A soft-leaved, fast-growing annual vegetable widely eaten across Nigeria and West Africa.
Waterleaf (Talinum triangulare, now usually called Talinum fruticosum, family Portulacaceae) is a short-lived, upright, much-branched perennial with succulent stems 30 to 100 cm tall growing from swollen, fleshy roots. It is often gathered from the wild as food and is grown in many parts of the tropics for its leaves, on a particularly large scale in Africa. It is native to tropical America and has become a weed throughout the tropics, though few farmers worry about it because its roots are shallow and it is easy to pull up.
The leaves are rich in calcium oxalate, which in excess can cause kidney stones; blanching or cooking removes nearly half of it, and cooking also destroys the hydrocyanic acid the plant contains, so it should be eaten raw only in small amounts, used with care in food for infants, and is not recommended for livestock. It grows best in moist, humid lowlands up to 1,000 metres, at 22 to 30°C with 1,000 to 2,000 mm of rain a year, in well-drained, moist, fertile soil, and light shade can increase leaf production. It tolerates drought well, because it can switch to a water-saving form of photosynthesis (CAM) that takes up carbon dioxide at night. The first leaves can be picked 35 to 45 days after sowing and then every two weeks for about a year, with yields of 10 to 60 tonnes per hectare. The tiny seed is mixed with fine sand for sowing and germinates in about five days, and cuttings root readily.
Source: Useful Tropical Plants database (Fern, K.).
Valued as a nutrient-dense leafy tonic food, rich in iron and vitamins; used to support recovery and general health.
Leaves are cooked into soup, either alone or combined with other vegetables; also eaten as a salad green.
Grows quickly from cuttings in moist, fertile soil; can be harvested repeatedly.