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
793 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 5000 - 5000) Previous | Next
Cupaniopsis anacardioides - Tuckeroo, Beach Tamarind, Carrotwood
Edible Portion: Fruit
An evergreen tree. It grows 8-15 m high. It can spread 5-15 m across. It has a dense rounded crown. The trunk is smooth and pale grey. The inner bark is orange. The leaves have leaflets along the stalk. The leaves are 10-20 cm long with 2-6 pairs of opposite leaflets. The leaflets are leathery and dark green. They are oblong with a rounded tip. They are 7-10 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. The flowers are greenish-white. The fruit occur in long chains. They are orange. They are leathery and have 3-6 lobes. They are 1-2 cm across. The seeds are black. They have a reddish attachment.
Daemonorops jenkinsiana - Major Jenkins' Rattan Palm
Edible Portion: Shoots, Palm Heart, Cabbage, Fruit
A rattan or vine. It forms dense clumps. It can be climbing and 25 m long. The stems can be 6 cm across. The leaf sheaths are yellowish green with brown to red hairs. The leafy stalks are 3 m long. There are 55-100 narrow leaflets on each side. The leaves have stout spines. There are several leaflets. The fruit are round or oval and yellowish brown. They are 2 cm long and 2 cm across.
Diospyros kaki - Persimmon, Japanese Persimmon, Kaki
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves - Tea, Seeds - Coffee
A tree up to 12 m high which loses its leaves each year. The branches tend to hang over and they have a dense covering of leaves. Leaves are long and pointed (10 x 6 cm). The leaves are dark green and shiny on top and lighter under. Young leaves are pale green and old leaves turn yellow or red before they fall. Male and female flowers are normally on separate tree. Therefore pollinator trees often help. Sometimes male and female flowers occur on the same tree. Fruit are 7 cm across, with flattened ends and orange with a thin skin. It can have a few large seeds inside or be seedless. Pollination and seeding influence flavour and fruit ripeness. There are many varieties. Fuya cultivated varieties are eaten when firm and Hachiya cultivated varieties when very ripe
Diospyros virginiana - American Persimmon
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves - Tea, Seeds - Coffee
A medium sized deciduous tree. It can be 30 m tall. In cultivation it is often only 6-9 m high. The bark is dark brown to black. It cracks into small squares. The leaves are alternate. The leaves are oval and 12 cm long by 7.5 cm across. They are pointed and do not have teeth. The flowers are separately male and female and on separate plants. They are bell shaped and about 1 cm long. The flowers are cream. The male flowers occur in clusters and the female ones occur singly. The fruit are small to medium sized and sweet. They are 3-4.5 cm across. They are green and ripen to reddish yellow or orange. They are sweet and edible.
Dovyalis abyssinica - Dovyalis (Abyssinian), African Gooseberry
Edible Portion: Fruit
A medium sized shrub. It grows up to 10 m tall. It has many branches. The trunk is up to 20 cm thick. Young branches can have spines. The bark is grey brown. There are many raised lenticels. The leaves are oval and slender. They are 2.5-9 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. The edges of the leaves can be wavy or jagged. Plants are separately male and female. Flowers are green. Male flowers are covered in soft hairs. They are in clusters in the axils of leaves. Female flowers occur singly. The fruit are small and orange. They are round and have pale dots. They are up to 2 cm across. The flesh is yellow. They are very acid and have a strong smell. The seeds are few and flat.
Dovyalis abyssinica x Dovyalis hebecarpa - Florida Gooseberry, Tropical Apricot, Florida
Edible Portion: Fruit
A natural hybrid between Diospyros abyssinica x Dovyalis hebecarpa. A large spreading shrub. It grows 7 m high. The branches are long and drooping. It has few thorns. The leaves are deep green and densely grouped together. They are 7.5-10 cm long. The flowers are greenish-yellow. They are small and have no petals. The male flowers have long yellow stamens. The fruit are round and 3 cm across. The flesh is yellow-orange to deep red.
Dovyalis caffra - Key Apple
Edible Portion: Fruit
A spiny shrub. It grows up to 6-9 m tall. It has long straight spines on the trunk and branches. They are about 3 cm long. The bark is white when young. The leaves are simple and carried one after another along the stem. The edges of the leaves roll back slightly. The leaves are dark green and glossy. Plants are separately male and female. The female flowers are 3 mm long and light green. They occur as 1-3 together in the axils of leaves. The male flowers are in dense short clusters in the axils of leaves. The fruit are medium sized and yellow. They are round and 2.5-4 cm across. The skin is tough. The fruit are edible.
Elaeis guineensis - African Oil Palm
Edible Portion: Seeds, Nuts, Cabbage, Fruit, Palm Heart, Sap, Vegetable, Seeds - Oil
An unbranched palm with a stout erect stem. The stem is rough due to the leaf bases which remain attached. It grows to 20-30 m tall. The trunk is about 75 cm across. The crown consists of about 40 open leaves. These hang downwards. The leaves develop from the bud as a tightly rolled shoot which later opens. The palm crown spreads 5-9 m across. Casual roots grow from the lower 1 m of the base of the trunk. Many roots also grow just under the soil and spread out for 20 m around the palm. The leaves are about 7.5 m long. The leaves have spines along the leaf stalk. These leaves are made up of many leaflets (100-160 pairs). These are slender, long and thin and rich green. These are held at different levels along the midrib (Almost two rows). The flowers are of one sex only. The male flowers occur with a spiny tip. The female flowers are on long stalks. They are 30-45 cm long. The fruit is a large round bunch of small fruits. These are 4 cm long by 2 cm across. There can be 200 fruit in a bunch.
Enterolobium cyclocarpum - Earpod Tree, Mexican Walnut Tree, Pitchwood
Edible Portion: Seeds, Pods, Fruit, Vegetable
A deciduous tree. It grows up to 30 m high. It has a large stocky trunk. It has small buttresses. The branches are heavy. The leaves are twice divided and feather like. They are deep green and there are 24 pairs of small leaflets and 50 larger leaflets. The flowers are small and greenish white. They occur in heads 1.5 cm across. The fruit is an ear shaped pod. It is 10 cm across and flat and coiled. It has several seeds.
Eugenia brasiliensis - Grumichama, Brazil-Cherry
Edible Portion: Fruit
A tree up to 15 m tall. It is a small compact tree. It is smaller in cooler areas (6m). The bark is grey. It has glossy leaves. They are opposite and oval to oblong. The leaves are 8-10 cm long and 3-5 cm wide. New leaves are a wine red colour. The leaf stalks are 3-4 mm long. It has small white flowers. The flowers occur singly in the axils of leaves. They are 2.5 cm wide. Clusters of fruit hang down on long stems. The fruit are round and dark purple. They can also be yellow. The flesh is soft. The fruit are 2-3 cm across and purplish black in colour. There is one large seed inside.
