Legume Science最新文献

The Andean lima bean (ALB) (Phaseolus lunatus L.), also known as “Pallar” in Peru, is a large, semi-flat, kidney-shaped rarely investigated legume. This ancestral legume lacks in-depth scientific reports and is mainly cultivated in the coastal region of the Ica valley. Its consumption dates back to ancient times, as evidenced by archaeological finds from pre-Columbian civilizations in Peru, and it is still part of the Peruvian diet today. ALB has been domesticated and adapted to climate change in arid territories and under peculiar agronomic conditions in Peru, making the crop tolerant to various stresses, including drought. Like the common bean, ALB is an important source of protein, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and micronutrients that are essential for a nutritious diet. However, the information on its diversity, particularly the native varieties that are the ancestors of the commercial lima bean “Pallar de Ica,” is scarce. Therefore, this review consisted of synthesizing and analyzing important aspects of the little known ALB, such as its morphological description, domestication, response to climate change, nutritional composition, and relevance to food security and potential for cultivation to address food shortages.

Pigeon pea is one of the most multipurpose grain legumes in the tropical and subtropical world. It is highly resilient to climate change due to drought tolerance. It ranks sixth following common beans, chickpeas, field peas, cowpeas, and lentils globally. Pigeon pea is an excellent source of high-quality protein, essential amino acids, and minerals. Furthermore, pigeon pea is endowed with valuable water-soluble vitamins such as thiamin, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, and niacin. With low levels of saturated fat and sodium and being cholesterol free, pigeon peas emerge as a nutritious dietary choice. Pigeon peas are rich sources of bioactive compounds with various potential health properties, including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, and antidiabetic effects. Pigeon peas can be consumed in diverse forms, including whole seeds, split seeds (known as dhal), vegetables using green seeds, and fresh pods. Moreover, pigeon peas find application in a variety of food products, including bread, pasta, noodles, snacks, and biscuits. Despite their nutritional and medicinal properties, pigeon peas remain among the least utilized legumes globally. This review paper aims to provide up-to-date information on the nutritional compositions, bioactive compounds, food applications, and health benefits of pigeon peas.

Protein deficiency, especially among children, is prevalent in most developing countries. One sustainable strategy proposed to tackle this deficiency is by incorporating locally available but underutilised staple foods that are rich in proteins such as Bambara groundnut into pre-existing and popular diets such as porridge prepared from roasted maize flour. This strategy can also be used to tackle vitamin A deficiency which is common among children and pregnant women through the incorporation of ripe plantain—a vitamin A rich staple. In this study, the quality of composite flours prepared from roasted maize, Bambara groundnut and ripe plantain and the acceptability of porridge made thereof was investigated. Increasing the levels of Bambara groundnut and ripe plantain increased the protein and β-carotene levels, respectively, without affecting the physicochemical quality. Increasing the content of ripe plantain increased the iron content; however, higher levels of the Bambara groundnut increased the tannin content. Flash profiling showed that flour composition influenced the attributes of the porridges; however, hedonic sensory scores showed no differences in acceptability with respect to the aroma, appearance, texture and taste.

Extensive grazing systems often receive minimal fertiliser due to the risk associated with using relatively expensive inputs. Nevertheless, nutrient applications are known to improve pasture productivity, and the benefit of applying fertiliser is being more widely accepted. Two tropical pasture mixes (Digit/Desmanthus and Rhodes/Centro) were established in plastic boxes containing phosphorus (P) responsive soil to investigate shoot yield and P fertiliser recovery. The grasses and legumes were planted in separate rows, and three P treatments were applied along with the seed (‘BOTH low-P’ had 2 kg P ha⁻¹ banded below both components, ‘BOTH high-P’ had 12 kg P ha⁻¹ banded below both components and ‘LEGUME superhigh-P’ had 12 kg P ha⁻¹ banded below the legume only). The P applied below the legumes was labelled with ³²P-radioisotope tracer. When P fertiliser was applied below both components, the grasses consistently out-yielded the legumes (avg. legume content = 29%). Preferential fertiliser application below the legumes increased the average legume content of the two pasture mixes to 66%. Legume tissue P derived from applied P fertiliser increased from 20% to 77% as the P application rate was increased. However, total recovery of applied P by the legumes was relatively low in each of the treatments (≤ 7% of applied P). These collective results demonstrate that a preferential application of P fertiliser can benefit legume productivity, with applied P being a significant proportion of plant tissue P. Although only a small proportion of applied P was recovered within the seven-week growth period, it is expected that this fertiliser application at planting will remain beneficial for a large proportion of the growing season following pasture establishment.

