Nutritional Freshwater Life
64
Limnophila aromaticoides (Yuen P. Yang & S.H. Yen)
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Common name: Rice paddy plant, rice
paddy herb.
Distribution: Native to Southeast Asia,
North America.
Habitat: Swamps, water, or marshy
places.
Description: It is a smooth herb with
stems that are stout, erect,  simple,
30–60 cm in length, and rarely branched
above. Leaves are linear-oblong or
oblong-lanceolate, 2–6 cm in length,
0.5–1 cm in width, opposite and whorled,
with pointed tip, rounded and clasping
base, and toothed margins. Flowers are
pink or pale purple, and borne singly or
in whorls in inflorescences at the axils of
the leaves. Calyx is about 4 mm long and
corolla is 1.2 cm long. The leafy stems of
this species are edible (Yang and Yen,
1997).
Nutritional Facts
Proximate Composition (g/100 g DM)
Moisture a CHO b Protein Fat Fiber Ash Energy c
94.9
44.6
10.0
3.3 16.7 13.3
248
a g/100 g WW.
b Carbohydrate.
c kcal/100 g DW.
Minerals (per g or 100 g DM)
Na (mg/g) K (mg/g) Mg (mg/g) Ca (mg/100 g) Fe (mg/100 g) Zn (µg/g) Cu (µg/g)
10.5
21.8
3.13
11.9
11.3
216.4
61.3
Vitamins (µg/g WW)
Asc
γT
αT
Thi
Rib
844.6
7.0
14.8
16.6
13.7
Asc, ascorbic acid; γT, γ-tocopherol; αT,
α-tocopherol; Thi, thiamin; Rib, riboflavin.
Source: Data from Ng et al. (2012).