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
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Terminalia arjuna - Arjuna, Indian-Laurel
Edible Portion: Fruit, Bark - drink, Kernel, Nuts, Seed
An evergreen tree. It can lose its leaves. It often has buttresses. The bark is smooth and grey. It flakes off in thin strips. It grows to 25 m tall and spreads to 4 m across. It has a dense matted fibrous root system. The stem is erect and branching. The branches and leaves hang over. The leaves are oval and broad. They are 8-15 cm long. They taper towards the tip and are green and glossy. There are a pair of glands near the leaf stalk. The flowers are greenish-white. They occur near the ends of branches and have a strong perfume. They are not easily seen. They are crowded on spikes 5-7 cm long in the axils of leaves. The fruit are large and round. They are woody and 6 cm long. They have 5 thin flat wings running along the side.
Triphasia trifolia - Lime Berry
Edible Portion: Fruit
A small spiny shrub up to 7 m high with slender zigzag twigs. There are 2 spines near each leaf. The leaves have 3 leaflets and are small and dark green with slightly toothed edges. Flowers are in axils of leaves and are white and about 1 cm across. The small berry is green when young and turns red when ripe. They are 1-2 cm across. The skin has glands in it and the 3 sections of the fruit have 1-3 slimy seeds inside.
Pimenta dioica - Allspice Tree, Pimento
Edible parts - Fruit, Seeds, Leaves, Spice, Herb, Leaves - tea
A medium sized tree. It grows 13-15 m tall. It keeps its leaves throughout the year. The bark is silver grey and has an aroma. It peels off in long strips. The wood is hard, durable and close grained. The leaves are dark green, shiny and leathery. They are grouped in clusters at the ends of the secondary branches. The flowers are small and white. The fruit are purple berries. They can be 6.5 cm across. These contain 1 or 2 large seeds. These are the allspice of commerce. Leaves and bark also have the allspice scent. When in flower the trees have a smell or allspice.
Swietenia mahogani - Cuban Mahogany
Edible Portion: Fruit
An evergreen tree. Sometimes it loses its leaves for a short period. It can grow 30 m high. The trunk branches at the top. The leaves are long and divided into leaflets along the stalk. There are 4-5 oval leaflets which taper to the tip. The flowers are small and yellow-white. They grow in panicles in the axils of leaves. The fruit are woody capsules. The fruit are large and these open at the base to release a number of winged seeds. The fruit open in 5 sections. The seeds are flat and have wings.
Syzygium malaccense - Malay-Apple
Edible Portion: Fruit, Flowers, Leaves
An evergreen tree 5 to 25 m tall. It spreads out to 4 m across. Trees tend to branch near the base. Leaves are simple, thick and leathery and shiny on both surfaces. They are large and oval. Leaves can be up to 25-30 cm long and 12 cm wide. The leaves have a vein around the edge of the leaf. Flowers are produced on old wood and on the trunk as well as in the angles where leaves join and at the ends of branches. Flowers are purple, crimson or white and 2.5 cm across. They mostly occur in dense clusters giving a brilliant display. The red stamens are often fallen under the tree. The fruit is rounded or oblong and 5-6 cm across by 6-8 cm long. The fruit has white flesh around a large brown seed. The seed is about 1.3 cm by 1.7 cm. Some kinds are seedless. The skin of the fruit is red or pink with darker stripes. The fruit are edible.
Tinospora crispa - Patawali
Edible Portion: Fruit, Spice
A woody climber. It grows 4-10 m long. It loses its leaves during the year. It can have long aerial roots. Old stems are fleshy. The leaf stalk is 5-15 cm long and the leaves are broadly oval to heart shaped and 6-13 cm long by 6-13 cm wide.
Trevesia palmata - Snowflake Tree
Edible Portion: Flower Buds, Fruit, Shoots, Leaves, Vegetable
A shrub or small tree. It grows to 3-9 m high. The branches are armed with short, sharp prickles which curve inwards. The young shoots have rusty hairs. The leaves are stalked. The leaves are 25-33 cm long. They are round and deeply divided like fingers on a hand. The lobes taper to the tip. There are teeth along the edge. Leaves are leathery. The flowers are in white heads which are flat topped. The fruit is fleshy. They are crowded together.
Carica papaya - Pawpaw
Edible Portion: Fruit, Flowers, Leaves, Vegetable, Seeds - spice
Pawpaw is one of the very well known fruits of the tropics. The straight soft stemmed plant grows up to 3-5 metres tall and only occasionally has branches. The stem is softly woody and has scars from fallen leaves along it. At the top of the plant there are a clump of leaves. The leaves are large (50 cm wide) deeply lobed and on long leaf stalks. The leaf stalks are 90 cm long. There is a crown of leaves at the top of the trunk. Trees can be male, female or bisexual. The male flowers are small and white and on long stalks. Female and bisexual flowers are on short stalks. These have no fruit, round fruit and long fruit respectively. There are three forms of long fruit. The seeds are black.
Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum - Leek
Edible Portion: Flowers, Leaves, Root, Herb, Vegetable, Bulb, Sprouts
An onion like plant without a bulb and with flat leaves. It grows one year, then flowers the next. There is one bulb. There can be bulblets. The covering is white. The leaves are flattened and vary from 40-100 cm long by 1.2-2.5 cm wide. Many flowers are produced in a large flower head where small flowers are on equal length stalks forming a ball.
Solanum melongena - Eggplant
Edible portion: Fruit, Leaves, Vegetable
A perennial shrubby herb up to 1 m tall. It is often grown as an annual. It has a deep taproot and branched side roots. The stem is thick and covered with many woolly hairs. The plant has many branches. Often the plant is spiny. The leaves are large, alternate and simple. They are angular and unequal near the stalk. Leaves can be 20 cm long and wavy along the edge. Leaves are covered with hairs. Flowers are bluish red and 5 cm across. They are either solitary or in small groups opposite the leaves. They have 5 large woolly lobes which continue to surround the base of the fruit. Fruit are white, blue, green or purple. The fruit colour and shape vary. Sometimes the fruit is spiny. Often the fruit are 10 to 20 cm long and 5-8 cm wide. Numerous kidney shaped seeds are in the flesh of the berry. There are many cultivated varieties.
