PNG Traditional Vegetables Project
Aibika
Amaranth
Botanic Name: Amaranthus spp
Common Name: Aupa or Vegetable/Chinese/Spleen/Purple Amaranth
Tok Pisin: Kaikaim nupela, mumu, boilem or prai.
Uses: Leaves and stems eaten fresh or steamed, boiled or fried. Seeds ground into stews or into flour similar to quinoa.
Bamboo Shoots
Botanic Name: Nastus elatus, Bambusa forbesii, or B. vulagaris
Common Name: Bamboo shoots
Uses: The shoots when around 50cm long are cooked and eaten
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Photo: P. Pdeitiker 7-20-2006 via Wikimedia commons
Bread Fruit Leaves or Highlands Kapiak
Botanic Name: Ficus dammaropsis
Common Name: Highland Kapiak, Breadfruit leaves, Fig Leaves
Uses: Young leaves are cooked as vegetable
Botanic Name: Sechium edule
Common Name: Choco tips
Tok Pidgin: Kru Sako, Sioko,
Uses: Fresh tips can be eaten in a salad or steamed. The leaves as well as fruit and root can be cooked.
Photo: Bruce French, 2006, Food Plants International, Tasmania
Fern Tips
Botanic Name: Stenochlaena palustris or Diplazium esculentum
Common Name: Fern Tips, Sweet fern, Climbing Swamp Fern
Uses: Young shiny leaflets can be steamed or cooked in coconut milk.
Fig Leaves
Botanic Name: Ficus copiosa and Ficus wassa
Common Name: Fig leaves and Kumu musong
Uses: Cook leaves before eating. The small fruits can also
be eaten.
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Botanic Name: Abelmoschus manihot varieties
Common Name: Aibika, Island Cabbage, Bele
Tok Pisin: Inglis em raitem rediim kaikai Aibika kaikaim nupela, mumu, boilem, prai, praiim.
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Sourced: Bruce French, 2006, Food Plants International, Tasmania
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Karakap
Botanic Name: Solanum nigrum
Common Name: Karakap or Blackberried nightshade
Tok Pisin: Kaikaim nupela, mumu, boilem or prai.
Uses: Leaves and stems eaten fresh or steamed, boiled or fried. Seeds ground into stews or into flour similar to quinoa.
Botanic Name: Saccharum edul
Common Name: Lowland Pitpit, Coastal Pitpit, Long Pitpit
Tok Pisin:
Uses: Young flower eaten raw after leaves removed. Tasty fried in coconut milk, boiled or baked.
Photo: Bruce French, 2006, Food Plants International, Tasmania
Highland Pit Pit
Botanic Name: Setaria palmifolia
Common Name: Highland Pitpit
Uses: Young flower eaten raw after leaves removed. Tasty fried in coconut milk, boiled or baked. Pitpit is often cooked with Rungia.
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Sourced: Bruce French, 2006, Food Plants International, Tasmania
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Lowland Pitpit
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Photo By Forest & Kim Starr(Own work) via Wikimedia Commons
Photo By Forest & Kim Starr (Own work Cropped) via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Bruce French, 2006, Food Plants International, Tasmania
Photo: Bruce French, 2006, Food Plants International, Tasmania
Wikimedia Commons (cropped), sourced: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thorny_Bamboo.jpg
Pumpkin Tips
Photo: Bruce French, 2006, Food Plants International, Tasmania
Common Name: Pumpkin Tips
Botanic Name: Curcubita maxima
Tok Pidgin: Inglis em raitem kiakaim insait stem nupela
Uses: Peel fine hairs from young stem then eat fresh. Older tips can be steamed, boiled, baked, or fried. Pumpkin fruit and seeds can also be cooked.
Rungia
Photo By Raffi Kojian (http://Gardenology.org) (Cropped) Creative Commons, via Wikimedia Commons
Botanic Name: Rungia klossii
Common Name: Rungia
Uses: Use young leaf tips for cooking or eaten raw.
Tu-lip
Botanic Name: Gnetum gnemon
Common Name: Tu-lip, Two-leaf
Uses: Young leaves are steamed or boiled in coconut milk. The seeds can be eaten raw and the flowers can be cooked.
Photo: Bruce French, 2006, Food Plants International, Tasmania
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Walangur/Valanguar
Botanic Name: Polyscias fruticosa and Polyscias verticillata
Common Name: Walangur, Valanguar
Uses: Cook young leaves, provide nice flavour in stews
Watercress
Botanic Name: Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum
Common Name: Watercress
Uses: The leaves and stems are eaten raw or cooked and have a spicy flavour.
Photo: Javier Martin, 2012 Via Wikimedia Commons,
Waterdropwort
Botanic Name: Oenanthe javanica
Common Names: Waterdropwort
Uses: They are eaten raw or cooked with fried meat
Winged Bean
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Common Names: Winged Beans
Botanic Name: Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
Tok Pisin: Asbin
Uses: Roots, leaves pods, flowers and seeds are eaten
Photo: Bruce French, 2006, Food Plants International, Tasmania
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Collaborators
Contact: Claire Webb Charles Darwin University Project Coordinator claire.webb@cdu.edu.au
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