''Vigna umbellata'', previously ''Phaseolus calcaratus'', is a warm-season annual

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

legume with yellow

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s and small edible

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

s. It is commonly called ricebean or rice bean. To date, it is little known, little researched, and little exploited. It is regarded as a minor

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

and

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...

crop and is often grown as

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 ...

or mixed crop with

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

(''Zea mays''),

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

(''

Sorghum bicolor ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the grass genus ''Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain is used as food by humans, ...

'') or

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 inpu ...

(''V. unguiculata''), as well as a sole crop in the uplands, on a very limited area. Like the other Asiatic ''

Vigna ''Vigna'' is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution.Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012)Section ''Ceratotropis'' of subgenus ''Ceratotropis'' of ''Vigna'' (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new ...

'' species, ricebean is a fairly short-lived warm-season annual. Grown mainly as a dried

pulse In medicine, the pulse refers to the rhythmic pulsations (expansion and contraction) of an artery in response to the cardiac cycle (heartbeat). The pulse may be felt ( palpated) in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surfac ...

, it is also important as a fodder, a

green manure In agriculture, a green manure is a crop specifically cultivated to be incorporated into the soil while still green. Typically, the green manure's Biomass (ecology), biomass is incorporated with a plow or disk, as is often done with (brown) man ...

and a vegetable. Ricebean is most widely grown as an

, particularly of maize, throughout

Indo-China Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

and extending into southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. In the past it was widely grown as lowland crop on residual soil water after the harvest of long-season

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, but it has been displaced to a great extent where shorter duration rice varieties are grown. Ricebean grows well on a range of soils. It establishes rapidly and has the potential to produce large amounts of nutritious animal fodder and high quality grain.

Taxonomy

The cultivated Asiatic ''Vigna'' species belong to the sub-genus Ceratotropis, a fairly distinct and homogeneous group, largely restricted to Asia, which has a chromosome number of 2n = 22 (except ''V. glabrescens'', 2n = 44). There are seven cultivated species within the sub-genus, including

mung bean The mung bean or green gram (''Vigna radiata'') is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract Green Mung Bean Extract Powder Phaseolus aureus Roxb Vigna radiata L R Wilczek. MDidea-Extracts P ...

green gram The mung bean or green gram (''Vigna radiata'') is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract Green Mung Bean Extract Powder Phaseolus aureus Roxb Vigna radiata L R Wilczek. MDidea-Extracts P ...

(''V. radiata''), black gram or urad bean (''V. mungo''),

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

(''V. angularis'') and moth bean (''V. aconitifolia'') as well as a number of wild species. Artificial crosses have been made between ''V. mungo'' and ''V. umbellata'' to produce improved mung bean varieties (e.g. Singh ''et al.'', 2006). There are three more or less secondary gene pools within the group: ricebean is closer to ''V. angularis'' than to the other species, being in the Angulares group (Kaga ''et al.'', 1996, Tomooka ''et al.'', 2003).

Origin and distribution

Ricebean's distribution pattern indicates great adaptive polymorphism for diverse environments, with its distribution ranging from humid tropical to sub-tropical, to sub-temperate climate. The presumed centre of domestication is Indo-China. It is thought to be derived from the wild form ''V. umbellata'' var ''gracilis'', with which it is cross-fertile, and which is distributed from Southern China through the north of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand into Myanmar and India (Tomooka ''et al.'', 1991). Studies of the genetic and eco-geographical relationships among the wild relatives of ''Vigna'' species were made by Saravanakumar ''et al.'' (2001).

Adaptation and agronomy

Rachie & Roberts (1974) classed ricebean as adapted to subhumid regions with 1000–1500 mm precipitation, although they noted that other factors were also involved in adaptation, for example rainfall pattern, moisture distribution, temperature, cloud cover and

relative humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

, soil characteristics, pests and diseases. They noted the importance of human needs in assessing adaptation – for example taste, the need for a particular use, or market price. Average yields were between 200 and 300 kg ha⁻¹, although with the potential for 1200 kg ha⁻¹, the crop would grow on a range of soils, and was resistant to pests and diseases. It would mature in as little as 60 days, and although performing well under humid conditions, was also tolerant to drought (NAS 1979) and high temperatures. It is tolerant to some degree of waterlogging, although the young plants appear to be susceptible (de Carvalho & Veira, 1996). Ricebean is also known to be tolerant to acid soils (Dwivedi, 1996). Shattering is a problem in comparison with other grain legumes, and can be particularly serious under conditions of frequent wetting and drying. Ricebean is a neglected crop, cultivated on small areas by subsistence farmers in hill areas of

