Of the nearly forty cultivated varieties, common purslane has smooth, reddish, mainly prostrate stems and alternately clustered leaves that cluster at stem joints and ends. The plant produces a small yellow flower up to six millimeters wide. With adequate rainfall, purslane will flower nearly anytime during the year. This plant tolerates most soils and climates because of its taproot and fibrous secondary root system, allowing it to survive in drought conditions and poor, compact soils. When water availability is low, purslane switches from photosynthesis as its main source of nutrients to ‘Crassulacean acid metabolism.’ This just means that at night the purslane traps carbon dioxide into its leaves. It converts this carbon dioxide into malic acid, which is what gives apples their sour taste, which is then converted into glucose by the plant during the day. Therefore, if purslane is harvested in the morning, the leaves have about ten times the amount of malic acid as normal, giving them a significantly tangier taste.
Though known as a weed throughout the United States, purslane is eaten as a green, leafy vegetable throughout the Middle East, Asia, Mexico, and most of Europe, having a slightly salty, sour taste. Another boon to eating this plant is that its stems, leaves, and flowers are all edible. It is commonly used as a fresh salad, stir-fry veggie, or cooked like spinach and other greens. Because of its mucilaginous quality, similar to okra, it can be an effective thickener in soups and stews.
As an edible wild food, purslane’s importance cannot be overstated because it contains more omega-3 fatty acids, primarily alpha-linolenic acid, than any other leafy green vegetable plant. Purslane contains important vitamins, including vitamin A, C, E, B, and carotenoids. Furthermore, it contains the dietary minerals calcium, magnesium, iron, and potassium. Also, it contains important anthocyanins, or pigments, that denote important health benefits. These pigments are the reddish betacyanins in the stems and the yellow betaxanthins which are potent antioxidants that have been found to have antimutagenic properties in some lab studies, meaning they help reduce the frequency of cell mutations, such as is common in some cancers. Purslane is also commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for a variety of uses. For instance, the leaves can be used topically for insect and snake bites, bee stings, and for sores and boils. Internally, purslane can be used to treat bacillary dysentery, hemorrhoids, diarrhea, and intestinal or postpartum bleeding, though it is not recommended for use while pregnant.
Finally, purslane is an important companion plant in addition to being incredibly nutritious. Besides providing a humid microclimate for other plants due to its ground-covering habit, purslane’s deep roots bring up moisture from the ground, which then can bePu used by other plants. Furthermore, plants whose roots cannot penetrate harder soils, such as corn, can ‘follow’ the roots of purslane down into deeper soil, a process known as ecological facilitation.
So remember, try and eat one wild food every day! If you have any questions, comments, or ideas on wild food plant articles or recipes please e-mail [email protected].