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
819 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 3000 - 3000) Previous | Next
Coffea arabica - Arabian Coffee
Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves, Herb, Spice, Leaves - tea
An evergreen shrub. It grows to 3-5 m high and spreads to 3 m across. The stem is slender and the branches are flexible. The leaves are glossy green, oblong, and tapering towards the tip. They occur opposite each other and have easy to see veins. The leaves are 10-15 cm long by 5 cm wide. The flowering stalks grow from these side branches and have 1-4 flowers. The flowers are white, with 5 petals. They have a scent. Flowers occur in clusters in the axils of leaves. The fruit are green but change to red when ripe. They contain 2 seeds. The seeds are grey-green. They are about 12 mm long. They are flattened on the side where they are pressed together. Coffee seeds are commonly called "beans".
Sesamum indicum - Sesame
Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves, Spice, Seeds - Oil, Vegetable
A small upright plant. It is an annual plant. It is erect and much branched. It grows 1-2 m tall. The stem is stout and 4 sided. It is furrowed along its length. It is densely covered with glandular hairs. The leaves are fine and downy. They vary in shape. The lower leaves have long stalks and are spear shaped often with lobes or a toothed edge. The leaf stalks are 3-11 cm long. The leaf blade is 4-20 cm long by 2-10 cm wide. Upper leaves are narrow and oblong. They are 0.5-2.5 cm wide. The flowers are pink and white. They occur in the axils of upper leaves. They occur either on their own or in groups or 2 or 3. They can be white, pink, purplish and with yellow spots and stripes. The fruit can be smooth or rough and there are 2 chambers in the capsule. The fruit are brown or purple. They are oblong and deeply grooved. The seeds are small and oval. They are 3 mm by 1.5 mm and vary in colour from white, yellow, grey, red, brown or black. The fully ripe pods burst open.
Vigna radiata
Edible Portion: Root, Seeds, Pods, Leaves, Vegetable
A herb. It is an upright hairy bean plant which can be 1 m tall. It has many branches. The leaves have 3 leaflets and are dark green. The leaves are on long leaf stalks. There are oval stipules at the base of the leaf. Flowers are pale yellow and small. They occur in bunches of 10-20 on the ends of long hairy flower stalks. Pods are black and straight. They do not have a beak. Pods contain 10-20 seeds which are usually green or golden yellow. They are smaller than black gram. The beans can be black. They have a flat white hilum. There are 2,000 varieties.
A tropical and subtropical plant. The plant will grow from sea level up to probably 1,600 m in the tropics. It is drought resistant but can't stand water-logging. Plants are damaged by frost. They cannot stand salinity. Rainfall at flowering is detrimental. It requires a deep soil. Both short day and long day kinds occur. It can grow where annual temperatures are from 8°C to 28°C. It can also grow at high temperatures of 30-36°C. It can tolerate a pH from 4.3-8.1. In Nepal it grows up to 1000 m altitude. It suits a drier climate. It can grow in arid places. It suits hardiness zones 10-11. In Yunnan.
Common names : Green gram bean, (Mung bean), Bechin, Borao, Cherupayaru, Dau-tam, Dau-xanh, Fore-mungu, Hesaru, Imposo, Kakhoma, Look dow, Mag, Mbweso, Ming bean, Moog, Mphodza, Mposo, Mudga, Mug, Mun, Mun-eta, Mung, Namurovo, Ndengu, Pasi-payaru, Passara, Passippayaru, Patchapesalu, Pe-di, Pe-di-sein, Pe-di-wa, Pe-nauk, Putcha-payaru, Sbaiha, Suna, To-pi-si, Uthulu,
Synonyms :
Adzukia radiata (L.) Ohwi.;
Phaseolus abyssinicus Savi;
Phaseolus aureus Roxb.;
Phaseolus hirtus Retz.;
Phaseolus radiatus L. ;
Phaseolus radiatus L. var. aurea (Roxb.)
