[edit]Uses by humans

A legume /lum/ in botanical writing is a plant in the

family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or a fruit of these specific
plants. A legume fruit is a simple dry fruit that develops
from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a
seam) on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is
a pod, although the term "pod" is also applied to a few other
fruit types, such as vanilla and radish. Well-known legumes
include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lentils, lupins, mesquite,
carob, soy, and peanuts. Locust trees (Gleditsia or Robinia),
wisteria, and the Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus)
are also legumes. [1] They are referred to in India as Kathod
or pulses, and are often mistaken for nuts at first glance. [2]

Farmed legumes can belong to many agricultural classes, including forage, grain,
blooms, pharmaceutical/industrial, fallow/green manure, and timber species. Most
commercially farmed species fill two or more roles simultaneously, depending upon
their degree of maturity when harvested.

Forage legumes are of two broad types. Some, like alfalfa, clover, vetch (Vicia), stylo
(Stylosanthes), or Arachis, are sown in pasture and grazed by livestock. Other forage
legumes such as Leucaena or Albizia are woody shrub or tree species that are either
broken down by livestock or regularly cut by humans to provide livestock feed.

Grain legumes are cultivated for their seeds, and are also called pulses. The seeds
are used for human and animal consumption or for the production of oils for
industrial uses. Grain legumes include beans, lentils, lupins, peas, and peanuts.[3]

Legume species grown for their flowers include lupins, which are farmed
commercially for their blooms as well as being popular in gardens
worldwide.[citation needed] Industrially farmed legumes include Indigofera and Acacia
species, which are cultivated for dye and natural gum production,
respectively. [citation needed] Fallow/green manure legume species are cultivated to be
tilled back into the soil in order to exploit the high levels of captured atmospheric
nitrogen found in the roots of most legumes. Numerous legumes farmed for this
purpose include Leucaena, Cyamopsis, and Sesbania species. Various legume species
are farmed for timber production worldwide, including numerous Acacia species
and Castanospermum australe.[citation needed]

[edit] Nutritional facts

Legumes contain relatively low quantities of the essential amino acid methionine -
however, this should not be a problem if an adequate amount of protein is
consumed.

According to the protein combining theory, legumes should be combined with

another protein source such as a grain in the same meal, to balance out the amino
acid levels. Protein combining has lost favor as theory (with even its original
proponent, Frances Moore Lapp, rejecting the need for protein combining in
1981[4]) - a variety of protein sources is considered healthy, but these do not have to
be consumed at the same meal. In any case, vegetarian cultures often serve legumes
along with grains, which are low in the essential amino acid lysine, creating a more
complete protein than either the beans or the grains on their own.

Common examples of such combinations are dal with rice by Indians, and beans
with corn tortillas, tofu with rice, and peanut butter with wheat bread. [5]

[edit] References

1. Cirrus Digital: Tree Encyclopedia

2. Kathod / Pulses: [1]
3. The gene bank and breeding of grain legumes (lupine, vetch, soya, and beah) , B.S.
Kurlovich and S.I. Repyev (eds.), St. Petersburg:N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant
Industry, 1995, 438p. - (Theoretical basis of plant breeding. V.111)
4. Diet for a Small Planet (ISBN 0-345-32120-0), 1981, p. 162; emphasis in original
5. Vogel, Steven. Prime Mover A Natural History of Muscle. W. W. Norton &
Company, Inc., USA (2003), p. 301. ISBN 0-393-32463-X; ISBN 978-0-393-32463-
1. in Google books

[edit] External links

Media related to Legumes at Wikimedia Commons

AEP - European association for grain legume research

Lupins - Geography, classification, genetic resources and breeding
ILDIS - International Legume Database & Information Service
Bioversity International The significance of Vavilovs scientific expeditions and
ideas for development and use of legume genetic resources
Legume Futures A major research initiative to develop novel uses for legumes
in environmentally and economically sustainable cropping.