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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Allium ascalonicum - Shallot
Edible Portion: Leaves, Bulbs, Flowers, Vegetable
An onion family plant. It is a bulb plant. It grows to about 30 cm high. The bulb can be 6 cm across. The protective coat over the bulbs is purplish, brown or white. The leaves are 10-35 cm long by 3-10 mm wide. It often produces new shoots from the base. These form a group of small bulbs. The leaves are narrow and thin. They are flat on one side. They taper and can reach 40 cm high. They are purplish-red or brown. There are a cluster of single bulbs at the base. The flowers occur as 25-50 flowers in a head. The flowers are violet.
Allium schoenoprasum - Chives
Edible Portion: Flowers, Leaves, Root, Bulb, Herb, Spice, Vegetable
An onion family plant. It is a herb which grows one year, then flowers the next. It is up to 30 cm tall. A narrow leafed onion which forms dense clumps. The leaves are hollow and narrow. They are 10-25 cm long by 0.1 cm in cross section. They are angular in cross section. Bulbs are not well developed. They can be 1-3 cm long by 0.5-1.5 cm across. The flowers are pink or purple. They are produced in a head where small flowers are on equal length stalks forming a rounded head.
Allium schoenoprasum subsp. schoenoprasum - Siberian Chive
Edible Portion: Flowers, Leaves, Root, Bulb
An onion family plant. It is a herb. It grows 20-50 cm high. The leaves sheath the base. The bulb is oblong. The leaves are nearly round and hollow. The flowers are purple or pink and small. They are lily shaped and occur as several together is a tight erect cluster at the top of the stem. The fruit is a dry, few-seeded capsule.
Aloe vera - Barbados Aloe
Edible Portion: Leaf Bud, Seeds, Gel, Flowers
A perennial succulent plant 80 cm high. It spreads to 1 m wide. It develops suckers. The leaves form a rosette or ring just above the ground. They are fleshy and long. They are curved outwards or rounded underneath. They taper to a blunt point. They are smooth and pale green. There are white blotches on the leaves and prickles along the edges. The flowers are yellow or orange. They are 25-30 mm long. They hang down. The fruit is a capsule with angular seeds.
Aloysia triphylla - Lemon Verbena
Edible Portion: Leaves, Herb, Flowers
A shrub to 1.5-3 m high. It spreads to 3 m across. It keeps growing from year to year. It loses its leaves during the year. The leaves are slender and green. They are 10 cm long. They smell strongly of lemon. Under the leaves there are oil glands which give a sticky, almost rough feel. The flowers are purple and white. They form in feather like groups are the ends of branches.
Benincasa hispida - Wax Gourd
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds, Leaves, Flowers, Vegetable
A climbing, pumpkin family plant. The vine can be 3 m long. The plant re-grows from seed each year. The vines are thick, furrowed and hairy. The leaves are heart shaped with 5 to 7 lobes. They are rough to touch. Flowers are yellow. The immature fruit can have skin of various colours depending on variety. The fruit is up to 30 cm long and 20 cm across and green with a waxy covering when mature. This waxy layer enables the fruit to be stored for a long time. Fruit shape and size can vary with variety. The flesh is firm and white. The fruit are heavy - up to 8-45 kg.
Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra - Chinese Broccoli
Edible Portion: Flowers, Leaves, Stems, Vegetable
A cabbage plant with a single fleshy stem. Although it keeps growing from year to year it is normally grown as an annual. It grows 45 cm high and spreads 40 cm across. The leaves are dark green and rounded on long stems. Plants start to flower when 10 leaves are present. Flowers are white but there are varieties with yellow flowers. There are several named cultivars.
Common Names: Chinese Kale, Chinese broccoli, White flowered broccoli, Berza, Fat-shan, Gai lan choi, Gai lan, Gailarn, Jie-lan,Kaai laan tsoi, Kailaan, Kai-lan
Synonyms:
Brassica alboglabra L. H. Bailey;
Now Brassica oleracea (Alboglabra group)
Capsicum baccatum - Peruvian Pepper
Edible Portion: Leaves, Fruit, Spice, Vegetable
A spreading shrubby plant. It grows 3 m high and spreads 1.5-2 m wide. The leaves are sword shaped and 1.5-3 cm long by 2 -2.5 cm wide. The flowers are white or yellow and 1 cm across and in the axils of leaves. The fruit are small. The fruit is 8-10 mm long by 5 mm across. They are green or red. There are several named cultivated varieties.
Coccothrinax argentea - Silver Palm
Edible Portion: Leaves, Cabbage, Palm heart
A fan palm. The trunk is slender. It is 7 m high and 12 cm across. The upper part of the trunk is covered with woven fibres. The crown is sparse. It is 2 m wide and 2.6 m high. The leaf stalks are 60 cm long. The leaves are 1 m wide. The leaves are deeply divided. The segments are narrow and drooping. They are dark green and glossy on the upper surface and very silvery white underneath. The flowering stalk is 60 cm long. It is branched and born amongst the leaves. The flowers are white. The fruit are purplish-black. They are 1.2 cm wide.
Cucumis sativus - Cucumber
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves, Seeds, Vegetable, Seeds - Oil
A pumpkin family plant. It is a hairy annual climber with tendrils and yellow flowers. It grows to 0.5 m high and spreads to 2 m wide. The stem is trailing and has bristles. The leaves are heart shaped and the lobes taper. Leaf shape varies with different varieties. The tendrils are not branched. The flowers are yellow and funnel shaped. They occur in clusters in the axils of leaves. Male and female flowers are separate but on the same plant. Male flowers are normally in groups of 2-3 and develop first and female flowers are borne singly and open later. Fruit are long and often with a slightly lumpy skin. The flesh inside is greenish white. The fruit are edible. The fruit contain many seeds. Fruit 20-100 cm long are called cucumbers and fruit which are much smaller and darker green are called gherkins.
