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
552 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 5000 - 5000) Previous | Next
Nephelium lappaceum - Rambutan
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds
A medium sized tree up to 12-25 m high. It keeps its leaves throughout the year. Trees spread to 6 m wide. The leaves are alternate with leaflets opposite along the stalk. There are 5-7 pairs of leaflets. Each leaflet can be 20 cm long by 8 cm wide. The leaflet stalks are short and the leaflets are pointed at the tip and rounded at the base. The flowers are very numerous on compound flower arrangements. Seedling trees can produce only female or only male trees. Some kinds have both male and female flowers or both flower parts in the one flower. The fruit are dark red with many prominent projections united at the base.The colour can vary between yellow, green, orange and bright red. Sometimes trees are separately male and female and sometimes seedless fruit is set. Often male and female flowers are separate but on the same tree. The fruit hang in loose clusters of 10-12 and are up to 5 cm long. Normally each fruit contains one large seed. There are several named cultivated varieties.
Acca sellowiana - Pineapple Guava
Edible Portion: Fruit, Flowers, Vegetable
A small spreading tree. It can grow to 3-5 m tall and spread to 5 m wide. The bark is pale grey. The branches are swollen at the nodes. The stems are thin, flexible and with white felted shoots. The leaves are 5-8 cm long with shiny bluish green on the upper surface and silver grey underneath. They are thick and leathery. The flowers are 2-3 cm across and purple and white. They are borne in one or two pairs at the base of the current years growth. The fruit is oblong and dull green with several small seeds inside. Fruit are 2-9 cm long. They can be round or pear shaped. The flesh is creamy white. The petals of the flowers are edible. The fruit is edible. There are usually 20-40 small seeds inside the fruit.
Acoelorrhaphe wrightii - Silver Saw Palmetto
Edible Portion: Fruit
An evergreen cluster palm tree. It grows 10 m high and spreads 4 m wide. The stems are erect and slender. They are covered with persistent sheaths and leaf stalks. The leaf stalks have thorns along the edge. The leaves are pale green and 90 cm long. The flowering shoots are among the leaves. The fruit are small and like berries. They are clustered on long stems.
Actinidia deliciosa - Chinese Gooseberry, Kiwifruit
Edible Portion: Fruit, Vegetable
A large woody vine. It loses its leaves during the year. The leaves are large and heart shaped. They are 20 cm long. Male and female flowers occur on separate plants. The flowers are cream and scented. The fruit are brown and fuzzy. They have green flesh and black seeds.
Aegle marmelos - Bael Fruit, Bengal Quince
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves Condiment, Spice, Vegetable
A medium sized tree. It loses its leaves. It grows to 3-6-12 m tall and spreads 2 m across. The stem is erect and thorny. The leaves are green and with 3 leaflets and generally sword shaped. They are aromatic. The flowers are yellowish-white. They have a strong sweet smell. They contain both sexes and occur in clusters. The fruit is large and with a hard shell about 3 mm thick. It is 8-10 cm across. The fruit is yellow-green when ripe. The pulp is reddish or orange. The pulp of the fruit is edible. The fruit is made up of small cells (about 15) each with woolly seeds.
Annona macroprophyllata - Ilama
Edible Portion: Fruit
A small deciduous tree. It grows to 7-8 m tall. It has 2 kinds of leaf. One is the broadly oval smooth leaf with a leaf stalk. The others are like round bracts without a leaf stalk and these fall off. These grow at the base of the small branches. Under the leaves, fruit and branches has a powdery appearance. The flowers are maroon coloured and 2-3 cm across. There are 3 outer petals. These are 2-5 cm long. There are 3 small inner petals. The fruit are large and pink or white. They are 12 cm long. They have a thin skin. Fruit vary in colour and texture.
Baccaurea ramiflora - Burmese-Grape
Edible Portion: Fruit, Leaves, Flowers
An evergreen tree. It grows 10-15 m tall. The trunk is 20-30 cm across. The branches have velvety hairs pressed against them. The leaves are broadly sword shaped and taper to a very short tip. The leaves are oval and 10-20 cm long by 4-9 cm wide. The leaf stalks are 1-8 cm long. The leafy growth at the base of the leaves (stipule) is sword shaped and with a fringe on the edge. The flowering stalks occur on the branches and the trunk. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. The male flowering stalks are 3-8 cm long. Female flowering stalks are 14 cm long. Fruit are oval and about 3-4 cm across. The fruit do not have hairs. They ripen to pinkish or bright red.
Bactris gasipaes - Peach Palm
Edible Portion: Fruit, Flower Shoots, Cabbage, Palm Heart, Vegetable, Seed
A tall slender palm with thorny trunk and suckers at the base. It often has between 1 and 13 stems. The stems are straight and un-branched. They are 6-24 m tall, 12-26 cm in diameter, with nodes 2-9 cm long and internodes 7-27 cm long at breast height. The canopy has 10-30 pinnate leaves which are spineless. The petiole-sheath is 49-179 cm long, the rachis is 179-396 cm long, and has 180-386 leaflets. The leaflets are twice forked and leaflets are 58-115 cm long, 3-6 cm wide. Flowers are separately male and female on the same stalk of the same palm. Female flowers are irregularly arranged among male flowers. Fruit are orange when ripe. and about 5-8 cm across. They have yellow oily flesh. Fruit without seeds often occur.
Bunchosia argentea - Peanut Butter Fruit, Silvery Bunchosia
Edible Portion: Fruit
A small tree or shrub. It grows to 10 m tall. It forms a dense cone shaped crown. The leaves are in pairs and have wavy edges. They are simple and rich green. They are 10 cm long. They taper to the base. The flowers are yellow and showy. They are in long racemes. The petals have wavy edges. The fruit is oval and fleshy. The fruit are small and orange with a sticky pulp. They are 2.5 cm across. They are edible. They are cream coloured and have the consistency and texture of peanut butter.
Butia capitata - Jelly Palm, Pindo Palm
Edible Portion: Fruit, Seeds - Oil, Stem
A small palm. It grows up to 5 m tall. It has 40-50 leaves. The trunk has a pattern from the old leaf stubs. The trunk is stout and woody. The leaves hang over and are blue-green. They are 1.3-2 m long and the leaflets form a V shape. Along the edge of the leaf stalk there are sharp spines. The leaflets are 0.8 m long and 2-3 cm wide. The flowers are small and cream. They are 3-8 mm long. They occur as many small flowers along a 1 m long flower stalk. Separate male and female flowers occur along the same stalk. Pollination is by wind and insect. The fruit are yellow to orange and 2-3 cm across. They occur in bunches. The fruit are round with one seed inside. The fruit are edible.
