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
801 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 5000 - 5000) Previous | Next
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.
Piper sarmentosum - Lolot Pepper, Vegetable Pepper
Edible Portion: Leaves, Fruit, Spice
A creeper with an erect stem. It is 50 cm high. The creeper or vine can be 10 m long. There are very fine powdery hairs when young. The leaves are finer and more tender than Piper betel. They are brighter green with distinct veins. The leaf stalk is 2-5 cm long. The leaf blades are larger near the base. They are 7-14 cm long by 6-13 cm wide. The leaf base is rounded or heart shaped and tapers to a short tip. The fertile stem stick upwards. The spikes are opposite the leaves. The spikes hang downwards. The male spikes are white and 1.5-2.5 cm long by 2-3 mm wide. The female spikes are 2-5 cm long by 8 mm wide in fruit. The fruit is 4 angled and 2.5-3 mm across. The fruit is a single seeded berry.
Plumeria alba - White Champa, White Frangipani
Edible Portion: Flowers, Fruit
A shrub 2-8 m tall. It has milky latex. The leaves are heavy with deep veins. They roll inwards. The flowers are large and white. They are fragrant.
Plumeria rubra - Plumeria Rubra
Edible Portion: Flowers, Flowers - Tea, Fruit, Seeds
A deciduous shrub or small tree. It grows 2-8 m tall. It has an irregular shape. The leaves fall off during the year. The leaves grow in spirals at the tips of the branches. They are smooth and broadly sword shaped and taper to both ends. The veins are distinct and straight. The flowers are red, yellow or pink. They occur in upright clusters at the tips of branches. They have a scent. The fruit are pods. They occur in pairs. They are 12-30 cm long. The seeds have wings.
Pouteria lucuma - Lucmo, Lucuma, Eggfruit
Edible Portion: Fruit
A medium sized tree 8-17 m high. It can spread 6-10 m across. It has many branches. The leaves are alternate. They are oblong or sword shaped. They are 25 cm long by 10 cm across. The fruit are round or oval and green. The pulp is bright yellow. There are some named cultivated varieties.
Pouteria sapota - Sapote, Mamey sapote
Fruit
Edible parts - Fruit, Kernel, Seeds, Nuts
A large tree. It grows 20-45 m tall. The trunk can be 1 m across. There can be buttresses. The branches are thick. There is a dense covering of leaves. The leaves are oval or sword shaped. They are towards the ends of the branches. They are arranged in spirals. The leaf stalk is 2-5 cm long. The leaf blade is 10-30 cm long by 4-10 cm wide. The flowers are small and almost without stalks. They grow in large numbers under branches and along leafless branches. They are in clusters of 6-15 in the axils of fallen leaves. Each flower has 5 true and 5 false stamens. The fruit is large and reddish brown. It has a rough, hard skin. The fruit can be 8-25 cm long. The flesh can be red, orange or greyish. Many varieties occur. They can be long or rounded. The amount of fibre in the flesh varies. The fruit contain one or more seeds. The seeds are large and have a sharp end. They are dark brown and smooth and shiny on one end.
A tropical plant. It is native from Mexico to Central America. It does best in the hot humid tropical lowlands. It prefers a rainfall above 1900 mm per year. They are susceptible to frost. It cannot tolerate low temperatures. Temperatures between 25°-28°C are best. They cannot tolerate drought. It grows naturally at low elevations in Central America. Trees grow from sea level to 1400 m altitude. A distinct dry season limits the fruiting season. It suits hardiness zones 10-11.
Prunus avium - Sweet Cherry, Bird Cherry, Wild Cherry
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds, Leaves - flavouring, Sap
A medium sized tree. It grows to 10-20 m high. It is spreading and loses its leaves during the year. The bark is silver grey and peels in circular strips. The leaves are alternate. The leaves are bronze when they open, turn dark green then change to crimson in autumn. The leaves are oval and double toothed. The upper surface is dull dark green. They are hairy underneath where the veins join. The leaf stalk is red and grooved. The flowers are pink and white. They occur in small clusters. The fruit are small and red-black when ripe. They are 25 mm across. They are sweet and juicy. There are at least 1,000 different forms of sweet cherry.
Psidium friedrichsthalianum - Costa Rica Guava
Edible Portion: Fruit
A small tree. It grows 3-4 m tall. The branches are angular and hairy. They are reddish. The leaves are papery and 4-10 cm long. There are 8 pairs of secondary veins. The flowers occur singly. They are white and have a scent. The fruit are a medium size and yellow with soft acid pulp. They are like a guava. They have many seeds. The fruit are 6-7 cm across.
Psidium guineense - Brazilian Guava
Edible Portion: Fruit
A small shrub or tree. It grows 1-8 m high. The trunk is 2-10 cm across. It has an appearance like a strawberry guava tree. The leaves are opposite and simple. They are 8-10 cm long by 4-6 cm wide. The flowering stalks have 1-3 flowers. The flower stalk is 1-1.5 cm long and large and hairy. The fruit are round or pear shaped but like common guava. They occur singly on new growth. They are 2-3 cm wide. The skin is yellow. The pulp is white and acidic. There are several seeds.
