Edible plants of the equatorial and tropical zones

There is a great variety of plant species in the warm and humid climate of the equatorial zone. The lack of distinct seasons in this area causes, that plants thrive all the time. There is an abundance of edible plant species, including many nutritious fruits and vegetables. Always try unfamiliar plants, before you eat it and make sure, is not poisonous. Here are some of the most common plants in this zone.

bamboo (Pseudosasa)
Cut a young bamboo stalk at the base and split it with a knife. Choose a tender flesh from the center. It can be cooked in water just like asparagus. Bamboo seeds are also edible. There are many different varieties of this plant in the world.

Scarlet (Amaranthus)
This plant reaches a meter in height. Chop the leaves and stems into small pieces and cook them in salted water like spinach. Young leaves can be eaten raw as a salad.

Palm trees (Palm)
Young shoots of palm trees, such as coconut, harangue, saga, also called sagownica, are edible. Nutritious starch flour is obtained from the core of the saga palm tree trunk – sago, which can be cooked like rice. However, not all palm trees are edible.

The top of the palm tree
The tops of some palm trees are also edible. It can be cooked or eaten raw. Don't eat palm fruit, you don't know.

TASTE TEST
Crush the leaves of an unfamiliar plant and if it smells or smells like almonds, leave her. Rub the leaf juice into the skin of the hand from underneath. If no blisters or other disturbing symptoms appear, you can go to the next stage of the test. Put a piece of leaf on your lips, then in the corner of the mouth, on the tip of the tongue and under the tongue. Each time, hold the leaf for about five seconds. If no unpleasant aftertaste or burning occurs, swallow the leaf. Wait five hours, without eating anything. If there are no symptoms or even the slightest symptoms of malaise, you can eat the plant.

Most trees and shrubs bear various forms. They can be drupes, berries, nuts, fruit shells (for example apples). Most of them have great nutritional value. Flower buds, young shoots and the bast of some trees are also good for food. Some trees also give off juices, that you can drink. The needles of some conifers are rich in vitamin C and can be infused with hot water for tea.

Spruce (Picea)
Spruce sap is rich in vitamin C.. It is best to collect them at the bottom of the trunk, near the roots. They should be separated from the hard bark and boiled in water, until it is soft and edible. You can prepare an invigorating infusion from spruce needles.

Clone (Acer)
The juice that flows from cut maple trunks or natural cracks in the bark contains a lot of sugar. This syrup can be boiled, until it thickens and becomes sweet, caloric syrup.

OTHER TREES
Young pine needles (Pinus) they taste nice to the palate and can be used for making tea. Aspen bark (Populus) has high nutritional value, while birch (Betula) gives off a very tasty juice. Wanting to collect juice, cut the bark of the tree in the letter V, without, however, damaging more than a quarter of the trunk circumference. Other trees, which provide food, it's carob, otherwise carob (Ceratonia) and tamarind; they have fleshy pods.