Nutritional Freshwater Life
40
Nymphaea odorata (Aiton) (= Nymphaea tuberosa)
Order: Nymphaeales
Family: Nymphaeaceae
Common name: Fragrant water lily,
American water lily, white water lily.
Distribution: Throughout North America, where it ranges from Central America to northern Canada.
Habitat: Shallow lakes, ponds, and permanent slow-moving waters.
Description: The plant is rooted from a
branched  rhizome,  which gives rise to
long  petioles  that terminate in smooth
floating leaves. Leaves are round with
a waxy upper coating that is water
repellent. Flowers also float. They are
radially symmetric with prominent
yellow stamens and many white petals.
The flowers open each day and close
again each night and are very fragrant.
The seeds, rhizomes, flowers, and
leaves of this plant are edible.
Nutritional Facts
Proximate Composition (% DM)
Ash
Fat
Protein
4.24
8.57
40.0
Amino Acids (% DM)
Arginine
2.83
Histidine
1.07
Isoleucine
1.97
Leucine
3.82
Methionine
0.71
Phenylalanine
2.24
Threonine
1.91
Valine
2.62
Source: Data from Boyd (1968b).
Minerals (% or mg/100 g DM)
Ca
(%)
P
(%)
K
(%)
Na
(%)
Mg
(%)
Fe
(mg)
Mn
(mg)
Mo
(mg)
2.76 0.13 1.56 0.165 0.440 391 112 14.4
Source: Data from Linn et al. (1975).