The snow pea is an

edible-pod pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a Legume, pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the Glossary of plant morphology#Fruit types, pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave ...

with flat pods and thin pod walls, in contrast to

snap pea The snap pea, also known as the sugar snap pea, is an edible-pod pea with rounded pods and thick pod walls, in contrast to snow pea pods, which are flat with thin walls. The name mangetout ( French for "eat all") can apply to snap peas and snow ...

pods, which are round with thick walls. It is eaten whole, with both the

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s and the pod, while still unripened.

Names

The common name snow pea seems to be a misnomer as the planting season of this pea is no earlier than that of other peas. Another common name, Chinese pea, is probably related to its prominence in Chinese dishes served in the West. It is called ''mangetout'' in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

(from the French for "eat-all" and pronounced monge-too; ). Snow peas and

s both belong to Macrocarpon Group, a

cultivar group A Group (previously cultivar-groupInternational Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, 4th edition (1969), 5th edition (1980) and 6th edition (1995)) is a formal category in the '' International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants'' (' ...

based on the variety ''Pisum sativum'' var. ''macrocarpum''

Ser. Nicolas Charles Seringe (3 December 1776 – 29 December 1858) was a French physician and botanist born in Longjumeau. He studied medicine in Paris, and subsequently served as a military surgeon. In this role, he was involved in the German campai ...

named in 1825. It was described as having very compressed non-leathery edible pods in the original publication. The

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''Pisum sativum'' var. ''saccharatum'' Ser. is often misused for snow peas. The variety under this name was described as having sub-leathery and compressed-

testes A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of androgens, primarily testosterone. The ...

pods and the French name ''petit pois''. The description is inconsistent with the appearance of snow peas, and therefore botanists have replaced this name with ''Pisum sativum'' var. ''macrocarpum.''

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n scientist and monk

Gregor Mendel Gregor Johann Mendel Order of Saint Augustine, OSA (; ; ; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinians, Augustinian friar and abbot of St Thomas's Abbey, Brno, St. Thom ...

used peas which he called ''Pisum saccharatum'' in his famous experiments demonstrating the heritable nature of specific traits, and this Latin name might not refer to the same varieties identified with modern snow peas.

Composition

Nutrition

Uses

Culinary

Snow peas, along with

snap peas The snap pea, also known as the sugar snap pea, is an edible-pod pea with rounded pods and thick pod walls, in contrast to snow pea pods, which are flat with thin walls. The name mangetout (French for "eat all") can apply to snap peas and snow p ...

and unlike

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

and

garden pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...

s, are notable for having edible pods that lack inedible fiber (in the form of "parchment", a fibrous layer found in the inner pod rich in

lignin Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidit ...

) in the pod walls. Snow peas have the thinner walls of the two edible pod variants. Two

recessive In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and ...

gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

s known as ''p'' and ''v'' are responsible for this trait. ''p'' is responsible for reducing the sclerenchymatous membrane on the inner pod wall, while ''v'' reduces pod wall thickness (''n'' is a gene that thickens pod walls in snap peas). Pea shoots ( zh, p=dòu miáo, s=豆苗) are the stems and leaves of the immature plant, used as a vegetable in Chinese cooking. They are commonly stir-fried with garlic and sometimes combined with crab or other shellfish.

Nitrogen fixers

As with most legumes, snow peas host beneficial bacteria,

rhizobia Rhizobia are diazotrophic bacteria that fix nitrogen after becoming established inside the root nodules of legumes (Fabaceae). To express genes for nitrogen fixation, rhizobia require a plant host; they cannot independently fix nitrogen. I ...

, in their root nodules, which fix nitrogen in the soil—this is called a mutualistic relationship—and are therefore a useful

companion plant Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including weed suppression, pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial insects, maximi ...

, especially useful to grow

intercrop Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice that involves the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field, a form of polyculture. The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land ...

ped with green, leafy vegetables that benefit from high nitrogen content in their soil.

Cultivation

Snow peas can be grown in open fields during cool seasons and can thus be cultivated during

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

and

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

seasons.

Storage

Storage of the pea with films of

polymethylpentene Polymethylpentene (PMP), also known as poly(4-methyl-1-pentene). It is used for gas-permeable packaging, autoclavable medical and laboratory equipment, microwave components, and cookware. It is commonly called TPX, which is a trademark of Mitsu ...

at a temperature of and controlled atmosphere with a concentration of

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

and

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

of 5

kPa The pascal (symbol: Pa) is the unit of pressure in the International System of Units (SI). It is also used to quantify internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus, and ultimate tensile strength. The unit, named after Blaise Pascal, is an SI ...

augments the shelf life, internal and external characteristics of the plant.

Gallery

File:Snow pea flowers.jpg, Snow pea flowers File:Sautéed snow pea shoots, Mayflower Restaurant.jpg, Sautéed snow pea shoots, a popular dish in Chinese cuisine

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1422840 Fabeae Edible legumes Pod vegetables Nitrogen-fixing crops