Okra
Okra or Okro (, ), "Abelmoschus esculentus", known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. Its edible green seed pods are a food. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of West African, Ethiopia, Southeast Asian, and South Asian origins. The plant is cultivated in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions around the world and is a notable part of the cuisine of the Southern United States as well as Middle Eastern cuisine, Indian cuisine, Brazilian cuisine and Sri Lankan cuisine. Etymology. "Abelmoschus" is New Latin from Arabic  أَبُو المِسْك (ʾabū l-misk, “father of musk”), while "esculentus" is Latin for being fit for human consumption. The first use of the word okra (Alternatively; "okro" or "ochro") appeared in 1679 in the Colony of Virginia, deriving from the Igbo word . The word gumbo was first recorded to be used in American vernacular around 1805, deriving from Louisiana Creole, but originates from either the Umbundu word "ochinggômbo" or the Kimbundu word "ki-ngombo." Despite the fact that in most of the United States the word "gumbo" often refers to the dish, gumbo, many places in the Deep South may  have used it to refer to the pods and plant as well as many other variants of the word found across the African diaspora in the Americas. Origin and distribution. Okra is an allopolyploid of uncertain parentage. However, proposed parents include "Abelmoschus ficulneus", "A. tuberculatus" and a reported "diploid" form of okra. Truly wild (as opposed to naturalised) populations are not known with certainty, and the West African variety has been described as a cultigen. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of Southeast Asian, South Asian, Ethiopian and West African origins. The Egyptians and Moors of the  12th and 13th centuries used the Arabic word for the plant, "bamya", suggesting it had come into Egypt from Arabia, but earlier it was probably taken from Ethiopia to Arabia. The plant may have entered southwest Asia across the Red Sea or the Bab-el-Mandeb straight to the Arabian Peninsula, rather than north across the Sahara, or from India. One of the earliest European accounts is by a Spanish Moor who visited Egypt in 1216 and described the plant under cultivation by the locals who ate the tender, young pods with meal. From Arabia, the plant spread around the  shores of the Mediterranean Sea and eastward. Botany and cultivation. The species is a perennial, often cultivated as an annual in temperate climates, often growing to around tall. As a member of the Malvaceae, it is related to such species as cotton, cocoa, and hibiscus. The leaves are long and broad, palmately lobed with 5–7 lobes. The flowers are in diameter, with five white to yellow petals, often with a red or purple spot at the base of each petal. The pollens are spherical with approximately 188 microns diameter. The fruit is a capsule up to long with pentagonal cross -section, containing numerous seeds. "Abelmoschus esculentus" is cultivated throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world for its fibrous fruits or pods containing round, white seeds. It is among the most heat- and drought-tolerant vegetable species in the world and will tolerate soils with heavy clay and intermittent moisture, but frost can damage the pods. In cultivation, the seeds are soaked overnight prior to planting to a depth of . It prefers a soil temperature of at least for germination, which occurs between six days (soaked seeds) and three weeks. As a tropical plant, it also requires a  lot of sunlight, and it should also be cultivated in soil that has a pH between 5.8 and 7, ideally on the acidic side. Seedlings require ample water. The seed pods rapidly become fibrous and woody and, to be edible as a vegetable, must be harvested when immature, usually within a week after pollination. The first harvesting will typically be ready after about 2 months of plantation, and it will be approximately 2-3 inches long. The most common disease afflicting the okra plant is verticillium wilt, often causing a yellowing and wilting of the leaves. Other diseases include powdery  mildew in dry tropical regions, leaf spots, yellow mosaic and root-knot nematodes. Resistance to yellow mosaic virus in "A. esculentus" was transferred through a cross with "Abelmoschus manihot" and resulted in a new variety called "Parbhani kranti". Food and uses. Pods. The pods of the plant are mucilaginous, resulting in the characteristic "goo" or slime when the seed pods are cooked; the mucilage contains soluble fiber. One possible way to de-slime okra is to cook it with an acidic food, such as tomatoes, to render the mucilage less viscous. Pods are cooked, pickled, eaten raw, or included in  salads. Okra may be used in developing countries to mitigate malnutrition and alleviate food insecurity. In cuisine. In Cuba and Puerto Rico, the vegetable is referred to as "quimbombó", and is used in dishes such as "quimbombó guisado" (stewed okra), a dish very similar to Southern gumbo. It is also used in traditional dishes in the Dominican Republic, where it is called "molondrón". In South Asia, the pods are used in many spicy vegetable preparations as well as cooked with chicken. Nutrition. Raw okra is 90% water, 2% protein, 7% carbohydrates and contains negligible fat. In a 100 gram reference  amount, raw okra is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of dietary fiber, vitamin C, and vitamin K, with moderate contents of thiamin, folate and magnesium (table). Leaves and seeds. Young okra leaves may be cooked in a similar way to the greens of beets or dandelions, or in salads. Okra seeds may be roasted and ground to form a caffeine-free substitute for coffee. When importation of coffee was disrupted by the American Civil War in 1861, the "Austin State Gazette" said, "An acre of okra will produce seed enough to furnish a plantation  with coffee in every way equal to that imported from Rio." Greenish-yellow edible okra oil is pressed from okra seeds; it has a pleasant taste and odor, and is high in unsaturated fats such as oleic acid and linoleic acid. The oil content of some varieties of the seed is about 40%. At 794 kg/ha, the yield was exceeded only by that of sunflower oil in one trial. A 1920 study found that a sample contained 15% oil. Industrial uses. Bast fibre from the stem of the plant has industrial uses such as the reinforcement of polymer composites . The mucilage produced by the okra plant can be used for the removal of turbidity from wastewater by virtue of its flocculant properties. Having composition similar to a thick polysaccharide film, okra mucilage is under development as a biodegradable food packaging, as of 2018. A 2009 study found okra oil suitable for use as a biofuel.