Purslane

Name: Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) — a succulent plant with fleshy, rounded, reddish stems and small, thick, glossy green leaves, with a slightly sour, salty, lemony flavour. Often considered a weed, it is also called verdolagas in Mexico.

Description

Purslane is native to the Mediterranean and western Asia but now grows across much of the world, and has been eaten since ancient times in Greece, Turkey, India, Mexico and China. In Mexican cooking, verdolagas are a classic ingredient, stewed with pork in green sauce.

The plant is notable among leafy greens for containing a plant omega-3 fat, alpha-linolenic acid, as well as a lot of vitamin C and magnesium. The texture is crisp and a little mucilaginous when cooked, and it thickens soups and stews like okra.

Main nutrition value

Purslane is unusual among leafy greens for its omega-3 content (alpha-linolenic acid), and also provides vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium and iron.

How best to be consumed

Purslane is eaten raw or cooked, with its stems and leaves.

1. Add raw to salads, with tomatoes, cucumbers and feta, as in Mediterranean cooking.
2. Stew in green sauce with pork, as in Mexican verdolagas.
3. Stir-fry with garlic, or add to soups, where it thickens the liquid.
4. Pickle the stems, or use in yoghurt dips.
5. Pick from clean areas, since it grows in disturbed ground, and wash well.

Overconsumption could cause…

Purslane is safe in food amounts, with a note about oxalate.

1. Oxalates, which matter for people prone to kidney stones when eaten in very large amounts, and which reduce the absorption of calcium and iron from the leaves. Purslane is notably high in oxalate.
2. Contamination if gathered from polluted or treated soil.
3. Mistaken identification with toxic look-alikes such as spurge when foraging, so be sure of the plant.
4. Foodborne illness from poorly washed leaves, so rinse well, especially bagged and ready-to-eat salad.

GroupsLeafy Green VegetablesLow fatLow sodiumFresh

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Wikipedia — Portulaca oleracea, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea