PART 3 - Review on edible water lilies and lotus: Future food, nutrition and their health benefits

Nymphaea lotus plants grow in Lake Ziway at a water depth from 50 to 111 cm, light penetration from 17 to 21 cm depth, slightly alkaline water pH ranging from 8.03 to 8.92, and water temperature from 21.54 to 24.77°C. Locally, its leaf is known as ‘Balbate’, while the edible rhizome is known as ‘Kinta’, ‘Moche’, or ‘Kurumbo’ (Abelti et al., 2023). Moreover, around Lake Ziway, Typha latifola, Arundo donax, and Nymphaea lotus were reported to be the edible aquatic plants harvested as food (Merga, 2021).

This may be another issue that needs attention during the processing of BLRDs. Lotus rhizome is rich in phenolic acids and flavonoids, as well as some metal elements such as iron, copper and zinc (Abelti et al., 2023; Li et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2022). Based on our previous report, we found that polyphenols from lotus rhizome and ferrous sulfate could form chelates under certain conditions, causing the lotus rhizomes to turn black or blue (Chen et al., 2024a).

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is one of the sweet potatoes commonly found in Indonesia. It contains salt (solute) and water (solvent), allowing ions to move freely [20,21]. This ionic movement produces electricity.