Abelmoschus esculentus
(okra)

Preferred Common Name

• okra

Other Scientific Names

• Hibiscus esculentus

International Common Names

• English: lady's finger
• Spanish: quimbombo
• French: gombo
• Portuguese: quiabo

Local Common Names

• Italy: bammia d'Egitto; corna dei Greci; ocra
• Netherlands: malve, eetbare
• Sweden: gronsakhibisk

EPPO code

• ABMES (Abelmoschus esculentus)

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Malvales
•                         Family: Malvaceae
•                             Genus: Abelmoschus
•                                 Species: Abelmoschus esculentus

Abelmoschus esculentus (2n = 130) is probably an amphidiploid (allotetraploid), derived from A. tuberculatus Pal & Singh (2n = 58), a wild species from India, and a still unknown species with 2n = 72 chromosomes.

Another edible okra species occurs in the humid parts of West and central Africa. Described originally as a botanical variety (Hibiscus manihot L. var. caillei A. Chev.), it has been recognized as a distinct species (A. caillei (A. Chev.) Stevels). There are no apparent differences in use between the ordinary (A. esculentus) and West African okra (A. caillei), which is why they are often lumped together. Morphologically the West African okra differs in several respects, but its epicalyx offers the best discriminating characteristics with 5-10 free ovate segments, 10-35 mm x 4-13 mm. The plant is more robust than A. esculentus, and crop duration may exceed 12 months. It has very many chromosomes (2n = approximately 192 (184-200)) and it might be an allohexaploid, A. esculentus being one of the parents. There are many cultivars of okra. Some of the better known are 'Clemson Spineless' (USA) and 'Pusa Sawani' (India).

Stout, erect, annual herb, up to 4 m tall. Leaves spirally arranged, leaf-blade up to 50 cm in diameter, more or less deeply 3-, 5- or 7-lobed; petiole up to 50 cm long, stipules filiform, up to 20 mm long, often split to the base. Flowers solitary in the leaf axils or in pseudoracemes by reduction of the upper leaves, yellow, self-fertile; pedicel up to 3 cm long in flower, up to 7 cm long in fruit; epicalyx of 7-15 free, linear segments, 5-25 mm x 0.5-3 mm; calyx spathaceous, 2-6 cm long, splitting on one side during the expansion of the corolla, adnate to and falling with the corolla; corolla with 5 obovate petals, each about 3-7 cm long and wide, yellow with a dark purple centre. Fruit a cylindrical to pyramidal capsule, 5-35 cm long, 1-5 cm in diameter, completely, partially or not loculicidal, green, greenish-purple or completely purple when young, brownish when mature. Seeds numerous, globose, 3-6 mm in diameter, blackish. Germination is epigeal.

Okra is a popular and important food worldwide. Its tender fruits are used in making many dishes. It is eaten as a vegetable, raw, boiled, steamed, fried and stir-fried and is a common ingredient as a thickening agent in soups and in gumbo (thick soup, containing vegetables including okra, and meat, originally from Africa). The mature fruit (a beaked capsule) can have a high mucilaginous content, depending on cultivar. Mature capsules are dried and stored in parts of Africa for local use in the high temperature season for the preparation of soups and stews. Because of the mucilaginous properties of the plant, the fruits are also used. To preserve okra, it is dried, canned, powdered, pickled, or frozen.

Mature seeds yield edible oil, which is used as a salad oil. The seeds can be baked and ground into meal for use as a coffee substitute. The leaves are sometimes used as a cooked green vegetable or as feed for cattle. The fibre of mature okra stems is sometimes processed into rope and paper. Okra gum is used industrially. The yield in oil, the quality of its proteins and the use of the stem in paper-making reveal that okra has economic potential for cultivation. In Asian medicine the fruit of the okra plant A. esculentus is used as a mucilaginous food additive against gastric irritative and inflammatory diseases (Elzebroek and Wind, 2008; George, 2010; Maiti et al., 2012).

Bautista ODK & Cadiz TG, 1967. Okra. In: Knott JE & Deanon Jr JR (eds). Vegetable production in South-East Asia. University of the Philippines Press, Los Banos, the Philippines, 263-268.

Charrier A, 1984. Genetic resources of Abelmoschus (okra). International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR), Rome, Italy.
IBPGR, 1991. Report of an international workshop on okra genetic resources, held at the National Bureau for Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi, India, 8-12 October 1990. International Crop Network Series. 5. International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR), Rome, Italy.

Markose BL & Peter KV, 1990. Okra. Review of research on vegetables and tuber crops. Technical Bulletin 16. Kerala Agricultural University Press, Mannuthy, Kerala, India.

Martin FW & Rubert R, 1978. Vegetables for the hot humid tropics. Part 2. Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus. Mayaguez Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Puerto Rico, United States.

Siemonsma JS, 1982. West African okra - morphological and cytogenetical indications for the existence of a natural amphidiploid of Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench and A. manihot (L.) Medikus. Euphytica 31:241- 252.

Siemonsma JS, 1982. La culture du gombo (Abelmoschus spp.), l gume-fruit tropical (avec référence spéciale à la Côte d'Ivoire) [Cultivation of the tropical fruit-vegetable okra (Abelmoschus spp.), with special reference to Ivory Coast]. Thesis, Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands.