Create allergy card
← Browse ingredients

Bitterleaf

Bitterleaf is a leafy vegetable with a pronounced bitter flavor, commonly cooked in soups, stews, and vegetable dishes.

Bitterleaf — illustrative ingredient image

About Bitterleaf

Bitterleaf is the edible leaf of a distinctly bitter leafy plant, used as a vegetable in soups, stews, sauces, and other cooked dishes. It is commonly chopped or shredded and combined with meat, fish, legumes, or other vegetables rather than used only as a garnish.

Its defining flavour is strongly bitter, with a texture ranging from tender to fibrous according to maturity and preparation. Washing, squeezing, or blanching can reduce some bitterness. Cooking softens the leaves, while dried leaves become more concentrated and need rehydration.

Bitterleaf leaves are green and sold fresh or dried. Fresh leaves may be whole, chopped, or shredded; dried leaves are usually crumbled or packaged as pieces. Blanching and repeated washing alter their colour, moisture, and bitterness before they are added to a dish.

Ingredient type
whole food

FOLLOW IT TO THE PLATE

Where will you meet it?

Explore the dishes that use this ingredient and their country and cuisine connections.

Explore linked dishes

ON A MENU OR LABEL

Find local names and written forms to help recognise this ingredient.

See local names

Where bitterleaf appears

1 linked foods

Find foods to recognise by country and type. Recipes and products vary; these are recorded ingredient connections.

Showing 1–1 of 1

Soups

Ingredient connections awaiting review · Coverage is still growing, including packaged snacks.

Name examples awaiting language review. Confirm the specific food or product.

Local names for bitterleaf

Names and romanised forms to recognise on menus and labels.

English

bitterleaf

Available names only. Languages may be spoken in other countries; a name alone does not identify every ingredient in a dish.

Bitterleaf nutrition & diet

Bitterleaf nutritional value

Vernonia, leaves, bitter, fresh, raw — WAFCT 04_022

Per 100 g of the edible portion in the named food form.

Calories
65kcal
Protein
5.0g
Carbs
6.7g
Fat
0.9g

Per 100 g edible portion. Source: Vincent et al., FAO/INFOODS Food Composition Table for Western Africa (2019). Carbohydrate is available carbohydrate calculated by difference; square-bracketed fat in the source uses continuous-extraction analysis. Values describe this reference form, not every recipe, cultivar or preparation.

Portions & preparation

Establish the plant identity and whether the material is fresh leaves, dried leaves, washed leaves, or a processed product before using a reference. Washing, squeezing, blanching, and cooking alter bitterness, water content, and edible yield. Soups and stews also require separate accounting for their accompanying ingredients.

Compare the right form: Identify the exact bitterleaf species and match fresh, washed, blanched, dried, or cooked leaves, including the edible portion used.

Diet considerations

Bitterleaf is a plant leafy vegetable, but its exact botanical identity should be confirmed. Plain cooked leaves differ from soups and stews containing meat, fish, shellfish, dairy, or stock. Preparations with grains, tubers, or thickened sauces can also change carbohydrate patterns and overall compatibility.

AI-authored reading notes · Awaiting editorial review. Measured values, where available, have a separate source above.

Dietary compatibility

  • Vegan
    Not established
  • Vegetarian
    Not established
  • Pescatarian
    Not established
  • Keto
    Not established
  • Paleo
    Not established
  • Low-carb
    Not established
  • Halal
    Not established
  • Kosher
    Not established
What these diet assessments mean
Vegan · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Vegetarian · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Pescatarian · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Keto · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Paleo · Not established
The ingredient form and processing have not been assessed against this dietary pattern.
Low-carb · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Halal · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish halal status.
Kosher · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish kosher status.

For the plain ingredient · Awaiting review. Diet compatibility is not allergy suitability or halal/kosher certification. Keto and low-carb depend on the portion.

Reviewed ingredient entryIngredient reference · Preparations vary

AI-generated illustration for visual context. It does not identify a particular product or establish allergen content.

Sources & review

Nutrition reference: FAO/INFOODS Food Composition Table for Western Africa (2019) — 04_022 ↗. Values are scaled from 100 g of the recorded edible form. Individual portions have no assumed fixed weight.

Expanded overview, name examples and nutrition notes are database drafts awaiting editorial review. Numeric nutrition values, where shown, have their own source and food-form reference.

The ingredient description and dish connections come from the draft catalogue and may change after review.

Last recorded verification: .