A legume () is a

plant Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

of such a plant. When used as a dry

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legu ...

, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to anima ...

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also us ...

and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. Well-known legumes include beans, soybeans, chickpeas,

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

lentil The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest pro ...

s, lupins, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and

clover Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus h ...

. Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually

dehisces Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that op ...

(opens along a seam) on two sides. Legumes are notable in that most of them have symbiotic nitrogen-fixing

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...

in structures called root nodules. For that reason, they play a key role in crop rotation.

Terminology

The term ''pulse'', as used by the United Nations'

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

(FAO), is reserved for legume crops harvested solely for the dry seed. This excludes green beans and green peas, which are considered vegetable crops. Also excluded are seeds that are mainly grown for oil extraction ( oilseeds like soybeans and

s), and seeds which are used exclusively for sowing

(

s, alfalfa). However, in common usage, these distinctions are not always clearly made, and many of the varieties used for dried pulses are also used for green vegetables, with their beans in pods while young. Some Fabaceae, such as

Scotch broom ''Cytisus scoparius'' (syn. ''Sarothamnus scoparius''), the common broom or Scotch broom, is a deciduous leguminous shrub native to western and central Europe. In Britain and Ireland, the standard name is broom; this name is also used for other ...

and other Genisteae, are leguminous but are usually not called legumes by farmers, who tend to restrict that term to food crops.

History

Neanderthals used pulses when cooking meals 70,000 years ago. Archaeologists have discovered traces of pulse production around Ravi River (

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

), the seat of the Indus Valley civilisation, dating to c. 3300 BCE. Meanwhile, evidence of lentil cultivation has also been found in Egyptian pyramids and

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedg ...

recipes. Dry pea seeds have been discovered in a Swiss village that are believed to date back to the Stone Age. Archaeological evidence suggests that these peas must have been grown in the eastern Mediterranean and

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

n regions at least 5,000 years ago and in Britain as early as the 11th century. The soybean was first domesticated around 5,000 years ago in China from a descendant of the wild vine ''Glycine soja.'' In the United States, the domesticated soybean was introduced in 1770 by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a m ...

after he sent seeds to Philadelphia from France.

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of ...

, a vegetarian, was the first person to use soybeans for large-scale industrial purposes. Concentrating on his company, from 1932 to 1933 he invested over 1 million dollars in research on soybeans. Prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 40% of cooking oil was imported into the US. When the war came, supply routes were disrupted, which encouraged the soybean culture in the US. Due to the years of research done by

, the domestic soybean oil industry was born. Between 1970 and 1976, soybean production increased approximately 30%. Oil yield from bulk soybeans averages about 18%. Its modern-day usage ranges from margarine, salad oils, shortening and the previously mentioned cooking oil.

Uses

Farmed legumes can belong to many agricultural classes, including

, 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.

Human consumption

Grain legumes are cultivated for their seeds, which are used for human and animal consumption or for the production of oils for industrial uses. Grain legumes include beans,

s, lupins, peas, and

s. Legumes are used as a key ingredient in vegan meat and dairy substitutes. They are growing in use as a plant-based protein source in the world marketplace. Products containing legumes grew by 39% in Europe between 2013 and 2017.

Nutritional value

Legumes are a significant source of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

, dietary fiber,

carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ...

s and dietary minerals; for example, a 100 gram serving of cooked chickpeas contains 18 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for protein, 30 percent DV for dietary fiber, 43 percent DV for folate and 52 percent DV for

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy u ...

. Legumes are also an excellent source of resistant starch which is broken down by

in the large intestine to produce short-chain fatty acids (such as

butyrate The conjugate acids are in :Carboxylic acids. {{Commons category, Carboxylate ions, Carboxylate anions Carbon compounds Oxyanions ...

) used by intestinal cells for food energy.

Forage

Forage legumes are of two broad types. Some, like alfalfa,

, 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. Legume-based feeds improve animal performance compared to a diet of perennial grasses. Factors to which this is attributed are larger consumption, faster digestion and higher

feed conversion rate In animal husbandry, feed conversion ratio (FCR) or feed conversion rate is a ratio or rate measuring of the efficiency with which the bodies of livestock convert animal feed into the desired output. For dairy cows, for example, the output is milk, ...

. The type of crop(s) grown or animal rearing will be dependent on the farming system, either vegetables, tubers, grains, cattle etc. In cattle rearing, legume trees such as '' Gliricidia sepium'' can be planted along edges of field to provide shade for cattle, the leaves and bark are often eaten by cattle. Green manure can also be grown between periods when crops of economic importance are harvested prior to the next crops to be planted.

