cm long. They are evergreen and alternate. They are broadly oval and dark green and glossy on the upper surface and yellowish-green underneath. The flowers have five oval and pure white petals. They are 2.5 cm across. The flowers occur singly or on small clusters or 2-3 in the axils of leaves near the ends of stems. The fruit resemble a tangerine. They are about 4 cm across. Fruit are sweet, juicy and acidic. There are 6-10 segments and the pulp is orange. They can be seedless or have small, greenish, oval and pointed seeds.
