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
554 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues 5000 - 4000) Previous | Next
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
