Portulak

Requires a moist light rich well-drained soil in a sunny position. Plants will not produce good quality leaves when growing in dry conditions. A perennial plant in warmer climates than Britain, purslane is killed by frost but can be grown as a half-hardy annual in this country. It can become an aggressive weed in areas where the climate suits it. The flowers only open in full sunlight. Purslane is occasionally cultivated for its edible leaves, there are some named varieties. The plants take about six to eight weeks to produce a crop from seed and can then be harvested on a cut and come again principle, providing edible leaves for most of the summer.

Edible Parts: Leaves Seed Edible Uses: Salt Leaves and stems - raw or cooked. The young leaves are a very acceptable addition to salads, their mucilaginous quality also making them a good substitute for okra as a thickener in soups. Older leaves are used as a potherb. The leaves have a somewhat sour flavour. A spicy and somewhat salty taste. The leaves are a source of omega-3 fatty acids, though seed sources such as walnuts are magnitudes richer. The leaves can be dried for later use. They contain about 1.8% protein, 0.5% fat, 6.5% carbohydrate, 2.2% ash. Another analysis gives the following figures per 100g ZMB. 245 - 296 calories, 17.6 - 34.5g protein, 2.4 - 5.3g fat, 35.5 - 63.2g carbohydrate, 8.5 - 14.6g fibre, 15.9 - 24.7g ash, 898 - 2078mg calcium, 320 - 774mg phosphorus, 11.2 - 46.7mg iron, 55mg sodium, 505 - 3120mg potassium, 10560 - 20000ug B-carotene equivalent, 0.23 - 0.48mg thiamine, 1.12 - 1.6mg riboflavin, 5.58 - 6.72mg niacin and 168 - 333mg ascorbic acid. Seed - raw or cooked. The seed can be ground into a powder and mixed with cereals for use in gruels, bread, pancakes etc. The seed is rather small and fiddly to utilize. In arid areas of Australia the plants grow quite large and can produce 10, 000 seeds per plant, a person can harvest several pounds of seed in a day. The seeding plants are uprooted and placed in a pile on sheets or something similar, in a few days the seeds are shed and can be collected from the sheet. In Britain, however, yields are likely to be very low, especially in cool or wet summers[K]. The seed contains (per 100g ZMB) 21g protein, 18.9g fat 3.4g ash. Fatty acids of the seeds are 10.9% palmitic, 3.7% stearic, 1.3% behenic, 28.7% oleic, 38.9% linoleic and 9.9% linolenic. The ash of burnt plants is used as a salt substitute.

None known

Heimisch: Afghanistan, Albania, Aldabra, Algeria, Amazonia nororiental de Colombia, departamento del Guainía, municipio de Inírida., Angola, Ascension, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chagos Archipelago, Comoros, Congo, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Gulf of Mexico Eingeführt: Alabama, Alberta, Altay, Amazonia colombiana: sur del departamento del Vichada; el suroriente del Meta; todo el territorio de los departamentos de Amazonas, Caquetá, Guainía, Guaviare, Putumayo y Vaupés; la Bota Caucana; y las vertientes amazónicas de Nariño (la parte alta de los ríos Guamuez, Sucio, San Miguel y Aguarico), Amur, Andaman Is., Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona, Arkansas, Aruba, Assam, Bahamas, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Borneo, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, British Columbia, California, Cambodia, Cape Provinces, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Central American Pacific Is., Central European Russia, Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Christmas I., Cocos (Keeling) Is., Colombia, Colorado, Connecticut, Cook Is., Costa Rica, Cuba, Delaware, Denmark, Desventurados Is., District of Columbia, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, East Himalaya, Easter Is., Ecuador, El Salvador