, northern and northeastern

, and parts of

southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. It can be grown in diverse conditions and is well known among farmers for its wide adaptation and production even in marginal lands, drought-prone sloping areas, and flat rainfed ''tars'' (unirrigated, ancient alluvial river fans). It is mainly grown between 700 and 1300 m asl, although in home gardens it is found from 200 up to 2000 m. Most of the crop currently grown in

is used as food for humans, with a smaller proportion used for fodder and green manuring. Generally, ricebean is grown as an intercrop with maize, on rice bunds or on the terrace risers, as a sole crop on the uplands or as a mixed crop with maize in the ''khet'' (bunded parcels of lands where transplanted rice is grown) land. Under mixed cropping with maize it is usually broadcast some time between sowing maize and that crop's first and second earthing up, so ricebean sowing extends from April–May to June. Ricebean is valuable for its ability to fix nitrogen in depleted soils and in mixed cropping with local varieties of maize, as well as for its beneficial role in preventing

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the Topsoil, upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, Atmosphere of Ea ...

. The crop receives almost no inputs, and is grown on residual fertility and moisture and in marginal and exhausted soils. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the area and production of ricebean in Nepal is declining due to the introduction of high yielding maize varieties and increasing use of chemical fertilizers, while consumption is decreasing due to increased availability of more preferred pulses in the local markets. No modern plant breeding has been done and only landraces with low yield potential are grown. These have to compete with other summer legumes such as

soybeans The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

(''Glycine max''), black gram,

, common beans (''Phaseolus vulgaris'') and horse gram (''Mactrotyloma uniflorum''). Other production constraints that limit the production of ricebean include small and fragmented land holdings and declining productivity.

Morphology

Wild forms are typically fine-stemmed, freely-branching and small-leaved, with a twining habit, photoperiod sensitivity and indeterminate growth (Lawn, 1995). Flowering is asynchronous, and there is a tendency to hard seeds. In many areas, landraces which retain many of these characteristics persist, in particular with regard to daylight sensitivity, growth habit and hard seeds. Seed colour is variable, but commonly red or yellow. The red type is commonly named 赤小豆 in Chinese, literally meaning 'red small bean'. It's considered an herb in

Traditional Chinese Medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

Germplasm collections

The World Vegetable Centre (formerly the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center) based in Taiwan has 197 accessions of ricebean, including 8 genotypes from Nepal and 24 from India. However, there is little or no passport data (World Vegetable Center, 2007), other than for a Nepalese genotype (given the name Mogimass), collected at 2000 m in Bajura district. The Indian genotypes IC 7588, IC 8229, EC 18771, and IC 7506 are noted as being less sensitive to photoperiod, but no other information is given. In India, the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) contains over 1700 accessions from a variety of Asian countries (NBPGR, 2007). As well as this, there is a collection held at the Indian Institute for Pulses Research, and the NBPGR station at Bhowali, Uttar Pradesh, also maintain a collection of over 300 genotypes (Negi ''et al.'', 1996). In Nepal, the Plant Genetic Resources Unit of the NARC maintains a collection of some 300 accessions from various parts of the country.

Nutritional aspects

Ricebean plays an important role in human, animal and

soil health Soil health is a state of a soil meeting its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment. In more colloquial terms, the health of soil arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong ...

improvement. All varieties seem to be good sources of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

, essential

amino acids Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the Proteinogenic amino acid, 22 α-amino acids incorporated into p ...

essential fatty acids Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that are required by humans and other animals for normal physiological function that cannot be synthesized in the body.⁠ As they are not synthesized in the body, the essential fatty acids al ...

and

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): M ...

(Mohan & Janardhanan, 1994), and the dried seeds make an excellent addition to a

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

-based diet.

Human nutrition

Ricebean is most often served as a

dal Dal is a term in the Indian subcontinent for dried, split pulses. Dal or DAL may also refer to: Places Cambodia *Dal, Ke Chong Finland * Laakso, a neighbourhood of Helsinki India * Dal Lake, in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India * Dal ...

