Folic Acid and Plants

Edible Fruit Plants

• WebMD notes that many plants bear edible fruit that have naturally high folate levels. Bananas, strawberries, raspberries, pineapples, citrus, including lemons, oranges and grapefruit, as well as certain melons, particularly cantaloupe and honeydew, are all plants that bear fruit with a lot of natural folic acid. Variations of these plant products, such as juice or dried fruit snacks, are also good sources of folate.

Vegetable Plants

• Several vegetables are also listed by WebMD as folate-rich foods. Dark, leafy green vegetables, such as spinach, romaine lettuce, turnip greens, mustard greens, broccoli and bok choy have high folate levels, as do asparagus, okra and Brussels sprouts. Other vegetables that have naturally high folate levels include beets, tomatoes and corn.

Legumes

• Legumes, members of the botanical family Fabaceae, are another group of plants that have naturally high folate levels. Mother Nature's wide selection of beans, including soybeans, lima beans, kidney beans and mung beans, peas and lentils are an excellent source of organic folic acid whether eaten fresh or cooked after they have been dried.

Mushrooms

• Mushrooms are edible fungi that have high levels of folate. However, mushrooms aren't technically a plant, as the Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, points out -- they are members of the Kingdom Fungi. Never-the-less, mushrooms are a great source of natural folic acid, as well as several other vitamins and minerals essential for good health.