Nutritional Freshwater Life
52
Trapa natans (Linnaeus)
Order: Myrtales
Family: Lythraceae
Common name: Water caltrop, water
chestnut, buffalo nut, bat nut, devil pod,
ling nut.
Distribution: Native to warm temperate parts of Eurasia and Africa.
Habitat: Stagnant waters, lakes, channels with weak currents, ponds, and
marshes.
Description: The submerged  stem  of
this species reaches 3.6–4.5 m in length,
anchored into the mud by very fine
roots. It has two types of leaves: finely
divided feather-like submerged leaves
borne along the length of the stem, and
undivided floating leaves borne in a
rosette at the water’s surface. Floating
leaves have sawtooth edges and are
ovoid or triangular in shape, 2–3  cm
long. Four-petaled white  flowers are
seen. The nut-like fruit and seed of this
species are edible.
Nutritional Facts
Proximate Composition (% DM)
Moisture
Protein
Lipid Ash CHO a Fiber Energy b
7.6
11.4
8.0
13.3
67.3
4.2
347
a Carbohydrate.
b kcal/100 g.
Minerals (mg/100 g)
Cu
Fe
Mn
Zn
1.84
72.00
11.00 8.20
Source: Data from Lim (2013).
Proximate Composition (% WW)
Moisture Lipid Ash Fiber Protein
81.12
0.36 1.33 0.72
1.87
Source: Data from Shalab et al. (2012).