Lablab purpureus, illustration from the Japanese agricultural encyclopedia Seikei Zusetsu (1804)
Lablab purpureus is a species of bean in the family Fabaceae. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa and India and it is cultivated throughout the tropics for food.[1][3]English language common names include hyacinth bean,[4]lablab-bean[5]bonavist bean/pea, dolichos bean, seim or sem bean, lablab bean, Egyptian kidney bean, Indian bean, bataw and Australian pea.[6]Lablab is a monotypic genus.[3][7]
Taxonomy
The name lablab which is also capitalized as its genus name is given by Robert Sweet from the previous name of Dolichos lablab by Carl Linnaeus, its epithet comes from Arabic: لَبْلَاب, romanized: lablāb.[8]
of which a special variant with lobed leaflets exists only in Namibia:
Lablab purpureus var. rhomboïdeus (Schinz).
Description
The plant is variable due to extensive breeding in cultivation, but in general, they are annual or short-lived perennialvines. The wild species is perennial. The thick stems can reach 6 m (20 ft) in length. The leaves are made up of three pointed leaflets, each up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long. They may be hairy on the undersides. The inflorescence is made up of racemes of many flowers. Some cultivars have white flowers, and others may have purplish or blue.[3]
The fruit is a legume pod variable in shape, size, and color. It is usually several centimeters long and bright purple to pale green.[10] It contains up to four seeds. Depending on the cultivar, the seeds are white, brown, red, or black, sometimes with a white hilum. Wild plants have mottled seeds. The seed is about a centimeter long.[3]
The fruit and beans are edible if boiled well with several changes of the water.[20][21] Otherwise, they are toxic due to the presence of cyanogenic glycosides, glycosides that are converted to hydrogen cyanide when consumed. Signs of poisoning include weakness, vomiting, shortness of breath, twitching, stupor, and convulsions.[20] It has been shown that there is a wide range of cyanogenic potential among the varieties.[22]
The leaves are eaten raw or cooked like spinach.[15] The flowers can be eaten raw or steamed. The root can be boiled or baked for food. The seeds are used to make tofu and tempeh.[10]
Food in South Asia
In Bangladesh and West Bengal, the green pods along with the beans, known as sheem (শিম), are cooked as vegetables or cooked with fish as a curry.
In Kerala, it is known as amarakka, avara or amara payar (Malayalam: അമര പയർ).[24] The beans as well as the bean pods are used in cooking curries.[25] The bean pods are also used (along with spices) for preparing a stir-fried dish known as thoran.[26]
In Tamil Nadu, it is called avarai or avaraikkaay (Tamil: அவரைக்காய் / அவரை).[27] The entire bean is used in cooking dry curries[28] and in sauces/gravies such as sambar.[29] The seed alone is used in many recipes and is referred to as mochai (Tamil: மொச்சை / மொச்சைக்கொட்டை).[30]
In Maharashtra, dry preparations with green masala are often made out of these green beans (ghevda varieties; Shravan ghevda (French beans), bajirao ghevda, ghevda, walwar, pavta sheng) mostly at the end of monsoon season during fasting festivals of Shravan month.[citation needed]
In Karnataka, the hyacinth bean is made into curry (avarekalu saaru) (Kannada: ಅವರೆಕಾಳು ಸಾರು), salad (avarekaalu usli), added to upma (avrekaalu uppittu), and as a flavoring to Akki rotti. Sometimes the outer peel of the seed is removed and the inner soft part is used for a variety of dishes. This form is called hitakubele avarekalu, which means "pressed (hitaku) hyacinth bean," and a curry known as hitikida avarekaalu saaru is made out of the deskinned beans.[citation needed]
In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the bean pods are cut into small pieces and cooked as a spicy curry in the Pongal festival season. Sometimes the outer peel of the seed when tender and soaked overnight is removed and the inner soft part is used for a variety of dishes. This form is called pitakapappu hanupa/anapa, which means "pressed (pitaku) hyacinth bean, and a curry known as pitikina anapaginjala chaaru/pitaka pappu is made from the deskinned beans and eaten along with bajra bread.[citation needed]
In Huế, Vietnam, hyacinth beans are the main ingredient of the dish chè đậu ván (Hyacinth Bean Sweet Soup).[32]
In China, the seeds are known as Bai Bian Dou. They are usually dried and baked before being used in traditional Chinese herbal remedies to strengthen the spleen, reduce heat and dampness, and promote appetite.[33]
Food tradition in East Africa
In Kenya, the bean, known as njahe or njahi,[34] is popular among several communities, especially the Kikuyu. Seasons were actually based on it, i.e., the Season of Njahe (Kīmera kīa njahī). It is thought to encourage lactation and has historically been the main dish for breastfeeding mothers.[35] Beans are boiled and mashed with ripe and/or semi-ripe bananas, giving the dish a sweet taste. Today the production is in decline in eastern Africa.[35][36] This is partly attributed to the fact that under colonial rule in Kenya, farmers were forced to give up their local bean in order to produce common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) for export.[37]
Medicinal use
Taiwanese research found that a carbohydrate-binding protein (i.e. a legume lectin) from lablab beans effectively blocks the infections of influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2.[38]
Hendricksen, R.; Minson, D. J. (2009). "The feed intake and grazing behaviour of cattle grazing a crop of Lablab purpureus cv. Rongai". The Journal of Agricultural Science. 95 (3): 547–54. doi:10.1017/S0021859600087955. S2CID84231105.
