What is the Prickly Water Lily?
The seed of the water lily plant is known traditionally for its many superfood qualities and used as an ancient medicine due to its countless health benefits. The prickly water lily plant, botanically called Euryale (pronounced U-Riley) ferox, is named after the Greek mythological figure Euryale, sister of Medusa. This aquatic plant thrives in hot summer marshlands, and is found mainly in India, China and Japan.
Prickly Water Lily Leaf
The leaves are large, round, olive green leaves that can grow up to 4 to 5 feet wide in diameter. The leaves are quilted, with deep purple veins and float on water with sharp prickly thorns.
Water Lily Flower
This plant produces vibrant purple flowers that resemble the well-known lotus flower. However, these two plants are quite distinct in the seeds that they produce.
Seed Pods Containing Water Lily Seeds
After the plant's flowering period comes to an end, the magnificent spiky pods take over, containing the precious seeds within. Once the pods have turned a rich brown color and the seeds have reached their full potential, the pods burst and release the seeds in the water body.
Unpopped Mature Seeds
This image shows the mature seeds that are a hard black shell. These shelled mature seeds are naturally harvested by collecting them from the water body. They must be cleaned, sun-dried and cracked open to remove the shell and reveal the fluffy white lily seeds.
The seeds are cleaned, sun-dried, roasted, and popped to create a superfood similar in appearance to popcorn but far more nutritious and a powerhouse of micronutrients like calcium, magnesium, iron and phosphorus. The popped water lily seed is called makhana (pronounced muh-ka-na) in Hindi, fox nut or gorgon nut in English, and even mistakenly called lotus seed.
Check out a scientific evidence based post for its numerous health benefits: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/makhana-benefits