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 Problématiques abordées dans cette publication (Affichage des numéro 3000 - 3000) Précédent | Suite
Ceiba pentandra - Kapok, White Silk Cotton Tree
Edible Portion: Seeds, Leaves, Calyces, Flowers, Vegetable, Fruit, Oil
A very large tree with a straight trunk and height of 30-40 m. Trees can be 60 m high and the trunk 8 m around. It has large prickly buttresses near the base. The branches come out horizontally and there is a ring of them around the trunk. The leaves are compound. The leaflets spread out like fingers on a hand, with 5-8 leaflets. They are 5-18 cm long by 2-4.5 cm wide. The leaf stalk is 7-20 cm long. The leaves all fall off the tree (deciduous). Flowers are yellowish white, in clusters near the ends of branches. These hang downwards. A long seed capsule hangs from branches. It is 10-30 cm long. It splits into 5 valves. The seeds are embedded in white or grey kapok.
Ceiba speciosa - Silk Floss Tree
Edible Portion: Seeds - Oil
A tree. The trunk is bottle shaped. It has thick cone shaped prickles. The young trees have a green trunk. It loses its leaves during the year. The leaves are made up of 5-7 long leaflets. The flowers are creamy white and pink towards the tip of the petals. There are 5 petals. The fruit are woody pods 20 cm long. The seeds are black and bean sized. They have fibrous silk or cotton around them.
Cinnamomum verum - Cinnamon
Edible Portion: Bark, Spice, Leaves
A large tree. It grows 10-20 m high. It keeps its leaves during the year. The trunk can be 30-60 cm across. The bark is dark brown. The young branches can be four sided. The leaves are usually opposite. The leaf blade is oval and 11-16 cm long by 4.5-5.5 cm wide. The young leaves are red but change to pale green. They later become dark green and glossy on top but whitish underneath. The flowers are pale yellow and small. The fruit are red but turn black when mature. They are 10-15 mm long.
Coffea canephora - Coffee (Robusta)
Edible Portion: Seeds - Drink, Fruit, Spice
A larger tree than Arabica coffee. It is an evergreen shrub. It grows to 10 m tall and has thicker, larger leaves. It is shallow rooted with most feeding in the top 12 cm of soil. In heavy shade, trees have a more developed trunk. The leaves are 15-30 cm long by 5-15 cm wide, and rounded at the base, with wavy edges. The midrib is prominent underneath the leaf. There are 8-13 pairs of side veins. The leaf stalk is stout and 1-2 cm long. The flower clusters arise in the axils of leaves on sideways growing, fruiting branches. Normally only 3-4 buds develop in each leaf axils and 2-4 flowers develop on each flower stalk. The flowers are white and have a scent. The flowers have almost no stalk. The fruit are round and 0.8-1.5 cm long by 1.2 cm wide. The fruit are green, but turn red when ripe. They turn black and remain on the tree till harvest. 20-40 fruit can develop at each node. The seed are 7-9 mm long, and flattened on the surface which is pressed together.
Cola acuminata - Cola Nut
Edible Portion: Seeds, Herb, Flavouring, Fruit, Leaves
A medium sized tree. It grows 13-20 m tall. In cultivation it is usually 6-9 m high. It commonly has low branches. The bark is dark green or grey. The small branches are smooth. The leaves are near the tip of the branches. They are 7-22 cm long by 2-8 cm wide. The tip is usually twisted downwards. The leaves are leathery and dark green. The flowers are in irregular branched clusters. They are white or cream with red inside. The fruit has a rough, mottled skin. They are made up of 5 cells. The fruit can be 20 cm long and 6 cm wide. They occur singly. It has thin white flesh. The seeds are large, flat and bright red. There are up to 14 seeds. When the seed coat is removed the seeds split into four pieces.
Corymbia citriodora - Lemon-Scented Gum
Edible Portion: Manna, Leaves - Flavouring
A slender tree. It grows 25-50 m tall and spreads 25 m wide. The bark is powdery and grey and peels off. The leaves are broadly sword shaped and rough and green. The young leaves are more broad. The leaves have a lemon scent. The flowers are in clusters and are creamy white. They are 2 cm across.
Crotalaria longirostrata - Long-Beak Rattlepod
Edible Portion: Leaves, Flowers
A herb or shrub. It is erect and grows 1.5 m high. The leaves are deep green. They are compound and alternate. The flowers are yellow.
Cymbopogon citratus - Lemon Grass
Edible Portion: Leaves, Herb, Spice, Lower Stem, Leaves - Tea
A coarse clumpy grass about 1 m high. It forms dense tufts and clumps. The stems are hollow and cane like. The leaves have a rough edge and are about 1 m long by 1 cm wide. They curve over. They are pale blue-green. It very rarely produces flowers. When flowers are produced they are in a loose branched panicle. These are 5 cm long. It has a lemon smell when crushed.
Erythrina berteroana - Coral Bean
Edible Portion: Leaves, Shoots, Buds, Flowers, Seeds
A tree. It grows 6-10 m high. The crown is open. The leaves have 3 leaflets. These are 15 cm long and broadly diamond shaped. The flower clusters are erect and 15-30 cm long with bright red flowers along them. The fruit are woody twisted pods. These are 10-25 cm long and constricted between the seeds. There are many seeds and they are about 1 cm long. They are red with a black line.