, either soaked overnight and boiled with a few

spices In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

, or cooked in a pressure cooker. Apart from various recipes for dal soups and

sauces In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi- solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

, pulses are also used in a number of other ways, either whole, cooked or roasted, as

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

, or ground to make various deep fried dishes or snacks. Some recipes are specific to particular pulses, but many are open to substitution. The consumption of green pods as a vegetable has been recorded but is not widespread, although the indeterminate growth habit of many varieties is beneficial in providing a steady supply of green pods over long periods of the year. The raw

content of ricebean is lower than that of most pulses, although there is considerable variation. Gopinathan ''et al.'' (1987) note that the protein content of related wild species (e.g. ''Vigna minima'') tends to be higher than of cultivated lines, so there may be potential to breed for improved protein content. However, the

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the 22 α-amino acids incorporated into proteins. Only these 22 a ...

composition is reported by several authors to be well balanced for human consumption (e.g. Chandel et al., 1978; Mohan & Janardhan, 1994; de Carvalho & Vieira, 1996). As in other pulses, an important problem is that ricebean contains various

antinutrient Antinutrients are natural or synthetic compounds that interfere with the absorption of nutrients. Nutrition studies focus on antinutrients commonly found in food sources and beverages. Antinutrients may take the form of drugs, chemicals that natur ...

s, notably

phytic acid Phytic acid is a six-fold dihydrogenphosphate ester of inositol (specifically, of the ''myo'' isomer), also called inositol hexaphosphate, inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) or inositol polyphosphate. At physiological pH, the phosphates are partia ...

phytate Phytic acid is a six-fold dihydrogenphosphate ester of inositol (specifically, of the ''myo'' isomer), also called inositol hexaphosphate, inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) or inositol polyphosphate. At physiological pH, the phosphates are partia ...

polyphenol Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring phenols. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some of which have been used historically as ...

s and

fibre Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorp ...

s that reduce

micronutrient Micronutrients are essential chemicals required by organisms in small quantities to perform various biogeochemical processes and regulate physiological functions of cells and organs. By enabling these processes, micronutrients support the heal ...

uptake, in particular iron and zinc. Breeding for low phytate seeds is possible, but there are conflicting opinions about its desirability because phytate is also a human nutrient, and also plays various roles in the life cycle of the plant. Special concern for

flatulence Flatulence is the expulsion of gas from the Gastrointestinal tract, intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swal ...

-producing substances is important when a pulse is promoted for human consumption (Smil, 1997). Revilleza ''et al.'' (1990) tested the content of known flatulence-producing

oligosaccharides An oligosaccharide (; ) is a saccharide polymer containing a small number (typically three to ten) of monosaccharides (simple sugars). Oligosaccharides can have many functions including cell recognition and cell adhesion. They are normally presen ...

in common legumes from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and ranked them on their flatulence-producing potential: Sam-samping (''Clitoria ternatea'') > hyacinth bean (''Lablab purpureus'', syn. ''Dolichos lablab'' L) >

Lima bean A lima bean (''Phaseolus lunatus''), also commonly known as butter bean, sieva bean, double bean or Madagascar bean, is a legume grown for its edible seeds or beans. Origin and uses ''Phaseolus lunatus'' is found in Meso- and South America. Tw ...

(''Phaseolus lunatus'') > swordbean (''Canavalia gladiata'') > ricebean > jack bean (''Canavalia ensiformis''). Two different varieties of ricebean contained 2.25 and 2.55% oligosaccharides. Kaur & Kawatra (2000) measured the effect of soaking, open pan cooking,

pressure cooking A pressure cooker is a sealed vessel for cooking food with the use of high pressure steam and water or a water-based liquid, a process called pressure cooking. The high pressure limits boiling and creates higher temperatures not possible at low ...

, sprouting and combinations of these. All led to a significant reduction of the content of flatus-producing sugars, although the most effective was a combination of sprouting and pressure cooking. While most legumes contain one or several enzyme inhibitors and similar antinutritive or toxic factors (Smil, 1997), the content of such substances appears to be low in ricebean.

Animal nutrition

Ricebean is valuable as a high class fodder which is known to increase milk production in livestock.

Herbalism

The red type of ricebean is used in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

, sometimes in combination with ''

Angelica sinensis ''Angelica sinensis'', commonly known as ''dong quai'' () or female ginseng, is a herb belonging to the family Apiaceae, indigenous to China. ''A. sinensis'' grows in cool high altitude mountains in East Asia. The yellowish brown root of the plan ...

'' ( 當歸). No information is available regarding any “folk medicine” use in Nepal or India.