Hendricksen, RE; Poppi, DP; Minson, DJ (1981). "The voluntary intake, digestibility and retention time by cattle and sheep of stem and leaf fractions of a tropical legume (Lablab purpureus)". Australian Journal of Agricultural Research. 32 (2): 389–98. doi:10.1071/AR9810389.
Humphry, E; Konduri, V; Lambrides, J; Magner, T; McIntyre, L; Aitken, B; Liu, J (2002). "Development of a mungbean (Vigna radiata) RFLP linkage map and its comparison with lablab (Lablab purpureus) reveals a high level of colinearity between the two genomes". Theoretical and Applied Genetics. 105 (1): 160–6. doi:10.1007/s00122-002-0909-1. PMID12582573. S2CID19420328.
Maass, Brigitte L. (2006). "Changes in seed morphology, dormancy and germination from wild to cultivated germplasm of the hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet)". Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 53 (6): 1127–35. doi:10.1007/s10722-005-2782-7. S2CID27644011.
Maass, Brigitte L.; Jamnadass, Ramni H.; Hanson, Jean; Pengelly, Bruce C. (2005). "Determining sources of diversity in cultivated and wild Lablab purpureus related to provenance of germplasm using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)". Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 52 (5): 683–95. doi:10.1007/s10722-003-6019-3. S2CID44040763.
Maass, Brigitte L.; Usongo, Macalister F. (2007). "Changes in seed characteristics during the domestication of the lablab bean (Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet: Papilionoideae)". Australian Journal of Agricultural Research. 58 (1): 9–19. doi:10.1071/ar05059.
Pengelly, Bruce C.; Maass, Brigitte L. (2001). "Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet – diversity, potential use and determination of a core collection of this multi-purpose tropical legume". Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 48 (3): 261–72. doi:10.1023/A:1011286111384. S2CID11125153.
Vanlauwe, B.; Nwoke, O.C.; Diels, J.; Sanginga, N.; Carsky, R.J.; Deckers, J.; Merckx, R. (2000). "Utilization of rock phosphate by crops on a representative toposequence in the Northern Guinea savanna zone of Nigeria: Response by Mucuna pruriens, Lablab purpureus and maize". Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 32 (14): 2063–77. Bibcode:2000SBiBi..32.2063V. doi:10.1016/S0038-0717(00)00149-8.
^Verdcourt, Bernard (1970). "LablabAdans. In: Studies in the Leguminosae-Papilionoideae for the 'Flora of Tropical East Africa': III". Kew Bulletin. 24 (3): 409–11. JSTOR4102845.
^National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN978-0-309-48834-1. PMID30844154. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
^Smartt, John (1985). "Evolution of grain legumes. II. Old and new world pulses of lesser economic importance". Experimental Agriculture. 21 (3): 1–18. doi:10.1017/S0014479700012205. S2CID84150245.
^Shivashankar, G.; Kulkarni, R. S. (1992). van der Maesen (ed.). Plant Resources of South-East Asia, No. 1, Pulses. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Pudoc. pp. 48–50.
^ abMaundu, Patrick M.; Ngugi, G. W.; Kabuye, Christine H. S. (1999). Traditional food plants of Kenya. National Museums of Kenya, English Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
^Robertson, Claire C. (1997). "Black, white, and red all over: Beans, women, and agricultural imperialism in twentieth-century Kenya". Agricultural History. 71 (3): 259–99.
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