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Deborah French

Food Plants International

2011

Using the

Food Plants International

Database

A basic introduction using

the Solomon Islands database

as an example

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Read the section with the heading Important Disclaimer. This needs to be

read before the database can be used.

Once it has been read, click on the Accept button if the database is to be

used. The database will now open.

Click on the Quit button if the database is not to be used. The database will

close.

If you choose to Quit the program, the screen will turn light grey and a box

will appear in the centre of this page. The program is turning itself off, so

wait until the box disappears. The program will then turn off by itself.

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The list of choices on the opening screen

The list shown on the database will help you choose which part of the

database you would like to use.

The list is as follows:

Browse Records (Detailed information)

Browse Records (Summary list)

Find Plants by geographic range and/or physical characteristics

Find Plants by nutritional values

Purpose of the Database

About Food Plants International

The red Exit and Log Out box will close the database. A grey box will

appear. Don’t click on anything. Wait for a few seconds and the program

will close by itself.

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Changing the screen size of the database

Before you start using the database you may want to change the size of the

database page for easier reading.

When you see this window, there is more at the bottom of the screen than

you can see which will allow you to change the size of the database pages

for easier reading.

At the right hand side of the database, there is a scroll bar. Hold down the

left button of the mouse and pull the scroll bar down as far as it goes. Or

left click on the small black down arrow at the bottom of the scroll bar until

the lower edge of the database is shown.

(See next page)

Explaining the toolbar at the bottom left of the screen

The size of the database can be changed by clicking on buttons at hthe

bottom left of the page. By clicking on the icon like a small mountain, the

database becomes smaller.

By clicking on the large mountain icon, the database becomes larger.

Scroll bar

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Clicking on the 100 also changes the size. 100 is the normal size. As you

click on the other two icons, the 100 will change to show the size you have

chosen. (As shown in the next picture which shows the database screen at

50.)

The database page can be changed in another way. If you want to see

more of the information pages on your screen without scrolling up and

down so much, place the mouse cursor on the pale blue line below the

toolbar. A white double arrow will appear. Hold down the left mouse

button and move the mouse up. The arrow also moves up, too. As you

move the arrow up and down, you can find the best fit for your screen.

Not all the toolbars can be seen at the top. If you are not using these, click

the small rectangle next to the large mountain and the top toolbars will

disappear.

The following page explains more about this button.

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By clicking on the small rectangular icon, more toolbars appear at the top

of the screen to help find out more information.

An enlarged picture of the toolbars is shown below.

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Explaining the toolbars

Moving forwards and backwards in the database

The two small arrows on the left on the left of the toolbar move the plant

records forwards and backwards. Click on the backward arrow to see the

previous record. Click on the forward arrow to see the following record of

a plant.

Finding out the number of the plant in the database

The white rectangle shows the number of the plant record in the database.

That is, ‘5’ as shown above is the fifth plant in the Solomon Islands

database named as Spiny Weed.

How many edible plants are in the database for Solomon Islands?

The number 490 is the total number of plants that can be found in the

Solomon Islands database. There may be more edible plants yet to be

added.

Using the Find button:

Clicking on the Find button will make a blank plant page. Type the

common name of a plant in the top white space where the cursor is

blinking. Push the Enter button your keyboard and the page for this plant

will show.

If you are on the blank plant page and change your mind about finding a

plant, click on the Cancel Find button at the top right of the page.

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Using the Browse Records (Detailed information) bar

By clicking on the yellow Browse Records bar, the plant page appears on

the screen, for example, Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus). It is number

5 in the list of Solomon Islands edible plants in that database.

Database page for Elephant foot yam

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The different pages of information on each edible plant in the database

The database is like a stack of cards placed on top of one another. Each

card gives different information about the edible plants.

There are eight sets of information cards for each plant. Each set of

information has its own tab, or little white heading at the top of each ‘card’.

These are shown by the white writing on the blue pages.

The information on the page will be about the plant you have chosen until

you choose another plant. This means that the information under the

different tabs will be only about the plant named at the top of the page.

Here are the tabs enlarged: See next page for more explanations of use.

What is it?

Where does it grow?

Growing it

Nutrition

Photos

Drawings

References

How else is it known?

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What is it?

This tab will give a description of the plant, where it is found in the

environment, the family it belongs to and the parts of the plant that can be

eaten.

Click on the scroll bars at the right hand side of each white written section

to read all the information available. If there is a lot of information, it may

not all be shown. Or click on the small black arrows at the top and bottom

of the scroll bars.

Where does it come from?

This second tab gives the countries where the plant is found, the status of

the plant and any special notes about the plant.

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Growing it

This tab gives information of how the plant is used, how it is grown and its

production.

7utrition

This tab shows the nutritional value for the plant. It gives the edible section

of the plant on the left, then the Moisture, Energy, Protein, Provit A, Provit

C, Iron and Zinc information.

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Photos

Any available photos have been put in the database to help identify the

plants. Some photographs are missing because we do not have any yet.

Click on a photo to enlarge it so it can be seen more clearly. Click outside

the photo box (on the yellow or blue) to shrink the photo to its normal size

again.

Drawings of plants

Some plants have drawings available. Click on the drawing to enlarge it.

Click outside the box on the yellow to reduce it again.

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References

The references are a very important part of the database. They confirm, or

verify, in books and other written articles where the information has been

found about each plant. Interested people can find these articles in libraries

or on the internet and read the information for themselves.

The names of books or journals that have been bolded (or made darker),

are the books or journals where the author has specifically said that the

plant is edible.

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How else is it known?

Plants can be known by other names or have synonyms.

Each language group in the world will have their own names for their

plants. These are found in the box labelled Other names if they are known.

The scientific names of plant can be changed when scientists find out more

information about the plants. Or the scientists may find the information

about the plant is incorrect and give the name the correct name. These

name changes are found in the Synonyms box.

Common names: by clicking on the Common names box at the top of the

yellow section, all the names the plant has been given by people round the

world is shown. Click again and it disappears.

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Using the Find button: (repeated information)

Clicking on the Find button will make a blank plant page. Type the

common name of a plant in the top white space where the cursor is

blinking. Push the Enter button your keyboard and the page for this plant

will show.

If you are on the blank plant page and change your mind about finding a

plant, click on the Cancel Find button at the top right of the page.

Another way of searching the database is shown on the following pages.

These searches are more detailed and give you more information.

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Using the Search button to find specific plants in the database

On the plant information page, there is a blue Search button at the bottom

left of the screen. It is between Show All button and Search by Nutritional

Value button.

Click on the Search button and a page with blank white boxes appears.

By typing in information, the database can give you exactly what plant or

types of plants you want to find in a place.

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Common 7ame box

Click on the Common Name box. Type in the common name of the plant

you want to find in the database.

Click on the OK – SEARCH button. A blue page will appear with

Elephant yam listed.

Click on the small yellow arrow beside the scientific name and the detailed

pages of Elephant yam will appear again.

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To use the SEARCH button to find information on types of plants

The SEARCH page allows you to choose exactly what you want to find

out about the plants in a region (or country if you are using the World

Edible Plants database).

Leave the Common 7ame and Scientific 7ame boxes blank.

Move to the Plant Type box. Click on this box. Now a list of the types of

plants is shown. Click on the one you want and it is shown in both white

boxes next to each other.

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The next white box asks you to make a choice about the Distribution of

the plants you are researching.

Click in the box and another list appears. Choose where the plant grows by

clicking on the choice of bio regions.

The list of all the plants in the database is being selected by your choices

for plant information.

Now make choices in the Region A7D/OR Country boxes.

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Use the scroll bars to choose a region (or a country if using the World

Edible Plant database).

The boxes will give the same name.

When the chosen boxes are completed, click on OK – SEARCH. A list

appears of all the plants in these choices. For example, there are 62 shrubs

which grow in Solomon Islands in the tropics.

Click on the small yellow arrows on the left to go to the ‘Detailed

information’ pages.

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Edible Hibiscus is the first tropical shrub listed as growing in Solomon

Islands. Use the small black direction arrows at the top left of the

database page to move forwards and backwards through the list of plants.

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Printing information on plants

Click on the blue Print-Friendly View button at the bottom of the

database.

A white page will appear showing you what the information will look like

when it is printed. See next page.

Only one plant can be printed at a time.

An example of a Print-Friendly View. This is how the information will be

printed.

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Using the Layout button

At the top left of the database below the two direction arrows, there is the

word Layout and a button next to it. Click on this button to show all the

different parts of the database. Move the mouse up and down the list. Click

on the one you want to use.

Enlarged list

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Search By 7utritional Value

The blue button at the bottom of the database gives you access to the

nutrition database that is a joint part of the plant information database.

Click on this button to access the nutrition database.

Again a drop-down list appears for you to make some choices. Move the

mouse up and down to choose the Distribution area for a plant or plants.

Do the same for the Country or Region boxes.

Now choose a Country or Region by suing the drop-down lists.

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Now choose the Plant Type you are researching by using the pull-down

lists.

From the Edible Part list, choose the part you are researching.

Add any nutrition information you already know. Or leave the boxes blank.

Press OK-SEARCH.

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A blue and light purple list appears which shows the 10 tropical shrubs in

Solomon Islands which have edible fruit.

Click on any of the underlined headings above the yellow line. The list of

plants will change and will show the highest to lowest rating for the plants

in the list.

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Browse Records (Summary list)

Clicking on this button shows a list of all the plants in the database. Click

on each small yellow arrow at the left of each scientific name to read the

information about each plant.

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Find Plants by geographic range and/or physical characteristics

When this button is clicked, the Search page is shown on the screen. Fill in

the white boxes for the information you want to find.

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Find Plants by nutritional values

When this button is clicked, the Search page is shown on the screen. Fill in

the white boxes for the information you want to find.

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Purpose of the Database

Click on the Purpose of the Database bar to read about how the database

can be used. This can be important information for planning.

There are eleven points to read.

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About Food Plants International

Click on the About Food Plants International for more information on

Food Plants International.

This page gives information about the vision of Food Plants International,

the people for whom the database was begun, the way the database has

been set up, what the database is like now, and organisations who have

used the database in the past.

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Closing the database

Click on the red button at the top right of the screen. You have now started

to close the database.

A grey screen will appear. This is then followed by a small screen as shown

below. This small screen will show for a short time and then the database

will close by itself. This small box will flash as a reminder to wait for the

program to close.

We trust you enjoy using the Food Plants International database and that

the information will help yourself and many other people.

Deborah French

Food Plants International

2011