Cultural significance

In South Asia, the idea of a division of foods into hot, cold and neutral is very common. This has an important bearing on dietary choices, as this perception not only promotes a balance between hot and cold food stuffs in daily nutrition, but also encourages or discourages the consumption of various items according to season, and during sickness. An account of the perception of a number of food items in Nepal has been published by Gittelsohn ''et al.'' (1997). Their data shows that there is hardly any “scientific” basis for the division into hot and cold foods. For instance,

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

is cold while

goat milk Goat milk is the milk of domestic goats. Goats produce about 2% of the world's total annual milk supply. Some goats are bred specifically for milk. Goat milk naturally has small, well-emulsified fat globules, which means the cream will stay ...

is hot, buffalo meat is cold while fish and chicken is hot, and black gram is cold while red gram (cowpea) is hot. This perception tends to be location-specific, so these findings cannot be generalised all over Nepal (or South Asia!). Their study did not comment on the hot-cold rating of ricebean. In Nepal, ricebean tends to be categorised as a cold food (e.g. in Gulmi, Kailali, Syangja, Dang, Gorkha districts) and it is said to cool people in the summer. However, it is also said to make people warm during the winter. In

Ilam District Ilam district () is one of Districts of Province No. 1, 14 districts of Koshi Province of eastern Nepal. It is a Geography of Nepal#The Hill Region, Hill districts of Nepal, district and covers . The 2011 Nepal census, 2011 census counted 290,25 ...

in Eastern Nepal, ricebean is considered hot, and there it is advised that old and sick people should not eat it during the hot season, as it is not easily digested and weak people would get stomach problems from eating it. Another account from Ilam stated that ricebean, although creating some stomach unrest, was milder and more digestible than other pulses, and therefore often served to people who suffer from indigestion. Whether hot or cold, the major share of ricebean is consumed soon after harvest, so the crop will only indirectly impact on food security during the lean season in the pre- and early monsoon period. Some oral evidence from Nepal says that ricebean does not have a particular ceremonial role. This is in contrast to black gram which is used for ceremonial purposes among high

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, and also for instance among Rai people in the Arun Valley. In addition, black gram is considered tastier and fetches a higher market price, so will tend to replace ricebean if the farmer has to make a choice. '' Quantee'' (or '' kwati'' in Newari) is a mixed bean sprout soup served at the Janai Purnima or Raksha Bhandan festival. Ricebean is one of nine beans prescribed for this recipe. The festival marks the end of the monsoon where people by traditional perception (and probably also in reality) have been weak, undernourished and subject to diseases. In this respect, ''quantee'' is said “to make one strong” and to purify the stomach as the mixed bean sprouts are hard to digest and so cleans the stomach. In addition, eating ''quantee'' is said to kill a certain type of mosquito (Löwdin, 1998). While ricebean in Nepal is to some extent perceived as a "poor man's food", it is not particularly stigmatised, so no ethnic or caste group actually has a rule against it. In Dang, ricebean is particularly enjoyed by Tharu (indigenous ''

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in parts of southern Nepal and northern India that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by ...

'') people, who have a version of ''quantee'' which requires ten different beans. One source mentioned that since ricebean is supposed to make you strong, people will often serve it to labourers, while also occasionally consuming it themselves in connection with tasks requiring hard work.

Potential

So far little has been done to exploit ricebean's potential: there are several features that need attention from breeders before it could be widely adopted. Most varieties are highly photoperiod sensitive, and so when grown in the subtropics are late flowering and show strong vegetative growth. Their twining habit makes them very suitable for use as intercrops with such species as

and possibly some of the minor

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

species, which can provide support, but also makes them difficult to harvest. Many of the current varieties are susceptible to shattering, and show high levels of hard seededness. Some crop improvement work has been carried out on ricebean in India, but not in Nepal. However, the use of ricebean as a green manure crop was studied in a series of field experiments in Nepal, and this revealed that it is one of the best legumes for the purpose due to high biomass production over a short period of time, is easy to incorporate into the soil, and decomposes rapidly.

Chemistry

Catechin-7-O-glucoside can be found in the seed of ''V. umbellata''.Catechin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside scavenges free radicals and protects human B lymphoma BJAB cells on H2O2-mediated oxidative stress. Baek Jin-A, Son Young-Ok, Fang Minghao, Lee Young Jae, Cho Hyoung-Kwon, Whang Wan Kyunn and Lee Jeong-Chae, Food science and biotechnology, 2011, vol. 20, no 1, pages 151-158, , ''

In vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning ''in glass'', or ''in the glass'') Research, studies are performed with Cell (biology), cells or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in ...

'', this compound has an antioxidant activity leading to a cytoprotective effect.

References

External links

*
Illustrated Legume Genetic Resources Database (multiple photographs)FOSRIN Ricebean Project: Food Security through Ricebean Research in India and NepalVigna genepool Gap Analysis
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1368391 umbellata Edible legumes Herbs Medicinal plants Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Flora of Nepal Nitrogen-fixing crops