Other uses

Legume species grown for their flowers include lupins, which are farmed commercially for their blooms as well as being popular in gardens worldwide. Industrially farmed legumes include '' Indigofera'' and ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus n ...

'' species, which are cultivated for dye and natural gum production, respectively.

Fallow Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store Organic compound, organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting ...

or 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 ''Cyamopsis'' is a genus of the family Fabaceae. Its species are distributed across Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Species ''Cyamopsis'' comprises the following species: * ''Cyamopsis dentata'' (N.E.Br.) Torre * ''Cyamopsis senegalensis'' Guil ...

'', and '' Sesbania'' species. Various legume species are farmed for timber production worldwide, including numerous ''

'' species and ''

Castanospermum australe ''Castanospermum australe'' (Moreton Bay chestnut or blackbean), the only species in the genus ''Castanospermum'', is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the east coast of Australia in Queensland and New South Wales, and to the ...

''. Some legume trees, like the honey locust ('' Gleditsia'') can be used in agroforestry. Others, including the black locust ('' Robinia pseudoacacia''), Kentucky coffeetree ('' Gymnocladus dioicus''), '' Laburnum,'' and the woody climbing vine '' Wisteria'', have poisonous elements.

Classification

FAO recognizes 11 primary pulses. The FAO notes that the term "pulses" is limited to legumes harvested solely for dry grain, thereby excluding legumes that are harvested green for food (green peas, green beans, etc.) which are classified as vegetable crops. Also excluded are those legumes used mainly for oil extraction (e.g., soybeans and groundnuts) or used exclusively for sowing purposes (e.g., seeds of clover and alfalfa). # Dry beans (FAOSTAT code 0176, '' Phaseolus'' spp. including several species now in '' Vigna'') #* Kidney bean, navy bean, pinto bean, black turtle bean, haricot bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris'') #* Lima bean, butter bean ('' Phaseolus lunatus'') #* Adzuki bean, azuki bean (''

Vigna angularis ''Vigna angularis'', also known as the adzuki bean , azuki bean, aduki bean, red bean, or red mung bean, is an annual vine widely cultivated throughout East Asia for its small (approximately long) bean. The cultivars most familiar in East Asia ...

'') #* Mung bean, golden gram, green gram ('' Vigna radiata'') #* Black gram, urad ('' Vigna mungo'') #*

Scarlet runner bean ''Phaseolus coccineus'', known as runner bean, scarlet runner bean, or multiflora bean, is a plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. Another common name is butter bean, which, however, can also refer to the lima bean, a different species. It is ...

(''Phaseolus coccineus'') #*

Ricebean ''Vigna umbellata'', previously ''Phaseolus calcaratus'', is a warm-season annual vine legume with yellow flowers and small edible beans. It is commonly called ricebean or rice bean. To date, it is little known, little researched and little exp ...

(''Vigna umbellata'') #* Moth bean (''Vigna aconitifolia'') #* Tepary bean (''Phaseolus acutifolius'') # Dry broad beans (code 0181, ''Vicia faba'') #* Horse bean (''Vicia faba equina'') #* Broad bean (''Vicia faba'') #* Field bean (''Vicia faba'') # Dry peas (code 0187, ''Pisum'' spp.) #* Garden pea (''Pisum sativum'' var. ''sativum'') #* Protein pea (''Pisum sativum'' var. ''arvense'') # Chickpea, garbanzo, Bengal gram (code 0191, ''Cicer arietinum'') # Dry

cowpea The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus '' Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few i ...

, black-eyed pea, blackeye bean (code 0195, ''Vigna unguiculata'') # Pigeon pea, Arhar/Toor, cajan pea, Congo bean, gandules (code 0197, ''Cajanus cajan'') #

Lentil The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest pro ...

(code 0201, ''Lens culinaris'') # Bambara groundnut, earth pea (code 0203, ''Vigna subterranea'') # Vetch, common vetch (code 0205, ''Vicia sativa'') # Lupins (code 0210, ''Lupinus'' spp.) # Pulses NES (code 0211), Minor pulses, including: #* Lablab, hyacinth bean (''

Lablab purpureus ''Lablab purpureus'' is a species of bean in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa and it is cultivated throughout the tropics for food.