Lentil (Lens culinaris L.) is a versatile and nutrient-dense food legume crop with demonstrated health benefits. As people are trying to minimize health-related issues through healthy eating, lentils are gaining more popularity. Several processing methods, including heating, germination, fermentation, and extrusion, are frequently utilized to prepare this extensively consumed legume, transforming it into delicious and nutritious dishes while also optimizing its medicinal attributes. However, both in vitro and in vivo studies using the processed lentils effectively demonstrated their functional benefits including cardioprotective, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and anticarcinogenic activities. These facts make a strong case that consuming processed lentils can lower the likelihood of developing noncommunicable chronic illnesses like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and so on. The conservation of bioactive substances including phenolic compounds and flavonoids is key to the processed lentils' beneficial health effects. These bioactive compounds have an impact on human physiology, neutralizing the excess free radicals or oxidants from damaging cell, which leads to improved health and well-being. In this article, we reviewed and summarized the results from studies on processed lentils that have an impact on human health. By combining available studies, this review article provides an up-to-date and well-informed viewpoint on improving health through dietary interventions, specifically looking at processed lentils and their potential to systematically lower disease risk and obtain health benefits.

Extrusion processing of legumes has gained increased commercial significance in recent years. Food legumes or pulses are a rich source of protein, total dietary fiber, starch, minerals, selected vitamins, and other bioactive compounds with antioxidant activity. The relatively higher protein and lower carbohydrate contents than cereal grains make legumes a healthy choice for developing new food products. While legumes are a staple in many developing countries, their consumption remains to be very low in most of the developed countries. Developing legume-based ready-to-use ingredients and ready-to-eat products can potentially increase legume consumption, especially in developed countries. In addition to traditional legume processing methods, extrusion cooking offers a cost-effective option to manufacture legume-based products and ingredients. In recent years, increased concerns by consumers about environmental sustainability and food security have resulted in promoting plant-based proteins as meat substitutes and meat analogs, which are primarily produced by extrusion or wet/dry extraction. In this regard, extrusion is more sustainable and environment-friendly processing technology due to its process efficiency and minimal effluents. Legumes processed by extrusion cooking have wide applications in a variety of food products, for example, flour mixes and doughs, snack items, baked foods, meat alternatives, meat extenders, gluten-free products, and nutraceuticals. Furthermore, extrusion process improves the digestibility and functional properties, and lowers or eliminates the antinutrients found in most legumes. This comprehensive review article discusses extrusion processing technology/systems, legumes extrusion, and nutritional quality, functional properties, food safety, and consumer acceptance of extruded legume products.

Pea production across the world is significantly limited by root rot disease, which is caused by many fungal and oomycetes pathogens. In Canada, Fusarium avenaceum is the most devastating pathogen of the Fusarium root rot complex of pea. Host genetic resistance is the most effective control method for this disease. Evaluation of global pea accessions and Canadian varieties for F. avenaceum root rot resistance has not been reported to date. This study evaluated 20 pea accessions of different market classes with pigmented or nonpigmented seed coats and flowers for F. avenaceum resistance under controlled conditions. The pea accessions CDC Acer, CDC Vienna, PBA OURA, Morgan, CDC Blazer, CDC Dakota, and PI 280609, which have pigmented flowers and seed coats, were identified as resistant or partially resistant to F. avenaceum. This was based on their root rot severity scores and ability to tolerate F. avenaceum infection without significant (p > 0.05) reductions in plant height, shoot dry weight, and root dry weight. Among the varieties with nonpigmented flowers and seed coats, only Cameor showed partial resistance to F. avenaceum when challenged with reduced conidial concentration. Root dry weight (R = −0.86), plant height (R = −0.82), and shoot dry weight (R = −0.78) had a strong negative correlation (p < 0.001) with disease severity, suggesting that F. avenaceum root rot can negatively impact the growth and development of pea seedlings. F. avenaceum resistance identified in this study can be utilized to study the molecular basis of the resistance and develop disease-resistant varieties. While our findings suggest a relationship between pigmentation and F. avenaceum resistance, future research with a larger, more diverse panel is warranted to validate these initial results.

Genotype by environment (G × E) interaction obstructs breeding by persuading variations in genotype performance. The aim of the present study was to determine the stability and yield performance of Desi and Kabuli chickpea varieties at different agroecological regions of Ethiopia, using different stability parameters. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) for environments, genotypes, and importantly G × E interaction. AMMI and GGE biplot, AMMI's stability value (ASV) indicate that the Desi chickpea variety Teketay with mean yield of 2225.6 kg/ha (highest) and the variety Dimtu (1603.9 kg/ha) followed by Natoli with mean yield of 2004.9 kg/ha were found to be stable and adaptable to all environments. Similarly, from the Kabuli chickpea varieties, the variety Koka with mean grain yield of 2257.1 kg/ha (highest) and the variety Ejere with mean yield of 1997.6 kg/ha followed by Shasho (1798.59 kg/ha) were found to be stable and adaptable to all environments and should be promoted for production in chickpea-growing areas of Ethiopia. In conclusion, identification of stable improved varieties for the different agroecological regions can assist the producers such as the farmers for the effective chickpea production. This leads to sustainable self-sufficiency of food at the household and country level.

Cajanus cajan, commonly known as Arhar or tur in India, is a highly treasured plant species belonging to the Fabaceae family. Pigeonpea is a drought-tolerant legume crop produced in the world's tropics and subtropics areas, rich source of protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and minerals. It is considered as “meat for vegetarian people” and addresses malnutrition issues globally. Despite its nutritional and economic importance, the lack of comprehensive knowledge about its genomic resources prevents it from being used wisely through molecular breeding programs and biotechnological intervention. Several genomic repositories on pigeonpea are available; however, there is no cohesive integrated multi-omics database available for C. cajan. Here, we present a first report on comprehensive pigeonpea omics database, named as Ppomics database (db) available at https://ppomics.multiwebx.com/, which provides up-to-date various aspects of multi-omics information devoted to the catalogs phenomics (both qualitative and quantitative), genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics data. Ppomics db is an integrated multi-omics platform for discovering important regulators of several qualitative and quantitative traits in pigeonpea, which can be utilized for superior breed development. Ppomics db has been made available to researchers to acquire the related omics information and perform multi-omics data analysis.

The study was based on primary data from 473 lentil farmers selected randomly to analyze productivity, profitability, efficiency, and sensitivity of lentil farms in Nepal. Methods like benefit–cost, break-even, margin safety, and sensitivity analysis, scaling technique, Cobb–Douglas type of production function, and stochastic frontier were adopted to derive farm economics, allocative, and cost efficiency levels. With average productivity of 672 kg/ha, lentil farmers in the study area were earning about 41% profit as of gross return with a profitability index of 0.78. About 45% margin of safety and estimates of benefit–cost ratio above one on all sensitivity measures is indicative of low risk and robust enterprise. Resources allocated in lentil production were found inefficient, and to achieve maximum return, expenses on land preparation, seed, nutrient, and plant protection cum irrigation should be increased by 27.6%, 80%, 33.1%, and 97%, respectively. Similarly, expenses on labor and harvesting activities need to be decreased by 30.1% and 23.6%. Labor cost and seed cost were the most important variables, and a 1% increase would surge the total production costs by 0.42% and 0.19%, respectively. The cost efficiency was estimated as 1.137 mean value, meaning that over 13.7% of the costs in lentil farms is wasted while comparing best-practiced farm. Only about 48% of farms is fairly efficient at efficiency levels 1.0 to 1.09, but the majority is inefficient, which needs to minimize the waste of resources. Although suffering from climatic risks and production-related problems, lentil enterprise is profitable, less risky, less sensitive, and fairly to inefficient in resource use. Wise attention is need on the part of farm management and resource utilization. Farmers are suggested to maintain farm size around 0.5 ha or below 1 ha, use only improved varietal seed, cut labor expenses with the use of machinery, and perform adequate tillage during sowing followed by effective disease management practices.