Legumes and nuts

Reporter: Dades, Dyan D.

A requirement of Bio 48: Economic Botany

Instructor: Ma’am Hannah P. Lumista

LEGUMES AND NUTSPart 1: Legumes

What are legumes?

Legumes

are members of the family Fabaceae/Leguminosae which includes all types of beans and various trees and ornamentals.

contain more protein material than any other vegetable product

Characteristics of Legumes

5-petal flower is irregular with bilateral

symmetry

Fruits is a pod/legume with 1 row of seedsSeeds contain food-storing cotylendons

rich in oil and protein High protein content of legume is correlated with the

presence of root nodules which contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Example is the species of Rhizobium

sub-families of family Fabaceae

Caesalpinioideae• The flowers are zygomorphic, not perfectly symmetrical, but

are very variable, for example, closely resembling Faboideaeflowers in Cercis, while symmetrical with five equal petals in Bauhinia. Most of the Caesalpiniodieae are shrubs and trees.

Mimosoideae• The petals are small and the stamens are the showiest part of

the flower. Among the Mimosoideae are the Acacia and Mesquite.

Faboideae or Papilionoideae• One petal is large and has a crease in it; the two adjacent

petals are on the sides, and the two bottom petals are joined together at the bottom, forming a boat-like structure.

History of Legumes

• Records from the oldest civilizations of Egypt and eastern Asia demonstrate the ancient use of various Old World beans, peas, vetches soybeans, and alfalfa.

• One of the early Greek botanists, Theophrastus, in summarizing much that had been learned up to his time, which was the third century before Christ, wrote of leguminous plants "reinvigorating" the soil and stated that beans were not a burdensome crop to the ground but even seemed to manure it.

• The Romans laid emphasis on the use of leguminous plants for green manuring; they also introduced the systematic use of crop rotations, a practice that was forgotten for a time during the early Middle Ages.

Some Common Edible

Legumes

Adzuki beans

• Scientific Name: Vigna angalaris

• Popular in Japan and often used in dessert and confections

•

Anasazi beans

• Scientific Name: Phaseolusvulgaris

• The Dramatic red and white heirloom bean of the American southwest

Black-eyed Peas

• Scientific Name: Vignaunguiculata

• Popular favorite in the South- a must on New Year’s for good luck

Black turtle beans

• Scientific Name: Phaseolusvulgaris

• Small jet-black bean, the ingredient in black bean soups popular in Latin American cuisine

Chick-peas

• Scientific Name: Cicer arietinum

• Also known as garbanzo and ceci; common in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods

Kidney beans

• Scientific Name: Phaseolusvulgaris

• Best known in chili; most-consumed legume in United States

Lentils

• Scientific Name: Lens culinaris

• Used in soups and stews; most important legume in India

Lima beans

• Scientific Name: Phaseoluslunatus

• A New World crop native to South America and named after Peruvian capital

Mung beans

• Scientific Name Vigna radiata

• Widely cultivated in India and China; best known as bean sprouts in Oriental cooking

Navy beans

• Scientific Name Phaseolusvulgaris

• Smallest white bean; celebrated in Boston baked beans

Pinto beans

• Scientific Name Phaseolusvulgaris

• Mottled pink and brown beans; used in refried beans and other Tex-Mex dishes

Soybean

• Glycine max

• is a small, bushy, erect or prostrate annual resembling the cowpea.

• native of Southeastern Asia, where over 1000 varieties are grown, Manchuria leading in commercial production, followed by Korea, Japan, and the Dutch East Indies.

Peanut

• Arachis hypogea

• is a true legume rather than a nut, for the shuck is merely a shell-like pod. The plant is a bushy or creeping annual with the peculiar habit of ripening itsfruit underground. The peanut is a native of Brazil but was early carried to the Old W orId tropics by the Portuguese explorers.