'') #* Jack bean ('' Canavalia ensiformis''), sword bean ('' Canavalia gladiata'') #* Winged bean (''

Psophocarpus tetragonolobus The winged bean (''Psophocarpus tetragonolobus''), also known as , goa bean, four-angled bean, four-cornered bean, manila bean, princess bean, asparagus pea, dragon bean, is a tropical herbaceous legume plant. Winged bean is widely recognised ...

'') #* Velvet bean, cowitch (''

Mucuna pruriens ''Mucuna pruriens'' is a tropical legume native to Africa and tropical Asia and widely naturalized and cultivated. Its English common names include monkey tamarind, velvet bean, Bengal velvet bean, Florida velvet bean, Mauritius velvet bean, Yoko ...

var. utilis'') #* Yam bean ('' Pachyrhizus erosus'')

Pollination

Legumes can either be self-pollinated or cross-pollinated. Some tropical legumes that are closely self-pollinated are: ''

Macroptilium atropurpureum ''Macroptilium atropurpureum'', commonly referred to as purple bush-bean,Macroptilium atropurpureum. (n.d.). Tropical Forages Factsheet. Retrieved from http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Macroptilium_atropurpureum.htm or ''sir ...

'' 'Siratro', ''

Macroptilium lathyroides ''Macroptilium lathyroides'' is a species of plant in the legume family (Fabaceae) commonly known as the phasey bean. It is the type species of genus '' Macroptilium''. Herbaceous annual or short-lived perennial growing up to 1 m high, it is ...

'', ''

Centrosema pubescens ''Centrosema pubescens'', common name centro or butterfly pea, is a legume in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, and tribe Phaseolae. It is native to Central and South America and cultivated in other tropical areas as a forage for liv ...

'', ''

Neonotonia wightii ''Neonotonia wightii'', the perennial soybean, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to subSaharan Africa, Yemen, India, and Sri Lanka, and widely introduced as a forage in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina, t ...

'', and ''

Lotononis bainesii ''Lotononis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae and the tribe Crotalarieae. Almost all of the species in the genus occur in southern Africa. Species Several species were recently transferred from ''Lotononis'' to four new or ...

''. However, the autogamous annual '' Stylosanthes humilis'' proved otherwise by adapting in response to changing conditions during an experiment, and was found to be composed of several genotypes showing heterogeneity. Two legumes used for pasture with cross-pollination are '' Desmodium intortum'' and '' Desmodium uncinatum''. When the flower is opened, this is the only time fertilization will take place. These two species' characteristics vary in morphology and ruggedness.

Nitrogen fixation

Many legumes contain symbiotic bacteria called '' Rhizobia'' within root nodules of their root systems (plants belonging to the genus '' Styphnolobium'' are one exception to this rule). These bacteria have the special ability of fixing nitrogen from atmospheric, molecular nitrogen (N₂) into

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogeno ...

(NH₃). The chemical reaction is: :N₂ + 8H⁺ + 8e⁻ → 2NH₃ + H₂ Ammonia is then converted to another form, ammonium (NH), usable by (some) plants by the following reaction: :NH₃ + H⁺ → NH This arrangement means that the root nodules are sources of nitrogen for legumes, making them relatively rich in plant proteins. All proteins contain nitrogenous

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha ...

s. Nitrogen is therefore a necessary ingredient in the production of proteins. Hence, legumes are among the best sources of plant protein. When a legume plant dies in the field, for example following the harvest, all of its remaining nitrogen, incorporated into

s inside the remaining plant parts, is released back into the soil. In the soil, the amino acids are converted to nitrate (NO), making the nitrogen available to other plants, thereby serving as fertilizer for future crops. Nitrogen Cycle

In many traditional and organic farming practices, crop rotation involving legumes is common. By alternating between legumes and non-legumes, sometimes planting non-legumes two times in a row and then a legume, the field usually receives a sufficient amount of nitrogenous compounds to produce a good result, even when the crop is non-leguminous. Legumes are sometimes referred to as " green manure". Sri Lanka developed the farming practice known as coconut-soybean intercropping. Grain legumes are grown in coconut (''Cocos nuficera'') groves in two ways: intercropping or as a cash crop. These are grown mainly for their protein, vegetable oil and ability to uphold soil fertility. However, continuous cropping after 3–4 years decrease grain yields significantly.

Distribution and production

Legumes are widely distributed as the third-largest land plant family in terms of number of species, behind only the Orchidaceae and

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae ...

, with about 751 genera and some 19,000 known species, constituting about seven percent of flowering plant species.

