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 5000 - 5000) Previous | Next
Olea europaea - Olive
Edible Portion: Fruit, Herb, Spice, Manna, Leaves, Oil
A medium sized evergreen tree. It grows to 16 m high and can spread to 10 m wide. The trunk is often gnarled and twisted. The leaves are greyish-green. They are feather shaped and grow opposite each other. Leaves are replaced every two or three years. The flowers are small and cream coloured. They are on long stems in the axils of leaves but are hidden by the leaves. Some flowers contain both male and female parts while others are male only. Pollination is by wind but most olives are self pollinated. Fruit set is better with cross pollination and some varieties can only be cross pollinated. The fruit is small and green or black and oily. The shape, size and colour of fruit vary with variety.
Opuntia ficus-indica - Sweet Prickly Pear, Indian Fig
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds, Stems, Vegetable
A tree like cactus. It grows to 2-5 m tall. It has many branches. It is spreading and bluish-green. It has succulent pads. The joints are 20-40 cm long by 10-20 cm wide. The spines are 2-3 cm long. Spineless kinds also occur. The flowers are large and yellow. They grow on the borders of the pads. The flowers open in the daytime. They are 70-100 mm long. The filaments are pale yellow. The fruit are barrel shaped. They are 50-90 mm long. They turn yellow when ripe. There are several seeds. There are several cultivated varieties.
Passiflora tarminiana - Banana Passion Flower
Edible Portion: Fruit
The flowers are large and pink and hang down. The fruit are banana like.
It is a temperate plant. Tasmania Herbarium
Persea americana - Avocado, West Indian Avocado
Edible Portion: Fruit, Vegetable
A small to medium sized tree. It grows 8-10 m high. Trees can grow to 25 m high. The leaf stalk is 1.5-5 cm long. Leaves are entire, oval and 5-40 cm long. Flowers are greenish, small and on the ends of branches. Clusters of flowers may contain 200 -300 flowers. Normally only 1-3 fruit develop from each cluster. The fruit is pear shaped or round. It can be 7-20 cm long. The fruit are greenish-yellow with some red coloration. The fruit has greenish yellow flesh and a large round seed. There are 3 named races - West Indian, Guatemalan and Mexican.
Phoenix dactylifera - Date Palm
Edible Portion: Fruit, Cabbage, Sap, Palm Heart, Flowers, Nuts-Oil
A tall unbranched evergreen palm. It grows to 30 m high. The trunk can be 30-40 cm across. The trunk is covered with fibres and has the bases of old leaves along it. It produces suckers on the trunk and at the base. The fronds are grey-green. The leaves are 6-7 m long. The leaflets are 20-40 cm long. They are spaced in two irregular rows along each side of the stalk. Male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. The flowers spadices are yellow-brown. There are 1,000-1,500 fruit is a cluster. The fruit is small, brown and very sweet. It has one grooved seed. The fruit is 2.5-5 cm long. When ripe the fruit is dull yellow and the flesh soft. The skins of the fruit darken when dried. Strands of fruit have 25-35 dates. The fruit are edible.
Phoenix reclinata - Senegal Date Palm
Edible Portion: Cabbage, Fruit, Sap, Seeds - Coffee, Palm Heart, Vegetable, Bud
A palm. It can be a stemless suckering bush or have a ring of suckers around the base. It often grows 3-6 m high but can be 10 -25 m high. It can also be a many stemmed clump. The old stems hang over then curve upwards near the end. The trunk can be 30 cm across. The leaves are long and hang over. They are feather-shaped and 3-4 m long. There are up to 50 leaflets on each side of the leaf stalk and these are narrow and pointed. The lowermost leaflets are reduced to spines. The flowers are of separate sexes on separate trees. The male and female flowers are borne in long bunches. They are small and cream coloured. The male flowers are cup-shaped and the female flowers are round. The female flowers produce yellow fruit. The fruit are oval and 1-1.5 cm long. The flesh is edible when ripe.
Phoenix roebelenii - Dwarf Date Palm, Pygmy Date Palm, Roebelen Date, Roebelin Palm,
Edible Portion: Fruit
A small palm. The trunk is slender and it grows about 2 m tall. It has a single trunk but forms clusters in the wild. The trunk is 10 cm across. It is covered with old leaf bases. The fronds are dark green and arch over. They form a feathery crown. The lower ones hang down. They are about 1.5 m long. The leaves are spiny. The leaflets are narrow and shiny green. They are evenly spaced and hang down. Plants are separately male and female. Both are needed for fruit. The flower stalks are produced among the leaves. The flowers are creamy yellow. The fruit are 12 mm long. The fruit are edible. They have a thin layer of edible flesh.
Phoenix sylvestris - India Date, Silver Date Palm
Edible Portion: Fruit, Sap, Cabbage, Inner Stem, Shoots, Palm Heart
A tall palm. It is unbranched up to 15 m high. The trunk is rough with persistent leaf bases. The trunk is 60-75 cm across. The crown is thick and half rounded to rounded. The leaves are grey-green or covered with a waxy layer. They are 2-3 m long. They have a spiky appearance. They are divided into leaflets along the stalk. The leaflets are 20-25 cm long and with a sharp point. The flowering spikes are enclosed by boat shaped bracts. They are 60-75 cm long. They occur between the leaves. The male flowers are yellowish-white. They have a scent. The female flowers are greenish with a brown tinge. The fruit are yellow when ripe. They are edible. Male and female flowers are on separate plants. Both are needed for fruit.
Phyllanthus acidus - Grosella, Otaheite Gooseberry
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves, Vegetable
A medium sized tree. It grows up to 2-10 m tall. It loses its leaves during the year. The leaves are smooth and 20-40 cm long and divided. The leaflets are light green and rounded at the base and pointed at the tip. The leaflets are alternate and pointed at the tip, rounded at the base and 2 to 7 cm long. Nodules develop on branches where leaves have fallen. Leaves tend to be clustered near the ends of branches. Flowers develop from these. Flowers are small and pink and crowded in clusters from these nodules. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. The fruit is medium sized, with 6 lobes, pale green but yellow when mature and sour. They are 1 to 1.5 cm across. The surface of the skin is smooth but the fruit are slightly ridged. It contains a bony hard grooved stone with 6-8 seeds.
Phyllanthus emblica - Emblic, Myrobalan
Edible Portion: Seeds, Fruit, Leaves, Flower Petals, Tea
A small deciduous tree. It grows 2-20 m tall. The trunk is bent and has many branches. The branches are spreading. The bark is greyish-brown and peels off in flakes. The leaves are pale green and feathery. New leaves are pinkish. The leaves have short stalks. The leaves are 1-1.5 cm long by 0.2-0.3 cm wide. The leaves are arranged on slender branches to appear like feathery compound leaves. They are like tamarind leaves. Male and female flowers occur on different trees. The flowers are small and yellow. They are densely clustered on the branches. The fruit are small and yellow to green. They are 2 cm across and edible. They have 6-8 faint lines along them. They are fleshy and edible. They are sour. Some improved kinds have fruit 8 -9 cm across. The seeds are 3 sided.
