Euryale ferox

Last updated

Euryale ferox
Junicho-Gata lagoon Euryale feroxe habitat 07.jpg
Euryale ferox in Himi, Toyama, Japan
Gyoda Euryale ferox 1.JPG
Flower
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Order: Nymphaeales
Family: Nymphaeaceae
Genus: Euryale
Salisb.
Species:
E. ferox
Binomial name
Euryale ferox
Synonyms [2]
  • Anneslea spinosa Andrews
  • Euryale ferox f. ussuriense Regel
  • Euryale indica Planch.

Euryale ferox, commonly known as prickly waterlily, [3] makhana, or Gorgon plant, is a species of water lily found in southern and eastern Asia, and the only extant member of the genus Euryale. The edible seeds, called fox nuts or gorgon nuts, are dried and eaten predominantly in Asia.

Contents

The plant is cultivated for its seeds in lowland ponds in India, China, and Japan. The Indian state of Bihar produces 90% of the world's fox nuts. The Chinese have cultivated the plant for centuries. In India, more than 96,000 hectares of Bihar were set aside for cultivation of Euryale in 1990–1991. In the northern and western parts of India, the seeds are often roasted or fried like popcorn.

Description

Euryale ferox grows in freshwater ponds. The leaves are large, round and peltate, often more than 1 m (3 ft) across, sometimes to 2.7 m (9 ft) diameter, with a distinctive puckered top. The stalk is at the centre on the underside. [4] [5] The leaves are deep green; the leaf veins are purplish. The stems and leaves are covered in sharp prickles. The flowers are 5 cm diameter, with violet outer petals and white inner petals; they often pierce through the leaves. The fruit is a spiny capsule 5–10 cm diameter, containing numerous spongy-textured seeds. [4] It grows in rich soil under water. It does not tolerate shade or cold during the growing season, though when dormant in winter it is not harmed by severe winter cold. [6] [7]

Reproduction and genomics

Eurygale ferox is capable of self-pollination. Pollen is released before the flower opens. [8] The majority of Euryale ferox flowers are cleistogamous, not opening for cross-pollination, though some normally-opening (chasmogamous) flowers do occur. [9]

The chromosome count is n = 29. The genome size is 870.42 Mb. [10] The chloroplast genome is 159930 bp long. [11]

Cultivation

Lightly roasted puffed makhana Foxnut Makhana - Nawada District - Bihar - 1.jpg
Lightly roasted puffed makhana

The seeds [12] and petioles are used as food. [13] In India, more than 96,000 hectares of Bihar, where the local variety (and the nuts it produces) is called Mithila Makhana , were set aside for cultivation of Euryale in 1990–1991. [14] India is the largest global producer of Makhana (fox nut), with over 90% of cultivation concentrated in the floodplain regions of Bihar, particularly in districts like Darbhanga, Madhubani, and Purnia. Makhana has also emerged as a key agri-export commodity, valued for its nutritional profile and geographical indication. [15] [4] In the northern and western parts of India, Euryale ferox seeds are often roasted or fried like popcorn. [16] In other types of cooking, they form a porridge or pudding called kheer. [7] The seeds are used in Cantonese soup, [17] in Ayurveda preparations, and in traditional Chinese medicine. [4]

Evidence from archaeobotany indicates that Euryale ferox was a frequently collected wild food source during the Neolithic period in the Yangtze region, with many finds from the sites of Kuahuqiao, Hemudu, and Tianluoshan. [18] The earliest recorded use of E. ferox is from Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel, among artifacts of the Acheulean culture 750–790,000 years ago. [12]

Fox nuts have traditionally been harvested by diving without breathing equipment to a depth of 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) in freshwater ponds. This is arduous, with skin hazards from mud and the plant's thorns. In the 21st century, the National Research Centre for Makhana has pioneered the plant's cultivation in fields flooded to a depth of 30 cm (12 in) which makes production and harvesting easier. The area of land devoted to fox nut production has increased to 35,000 ha (86,000 acres) by 2022. The centre has developed a more productive variety, increasing farm income, and is designing a harvesting machine. [19]