Phaseolus radiatus L. var. typicus Prain;
Rudua aurea (Roxb.) Maek.;
Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek var. sublobata (Roxb.) Verdc.;
Vigna aureus (Roxb.) Hepper;
Cymbopogon nardus - Lemon Grass
Edible Portion: Leaves, Leaves - Tea
A grass. It is a perennial herb. It grows 0.8-1.5 m tall. It forms tufts. The leaves are 30-100 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. The
flowering shoot is 30 cm long and branched.
Other names :
Bundo, Ceylon citronella, Citronella grass, Ganda-hanchi-khaddi, Ganjni, Hingwe, Kaingbyu-mi, Kamachipillu, Kamakher, Kamakshi-pulla, Kamkshi-kasuvu, Khavai, Lucungwa, Majjige hullu, Myet-hmwe, Sabalin-hmwe, Seriwang, Sijega, Singu-myet,Slek krei, Sloek krey, Usadhana,
Andropogon confertiflorus Steud.;
Andropogon nardus Linn.;
Cymbopogon validus (Stapf) Burtt Davy;
and others
Myroxylon balsamum - Balsam of Tolu, Balsam Tree
Edible Portion: Bark - Flavouring, Sap - Flavouring
A tall tree. It can be evergreen or deciduous. It grows 35 m tall. It is stiffly erect. Large trees can have small buttresses. The leaves are mid green and have leaflets along the stalk. There are 3-13 leaflets. These are oval and 9 cm long. They are glossy. The flowers are small and white. They are in hairy racemes. They have a sweet scent. The fruit is a pod 7.5 cm long. It is tear drop shaped and winged. It has one seed.
Arachis glabrata - Perennial Peanut
Edible Portion: Flowers
A herb. It has a dense mat of rhizomes 3-5 mm across. There is a deep woody taproot. The stems can be erect or lie over. They are 5-35 cm long and 2-3 mm across. They can be hollow. The leaves have 4 leaflets. They are 4 cm long by 2 cm wide. The flowers are in the axils of the leaves and do not have stalks. They are tube shaped and 10 cm long. They are yellow to orange. The fruit are oval and 1 cm long by 5-6 mm wide.
Artemisia annua - Sweet Wormwood, Sweet Annie
Edible Portion: Leaves - Flavouring
A large annual herb. The stems are upright and often red. It can grow 1.6 m tall. The leaves are finely divided with leaflets along the stalk and teeth along the edge. The flowers are small and yellow and are in
Atriplex canescens - Four-Winged Saltbush
Edible Portion: Leaves, Seeds
A shrub. It grows 1.5 m high and spreads 1.5 m wide. There is a dense mass of stems. The leaves are narrow and have blunt tips. They have a mealy white appearance. The flowers are small and yellow. The fruit are papery and have 4 wings. They are crowded into short spikes.
Avena nuda - Hull-Less Oat, Naked Oat, Sand Oat, Peelcorn
Edible Portion: Seeds, Cereal
A grass. There are several named cultivated varieties. It grows each year from seeds. It grows 45-90 cm tall. The leaves are 20 cm long by 3-7 mm wide. The flower panicle is 25 cm long. The spikelets are 1-3 cm long. The grain is 6 mm long.
Bixa orellana - Bixa
Edible Portion: Seeds, Spice
An evergreen tree. It grows to 10 m high and spreads to 3 m across. The stem is erect and it is intricately branched giving the tree a crown which is spreading and graceful. The leaf stalks are long. The leaves are alternate and simple. They are broad and heart shaped. They taper to the tip and have long leaf stalks. The flowers occur in a branched flower stalk. Several of these occur at the ends of branches. The flowers are open and cup-shaped. They can be pink or purple and 5 cm across. The fruit are hairy or bristly and heart shaped capsules. They are 3 cm long. They have a soft red skin. They can be yellow. When they are ripe they turn brown and split open. The capsules contain many dark red seeds.
