Are gourd leaves edible?
That is, the leaves of a gourd, I know a lot of menus include the fruit of the gourd, but not the leaves.
I am looking for a way to eat them, if possible maybe I can include in a dish or maybe a side dish? If not, can I eat it raw? Because this seems to be abundant here in the Philippines.
Best Answer
At least some cucurbit leaves are edible, and here.
The genus isn't known for producing toxins, but there may be a few wild cards in there. Proceed with caution, if you proceed at all. I'll stick with Habanero, Bell, and Jalapeno pepper leaves cooked in butter and lemon juice.
There are books with titles like "Edible Plants of the Tropics" or perhaps even "Edible Plants of the Philippines", that can probably tell you about your particular gourd, but you'll probably have to go to a college botanical library to find them.
Later, while cleaning out old files: The book I was thinking of is called Edible Leaves of the Tropics by Martin, Ruberte and Metzner. The third edition came out in 1998, so if your library doesn't have it, there are now lots of places to buy it.
Pictures about "Are gourd leaves edible?"
12 Edible Leaves from a Permaculture Garden 🌿Can you eat the Leaves?
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Izabella Árvai, Tim Mossholder, MART PRODUCTION, Toni Cuenca