Okra Seed

Okra is a tall, warm-season annual plant with large hibiscus-like flowers, which are followed by ridged, tapering green pods that are filled with many round seeds. The seeds are about 4 to 6 millimetres across, dark green to grey-brown, and slightly hairy when immature. In young pods they are soft and tender and eaten with the flesh. In mature pods they become hard, dry and can be harvested for planting or for roasting. The pod itself is known for its mucilage, a slippery gel, but the seeds themselves are not slimy. Seeds contain protein and oil, including a high share of unsaturated fatty acids.

Okra's exact origins are debated, with suggestions including Ethiopia, West Africa and South Asia, and the crop has been grown in many warm regions for centuries. It spread through North Africa and the Middle East, and later across the Atlantic to the Americas and Caribbean, in part through the movement of enslaved West Africans. India, Nigeria, Sudan and other tropical countries grow large quantities. The plant needs a long, warm growing season and does not tolerate frost.

The records of okra cultivation go back to ancient Egypt or Ethiopia depending on the source, and the plant was known in the Arab world by the Middle Ages. It arrived in the New World by the 1600s and became a key ingredient in Southern United States dishes such as gumbo, a word thought to come from West African languages for okra.

The seeds themselves have been used in some places as a coffee substitute, especially during times when coffee was scarce, including in parts of the American South in the nineteenth century. More recently researchers have examined okra seed oil and flour as sources of protein and fat, and some cuisines in the Middle East and Africa use dried seeds in soups and sauces. Okra seeds are not a major commercial crop on their own, but they are an important part of the vegetable.

Fresh okra seeds are eaten inside the pod in gumbo, stews, curries, stir-fries and fried okra dishes. Mature seeds can be dried, roasted until dark and ground to make a caffeine-free hot drink with a flavour that resembles coffee but milder. Seeds can also be toasted and sprinkled over dishes or pressed for edible oil, which resembles cottonseed oil. In some regions, ground okra seeds are added to soups as a thickener. Roasting should be done gently and evenly to avoid burning.

Okra seeds contain protein, unsaturated fats, fibre and minerals, though they are eaten in small amounts and published nutrient values vary widely between varieties; the figures shown are approximate. The whole pod provides vitamin C, vitamin K, folate and soluble fibre. Okra seed oil is rich in linoleic and oleic acids. Early laboratory studies on seed extracts exist, but there is no reliable human evidence for health claims, and the seeds should be viewed as a traditional food.