Storage

Seed viability decreases with longer storage time. Studies done on vetch, broad beans, and peas show that they last about 5 years in storage. Environmental factors that are important in influencing germination are relative humidity and temperature. Two rules apply to moisture content between 5 and 14 percent: the life of the seed will last longer if the storage temperature is reduced by 5 degree Celsius. Secondly, the storage moisture content will decrease if temperature is reduced by 1 degree Celsius.

Pests and diseases

A common pest of grain legumes that is noticed in the tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, Australia and Oceania are minuscule flies that belong to the family '' Agromyzidae'', dubbed "bean flies". They are considered to be the most destructive. The host range of these flies is very wide amongst cultivated legumes. Infestation of plants starts from germination through to harvest, and they can destroy an entire crop in early stage. Black bean aphids are a serious pest to broad beans and other beans. Common hosts for this pest are fathen, thistle and dock.

Pea weevil ''Bruchus pisorum'', known generally as pea weevil, is a species of leaf beetle in the family Chrysomelidae. Other common names include the pea beetle and pea seed beetle. It is found in Europe and Northern Asia (excluding China), North America, an ...

and bean weevil damage leaf margins leaving characteristics semi-circular notches.

Stem nematode ''Ditylenchus dipsaci'' is a plant pathogenic nematode that primarily infects onion and garlic. It is commonly known as the stem nematode, the stem and bulb eelworm, or onion bloat (in the United Kingdom).

s are very widespread but will be found more frequently in areas where host plants are grown. Common legume diseases include anthracnose, caused by ''

Colletotrichum trifolii ''Colletotrichum trifolii'' is a fungus, fungal plant pathogen of alfalfa, causing the disease alfafa anthracnose. It is a biotroph, obtaining nutrients from the living plant cells before forming asexual reproduction, asexual spores. This fungus ...

'';

common leaf spot Common spot of strawberry is one of the most common and widespread diseases afflicting the strawberry. Common spot of strawberry is caused by the fungus ''Mycosphaerella fragariae'' (imperfect stage is ''Ramularia tulasnei''). Symptoms of this ...

caused by '' Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae'';

crown wart A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

caused by ''

Physoderma alfalfae ''Physoderma alfalfae'' is a species of fungus in the family Physodermataceae. A plant pathogen, it causes crown wart of alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fab ...

''; downy mildew caused by ''

Peronospora trifoliorum ''Peronospora trifoliorum'', commonly known as downy mildew of alfalfa, is an oomycete plant pathogen infecting alfalfa. Hosts and symptoms ''Peronospora trifoliorum'' commonly infects numerous strains and varieties of alfalfa. On alfalfa, the p ...

'';

fusarium root rot ''Fusarium'' is a large genus of filamentous fungi, part of a group often referred to as hyphomycetes, widely distributed in soil and associated with plants. Most species are harmless saprobes, and are relatively abundant members of the soil mic ...

caused by '' Fusarium'' spp.; rust caused by ''

Uromyces striatus ''Uromyces striatus'' is a plant pathogen causing rust in ''Medicago''. Alfalfa (''Medicago sativa'') rust caused by ''Uromyces striatus'' is an important disease in many areas and is damaging to alfalfa grown for seed.Koepper JM (1942) Relative ...

''; sclerotina crown and stem rot caused by '' Sclerotinia trifoliorum''; Southern blight caused by '' Sclerotium rolfsii''; pythium (browning) root rot caused by '' Pythium'' spp.; fusarium wilt caused by '' Fusarium oxysporum''; root knot caused by '' Meloidogyne hapla''. These are all classified as biotic problems. Abiotic problems include nutrient deficiencies, (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, copper, magnesium, manganese, boron, zinc), pollutants (air, water, soil, pesticide injury, fertilizer burn), toxic concentration of minerals, and unfavorable growth conditions.

International Year of Pulses

The International Year of Pulses 2016 (IYP 2016) was declared by the Sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. The

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

was nominated to facilitate the implementation of IYP 2016 in collaboration with governments, relevant organizations, non-governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders. Its aim was to heighten public awareness of the nutritional benefits of pulses as part of sustainable food production aimed towards food security and

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficien ...

. IYP 2016 created an opportunity to encourage connections throughout the food chain that would better use pulse-based proteins, further global production of pulses, better use crop rotations and address challenges in the global trade of pulses.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Fruit morphology Staple foods Vegetables Vegetarian cuisine