Okra

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), sometimes called lady's fingers, is a flowering plant from the mallow family that originally came from West Africa. People grow it in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas around the world for its edible seed pods, which are usually green but can be red in some varieties. It shows up in many different cuisines.

The plant is a perennial but is often treated as an annual in cooler climates. It can grow to about 2 meters tall. As a member of the mallow family, it is related to cotton, cocoa, and hibiscus. Its leaves are 10 to 20 centimeters long and wide, with five to seven lobes. The flowers are 4 to 8 centimeters across, with five petals that are white to yellow and often have a red or purple spot at the base. The pollen grains are round and about 188 microns wide. The fruit is a capsule up to 18 centimeters long with a pentagonal cross-section, and it holds many seeds.

The name "okra" comes from a West African language, likely Igbo, and first appeared in English in 1679 in the Colony of Virginia. The scientific name *Abelmoschus* is Neo-Latin from Arabic, meaning "father of musk," because the seeds smell sweet and musky when crushed. *Esculentus* is Latin for "edible."

Okra is an allopolyploid, meaning it has multiple sets of chromosomes from different ancestors, though its exact parents are uncertain. Possible relatives include *Abelmoschus ficulneus*, *A. tuberculatus*, and a diploid form of okra. No truly wild populations are known, and the West African variety is considered a cultigen. It likely started in East Africa, in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and eastern Sudan. From Arabia, it spread around the Mediterranean and eastward. The Umayyad conquest of Hispania brought it to Europe. One early account comes from Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati, who saw it being grown in Ayyubid Egypt in 1216, where locals ate the young pods with meals. The plant reached the Americas through the Atlantic slave trade, recorded in Brazil by 1658 and in Suriname by 1686. It may have entered southeastern North America from Africa in the early 1700s. By 1748, it was grown as far north as Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson noted it was common in Virginia by 1781, and by 1800 it was widespread across the Southern United States. The first mention of different cultivars appeared in 1806.

Okra is grown in tropical and warm temperate regions for its fibrous pods and round white seeds. It is one of the most heat- and drought-tolerant vegetables and can handle heavy clay soil and inconsistent moisture, but frost damages the pods. Seeds are soaked overnight before planting 1 to 2 centimeters deep. They need soil at least 20°C to germinate, which takes between six days (for soaked seeds) and three weeks. The plant requires full sunlight and soil with a pH between 5.8 and 7, ideally on the acidic side. Seedlings need plenty of water. Pods become fibrous and woody quickly, so they must be harvested within about a week of pollination, when they are 2 to 3 inches long. The first harvest usually comes about two months after planting. The most common disease is verticillium wilt, which causes yellowing and wilting. Other problems include powdery mildew in dry tropics, leaf spots, yellow mosaic, and root-knot nematodes. Resistance to yellow mosaic virus was achieved by crossing *A. esculentus* with *Abelmoschus manihot*, creating a variety called Parbhani kranti. In the U.S., most okra comes from Florida, especially around Dade in the south, and it is available there for ten months a year. Yields range from less than 18,000 to over 30,000 pounds per acre. Wholesale prices can reach $18 per bushel, or about $0.60 per pound. The Regional IPM Centers offer integrated pest management plans for Florida growers.

In 2023, world okra production was 11.5 million tonnes. India led with 62% of the total, followed by Nigeria and Mali.

Raw okra is 90% water, 7% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and very little fat. In a 100-gram serving, it provides 33 calories and is rich in vitamin C and vitamin K. It also has moderate amounts of thiamine, folate, magnesium, and potassium.

In medieval Islamic medicine, okra was considered a medicinal plant. Andalusian physician Ibn al-Baytar described it as having "cool" and "moist" traits, calling it the "moistest" of all vegetables, which was seen as undesirable.

Culinarily, okra is one of three thickeners used in Louisiana gumbo. Fried okra is a dish from the Southern United States. In Cuba and Puerto Rico, it is called quimbombó and appears in stewed dishes like quimbombó guisado, similar to gumbo. In the Dominican Republic, it is known as molondrón and used in traditional recipes. In Brazil, it is a key ingredient in regional dishes such as caruru (with shrimp) in the Northeast, and frango com quiabo (chicken with okra) and carne refogada.