Taxonomy

The species was described by Richard Anthony Salisbury in 1805. It is a member of the water lily family Nymphaeaceae. [2] It is the type species of its genus. [20] In 1811, Henry Cranke Andrews described Anneslea spinosa, now treated as a synonym of E. ferox. [21] In 1853, Jules Émile Planchon described Euryale indica, now also treated as a synonym. [22] The placement in a separate family Euryalaceae J.Agardh, which was proposed by Jacob Georg Agardh in 1858, [23] [24] has been rejected. [24] [25] Unlike other water lilies, the pollen grains of Euryale have three nuclei. [26]

The genus is named after a mythical Greek monster, the Gorgon Euryale. [14] The specific epithet ferox means fierce or ferocious in Latin. [27] मखाना ("Makhanā") is the Hindi name for the plant. [28]

Distribution

Euryale ferox is a perennial plant native to a range from northern India to Taiwan and through China, Korea, and Japan to far eastern Russia. [29]

In 2022, E. ferox was recorded as naturalised in Serbia, probably dispersed from plants grown in botanical gardens by migrating birds. [30]

Conservation status

The species is classified on the Red List of endangered plants in Japan and given the designation "vulnerable", as it is threatened both by water pollution and by land reclamation there. [9] [31] It is similarly rated as vulnerable (VU) in South Korea. [32] It is classified as a species of Least Concern (LC) in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to its extensive use and cultivation in China. [1] However, a global population decline has been reported. [9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Zhuang, X. 2011. Euryale ferox. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T168756A6535154. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T168756A6535154.en. Accessed on 03 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Euryale ferox Salisb". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  3. ↑ Lee, Sangtae; Chang, Kae Sun, eds. (2015). English Names for Korean Native Plants (PDF). Pocheon: Korea National Arboretum. p. 466. ISBN   978-89-97450-98-5 . Retrieved 7 March 2019– via Korea Forest Service.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Flora of China: Euryale ferox". efloras.org. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  5. ↑ Gardener's Chronicle, Volume 81 (third series) issue 2098 (March 12, 1927) page 127
  6. ↑ "Euryale ferox Foxnut, Euryale PFAF Plant Database". pfaf.org. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Euryale ferox (Foxnut, Gorgon Plant, Makhana, Prickly Water Lily)". North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  8. ↑ Povilus, R. A., Losada, J. M., & Friedman, W. E. (2015). "Floral biology and ovule and seed ontogeny of Nymphaea thermarum, a water lily at the brink of extinction with potential as a model system for basal angiosperms." Annals of Botany, 115(2), 211-226.
  9. 1 2 3 Imanishi, A.; Imanishi, J. (2014). "Seed dormancy and germination traits of an endangered aquatic plant species, Euryale ferox Salisb.(Nymphaeaceae)" (PDF). Aquatic Botany . 119: 80–83. Bibcode:2014AqBot.119...80I. doi:10.1016/j.aquabot.2014.08.001.
  10. ↑ Chen, Fei; Liu, Xing; Yu, Cuiwei; Chen, Yuchu; Tang, Haibao; Zhang, Liangsheng (2017). "Water lilies as emerging models for Darwin's abominable mystery" (PDF). Horticulture Research. 4 (1): 17051. Bibcode:2017HorR....417051C. doi:10.1038/hortres.2017.51. PMC   5626932 . PMID   28979789.
  11. ↑ Guo, Z.; Min, J. (2020). "Characterization the complete chloroplast genome of Euryale ferox (Nymphaeaceae), an medicinal plant species in China". Mitochondrial DNA Part B. 5 (3): 2389–2390. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2020.1775516 . PMC   7782232 . PMID   33457802.
