Lathyrus sativus

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Lathyrus sativus
Lathyrus sativus flowers Bangladesh cropped.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Lathyrus
Species:
L. sativus
Binomial name
Lathyrus sativus
L.
Synonyms [1]
List
    • Cicercula alataMoench
    • Cicercula albaMedik.
    • Cicercula caeruleaMedik.
    • Cicercula sativa(L.) Medik.
    • Lathyrus asiaticus(Zalkind) Kudrj.
    • Lathyrus azureusDean
    • Lathyrus sativus subsp. albusSmekalova
    • Lathyrus sativus f. chlorospermusSmekalova
    • Lathyrus sativus var. comitansSmekalova
    • Lathyrus sativus var. depressusSmekalova
    • Lathyrus sativus var. orbiculatusSmekalova
    • Lathyrus sativus var. parviflorusSmekalova
    • Lathyrus sativus var. pisiformisSmekalova
    • Lathyrus sativus var. platyspermusSmekalova
    • Lathyrus sativus var. pulchrusSmekalova
    • Lathyrus sativus var. variegatusSmekalova
    • Lathyrus sativus var. violascensSmekalova
    • Orobus bimarginatusStokes
    • Pisum lathyrusE.H.L.Krause

Lathyrus sativus, also known as grass pea, cicerchia, blue sweet pea, chickling pea, chickling vetch, Indian pea, [2] white pea [3] and white vetch, [4] is a legume (family Fabaceae) commonly grown for human consumption and livestock feed in Asia and East Africa. [5] It is a particularly important crop in areas that are prone to drought and famine, and is thought of as an 'insurance crop' as it produces reliable yields when all other crops fail. The seeds contain a neurotoxin that causes lathyrism, a neurodegenerative disease, if eaten as a primary protein source for a prolonged period.

Contents

Cultivation

Lathyrus sativus grows best where the average temperature is 10–25 °C and average rainfall is 400–650 mm (16–26 in) per year. Like other legumes, it improves the nitrogen content of soil. The crop can survive drought or floods, [4] but grows best in moist soils. It tolerates a range of soil types from light sandy through loamy to heavy clay, and acid, neutral, or alkaline soils. It does not tolerate shade. [6]

Slow Food inducted Serra de'Conti Cicerchia, a cicerchia grown in Serra de’ Conti Municipality, Ancona Province, Marche region of Italy into the Ark of Taste. [7]

Uses

Gachas manchegas, a grass pea flour preparation GachasAlmorta.jpg
Gachas manchegas, a grass pea flour preparation

Seed is sold for human consumption at markets in Florence. Consumption of this pulse in Italy is limited to some areas in the central part of the country, and is steadily declining.[ citation needed ]

Flour made from grass peas (Spanish: almorta) is the main ingredient for the gachas manchegas or gachas de almorta. [8] Accompaniments for the dish vary throughout La Mancha. This is an ancient Manchego cuisine staple, generally consumed during the cold winter months. The dish is generally eaten directly out of the pan in which it was cooked, using either a spoon or a simple slice of bread. This dish is commonly consumed immediately after removing it from the fire, being careful not to burn one's lips or tongue.[ citation needed ]

Due to its toxicity, it was forbidden for human consumption in Spain from 1967 [9] to 2018. [10] However, it was widely sold as animal feed, but displayed together with flours for human consumption. [11]

The town of Alvaiázere in Portugal dedicates a festival lasting several days to dishes featuring the pulse. Alvaiázere calls itself the Chícharo capital, the name of this pulse in Portuguese.

Immature seeds can be eaten like green peas. Mature seeds need soaking and thorough cooking to reduce toxins. [6]

The leaves and stem are cooked and eaten as chana saga (Odia: ଚଣା ଶାଗ) in parts of Odisha, India.

Neurotoxic properties

Lathyrus sativus seeds, dried. Lathyrus sativus seeds.JPG
Lathyrus sativus seeds, dried.

Like other grain legumes, L. sativus produces a high-protein seed. The seeds however also contain variable amounts of a neurotoxic amino acid β-N-oxalyl-L-α,β-diaminopropionic acid (ODAP). [12] [13] ODAP is considered the cause of the disease neurolathyrism, a neurodegenerative disease that causes paralysis of the lower body: emaciation of gluteal muscle (buttocks). [4] The disease has historically occurred after famines in Europe (France, Spain, Germany), North Africa, and South Asia, and is still prevalent in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan (panhandle) when Lathyrus seed is the exclusive or main source of nutrients for extended periods. ODAP concentration increases in plants grown under stressful conditions, compounding the problem.

The crop is harmless to humans in small quantities, but eating it as a major part of the diet over a three-month period can cause permanent paralysis below the knees in adults and brain damage in children, a disorder known as lathyrism. (Kew Gardens) [4]

Some authors have argued that this toxicity is overstated, and L. sativus is harmless as part of a normal diet. [14] [15]

Gracias a la almorta, Goya print Gracias a la almorta, Francisco de Goya.jpg
Gracias á la almorta, Goya print

Goya in his 1810-1815 The Disasters of War series illustrates the harm that can be done by excessive consumption of grass peas in times of famine in his print Gracias á la almorta (Thanks to the grass pea), [16] about Napoleon's siege of Madrid. It depicts a woman who can no longer walk due to lathyrism, surrounded by starving people waiting for bowls of grass pea-based food. [17] Grass-pea products were banned for sale for human consumption in Spain from 1967 to 2018, due to toxicity.

This legume is the only known dietary source for L-homoarginine [ citation needed ] and is preferred[ by whom? ] over arginine for nitric oxide (NO) generation. L-ODAP is reported to act as an activator of calcium-dependent protein kinase C.[ needs context ]

Breeding programs

A grasspea breeder at International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)'s facilities at Marchouch Station, Morocco. Photo: Michael Major/Crop Trust Grasspea pre-breeding at ICARDA.jpg
A grasspea breeder at International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)'s facilities at Marchouch Station, Morocco. Photo: Michael Major/Crop Trust

Breeding programs are underway to produce lines of Lathyrus sativus that contain ODAP levels too low to be dangerous, while maintaining disease and insect resistance and tolerance to drought, heat, and salinity. [18] [19] [17]

Certain varieties from western Asia have a low level of the neurotoxin and breeders and farmers are now exploring this genetic diversity to develop varieties that maintain the tolerance to extreme conditions, while at the same time achieving a safe level of the toxic compound. [20]

Wild relatives are a prominent source of genetic material to improve cultivars. From 2016 to 2018, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) evaluated wild relatives [21] to explore genes for low or no ODAP and resistance/tolerance to biotic/abiotic stresses and transfer them to cultivated grass pea. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bean</span> Seed of one of several genera of the plant family Fabaceae

A bean is the seed of any plant in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying, but fresh beans are also sold. Most beans are traditionally soaked and boiled, but they can be cooked in many different ways, including frying and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes throughout the world. The unripe seedpods of some varieties are also eaten whole as green beans or edamame, but fully ripened beans contain toxins like phytohemagglutinin and require cooking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pea</span> Species of flowering plant with edible seeds in the family Fabaceae

Pea is a pulse, vegetable or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name Pisum sativum in 1753. Some sources now treat it as Lathyrus oleraceus; however the need and justification for the change is disputed. Each pod contains several seeds (peas), which can have green or yellow cotyledons when mature. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and develop from the ovary of a (pea) flower. The name is also used to describe other edible seeds from the Fabaceae such as the pigeon pea, the cowpea, the seeds from several species of Lathyrus and is used as a compound form for example Sturt's desert pea.

<i>Lathyrus</i> Plant genus in the pea family Fabaceae

Lathyrus is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, and contains approximately 160 species. Commonly known as peavines or vetchlings, they are native to temperate areas, with a breakdown of 52 species in Europe, 30 species in North America, 78 in Asia, 24 in tropical East Africa, and 24 in temperate South America. There are annual and perennial species which may be climbing or bushy. This genus has numerous sections, including Orobus, which was once a separate genus. The genus has numerous synonyms, including Pisum, the ancient Latin name for the pea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sprouting</span> Practice of germinating seeds to be eaten raw or cooked

Sprouting is the natural process by which seeds or spores germinate and put out shoots, and already established plants produce new leaves or buds, or other structures experience further growth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legume</span> Plant in the family Fabaceae

Legumes are plants in the family Fabaceae, or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, but also as livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. Well-known legumes include beans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover. Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces on two sides.

<i>Vicia</i> Genus of flowering plants in the bean family Fabaceae

Vicia is a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family (Fabaceae), and which are commonly known as vetches. Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Some other genera of their subfamily Faboideae also have names containing "vetch", for example the vetchlings (Lathyrus) or the milk-vetches (Astragalus). The lentils are included in genus Vicia, and were formerly classified in genus Lens. The broad bean is sometimes separated in a monotypic genus Faba; although not often used today, it is of historical importance in plant taxonomy as the namesake of the order Fabales, the Fabaceae and the Faboideae. The tribe Vicieae in which the vetches are placed is named after the genus' current name. The true peas (Pisum) are among the closest living relatives of vetches.

Neurolathyrism, is a neurological disease of humans, caused by eating certain legumes of the genus Lathyrus. This disease is mainly associated with the consumption of Lathyrus sativus and to a lesser degree with Lathyrus cicera, Lathyrus ochrus and Lathyrus clymenum containing the toxin ODAP.

<i>Lathyrus japonicus</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus japonicus, the sea pea, beach pea, circumpolar pea or sea vetchling, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, native to temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere, and Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet pea</span> Species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae

The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to Sicily, southern Italy and the Aegean Islands.

<i>Hedysarum</i> Genus of legumes

Hedysarum (sweetvetch) is a genus of the botanical family Fabaceae, consisting of about 200 species of annual or perennial herbs found in Asia, Europe, North Africa, and North America.

Osteolathyrism, sometimes referred to as odoratism, is a form of the disease Lathyrism. The disease results from the ingestion of Lathyrus odoratus seeds. The toxin found in the sweet peas is (beta-aminopropionitrile), which affects the linking of collagen, a protein of connective tissues. The condition results in damage to bone and mesenchymal connective tissues. Osteolathyrism occurs in people in combination with neurolathyrism and angiolathyrism in areas where famine demands reliance on a crop with known detrimental effects. It occurs in cattle and horses with diets overreliant upon the grass pea. Prominent symptoms include skeletal deformities and bone pain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxalyldiaminopropionic acid</span> Chemical compound

Oxalyldiaminopropionic acid (ODAP) is a structural analogue of the neurotransmitter glutamate found in the grass pea Lathyrus sativus. It is the neurotoxin responsible for the motor neuron degeneration syndrome lathyrism.

In enzymology, a 2,3-diaminopropionate N-oxalyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.58) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gachas</span> Andalusian staple dish

Gachas is an ancestral basic dish of central and southern Spain. It is a gruel whose main ingredients are flour, water, olive oil, garlic, paprika and salt.

<i>Lathyrus cicera</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus cicera is a species of wild pea known by the common names red pea, red vetchling and flatpod peavine. It is native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and it is known from other places as an introduced species. This is a hairless annual herb producing a slightly winged stem. The leaves are each made up of two leaflike linear leaflets 3 to 6 centimeters long. They also bear branched, curling tendrils. The inflorescence holds a single pea flower 1 to 1.5 centimeters wide which is a varying shade of red. The fruit is a hairless dehiscent legume pod.

Divicine (2,6-diamino-4,5-dihydroxypyrimidine) is an oxidant and a base with alkaloidal properties found in fava beans and Lathyrus sativus. It is an aglycone of vicine. A common derivative is the diacetate form (2,6-diamino-1,6-dihydro-4,5-pyrimidinedione).

Angiolathyrism is a form of lathyrism disease. It is mainly caused the consumption of Lathyrus sativus and to a lesser degree by Lathyrus cicera, Lathyrus ochrus and Lathyrus clymenum containing the toxin ODAP. The main chemical responsible is β-Aminopropionitrile, which prevents collagen cross-linking, thus making the blood vessel, especially the tunica media, weak. This can result in Cystic medial necrosis or a picture similar to Marfan syndrome. The damaged vessels are at an increased risk of dissection.

Perdur Radhakantha Adiga was an Indian endocrine biochemist, reproductive biologist, INSA Senior Scientist and an Astra chair professor of the Indian Institute of Science. He was known for his researches on vitamin-carrier proteins and Lathyrus sativus and was an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Medical Sciences in 1980.

Lathyrism is a condition caused by eating certain legumes of the genus Lathyrus. There are three types of lathyrism: neurolathyrism, osteolathyrism, and angiolathyrism, all of which are incurable, differing in their symptoms and in the body tissues affected.

Lathyrism is a class of neurological disease of humans.

References

  1. ↑ "Lathyrus sativus L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  2. ↑ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. ↑ NRCS. "Lathyrus precatorius". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Lathyrus sativus (grass pea)". Kew Gardens. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Oudhia, P. (1999). Allelopathic effects of some obnoxious weeds on germination and seedling vigour of Lathyrus sativus. FABIS Newsletter 42:32-34.
  6. 1 2 Plants for a Future Lathyrus sativus
  7. ↑ "Serra De' Conti Cicerchia - