Legume:
Definition: plant in the Family Fabaceae with fruit in pods. The term "pulse" is associated with the seed contained within the pods.
Symbiosis (partners helping each other):
Symbiosis (legume + rhizobia bacteria)
In stressful habitats (low nutrient conditions), many legumes will uptake soil bacteria (rhizobia) into their root hairs and house them in nodules. Rhizobia bacteria fix atmospheric Nitrogen (N2 gas) into a form that is useful to plants like ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites (NH3, NO3, NO2). In return, the plant provides the bacteria Carbon (good food). It is a "win-win" partnership. (Photo credit: https://asknature.org/1920px-nitrogen_fixation_fabaceae_en/)
Traditional Knowledge:
Nutritional Information:
World production:
Bean pollinators:
- many beans are self-pollinating
- wind assists in pollen transfer
- some beans get help from organisms such as bees, beetles, and flies who receive a sweet nectar reward for their help in transferring pollen (read more about this in the scientific article below)
Bean pests:
Insect pests:
Fungal and bacterial pests:
Fun facts:
- Beans are some of the earliest foods historically documented by archaeologists up to 9,750 BC
- Beans are often left as gifts for the afterlife in Egyptian tombs
- Over 40,000 bean varieties are documented
- Soybeans are a crop that is essential in fighting hunger in the world
- Many beans need to be boiled (30min @100C) to remove a toxin (lectin phytohaemaggluitinin) that causes digestive irritation
- Legumes are versatile and select varieties grow everywhere except Antarctica
- (Source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/legumes-pulses/#:~:text=A%20legume%20refers%20to%20any,the%20pod%20is%20the%20pulse.)
Taste:
- earthy
- nutty
- rich