  12. 1 2 Goren-Inbarand, N.; Melamed, Y.; Zohar, I.; Akhilesh, K.; Pappu, S. (2014-10-11). "Beneath Still Waters – Multistage Aquatic Exploitation of Euryale ferox (Salisb.) during the Acheulian". Internet Archaeology (37). doi: 10.11141/ia.37.1 . Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  13. ↑ Khapudang, Ringshangphi; Loukrakpam, Lanchenbi Chanu; Jadaun, Sadhana; Sharma, Usha; Siddiqui, Saleem (2024). "Wild Edible and Wetland Plants of Manipur: Their Sustainable Food Usage". Sustainable Food Systems (Volume I). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 107–129. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-47122-3_6. ISBN   978-3-031-47121-6.
  14. 1 2 Lariushin, Boriss (2012). Solanaceae family. Boriss Lariushin. p. 17. ISBN   978-1478191834.
  15. ↑ "Makhana in India: The Ultimate Guide to Cultivation, Nutrition, Grading & Global Demand". Merakisan.com. 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Are popped lotus seeds the next popcorn?". Foodnavigator. April 25, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  17. ↑ Liu, Yujing; et al. (2018). "Plants traditionally used to make Cantonese slow-cooked soup in China". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 14 (1): 4. doi: 10.1186/s13002-018-0206-y . PMC   5769313 . PMID   29334976.
  18. ↑ Fuller, D. Q.; Qin, L.; Zheng, Y.; Zhao, Z.; Chen, X.; et al. (2009). "The Domestication Process and Domestication Rate in Rice: Spikelet bases from the Lower Yangtze" . Science. 323 (5921): 1607–1610. Bibcode:2009Sci...323.1607F. doi:10.1126/science.1166605. PMID   19299619. S2CID   21357179.
  19. ↑ Gupta, Priti (13 August 2024). "The 'superfood' taking over fields in northern India". BBC . Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  20. ↑ "Euryale Salisb". Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  21. ↑ Andrews, Henry Cranke. "Anneslea spinosa Andrews", The botanist's repository 10: t. 618 1811.
  22. ↑ Planchon, Jules Émile. "Euryale indica Planch.", Annales des Sciences Naturelles Botanique III, 19: 29 1853.
  23. ↑ "Euryalaceae J. Agardh". Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  24. 1 2 Reveal, J. L.; Chase, M. W. (2011). "APG III: Bibliographical information and synonymy of Magnoliidae". Phytotaxa . 19 (1): 71–134. Bibcode:2011Phytx..19...71R. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.19.1.4.
  25. ↑ "Euryalaceae J.Agardh, 1858". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
  26. ↑ Cronquist, Arthur (1981). An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants . New York: Columbia University Press. p.  111. ISBN   978-0-231-03880-5.
  27. ↑ "Datura ferox". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. n.d. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  28. ↑ "Makhana, Mākhaṇa, Makhanā: 6 definitions". Wisdom Library. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  29. ↑ "Euryale ferox Salisb". Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  30. ↑ Živković, M.; Pejčić, L.; Paskaš, N.; Bajić, A.; Šipoš, Š.; Perić, R.; Novakovic, B. (February 2023). First recent record of Prickly Waterlily (Euryale ferox) Salisb. (Nymphaeaceae) in freshwaters of Europe. 44th International Association for Danube Research Conference, Krems, Austria.
  31. ↑ Kumar, Nitish; Rani, Shweta; Kuamr, Gaurav; Kumari, Swati; Singh, Indu Shekhar; Gautam, S.; Choudhary, Binod Kumar (25 October 2018). "Physiological and biochemical responses of Makhana (Euryale ferox) to gamma irradiation". Journal of Biological Physics. 45 (1): 1–12. doi: 10.1007/s10867-018-9511-x . PMC   6408554 . PMID   30361812.
  32. ↑ Kim, S. B., ed. (2014). "Korean red list of threatened species" (PDF). National Institute of Biological Resources.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.