Basella (vine spinach) nutrition facts

Basella or vine spinach is a popular tropical leafy-green vegetable, commonly grown as a backyard herb in the home gardens.

Vine-spinach belongs to the Basellaceae family and has two chief cultivars, Basella alba, which features green- stems and deep-green leaves, and Basella rubra with purplish stems and dark green leaves with pink veins.

It is native to South Asia, probably originated in the monsoon fed tropical regions of Malabar Coast of India and Sri Lanka. In Asia, basella is identified with different names. Some of the common names for this herb are Ceylon spinach, Malabar spinach, saan choy (Chinese), mong toi (Vietnamese), alugbati (Philippines), Pui saag (Bengali), remayong (Malay), etc.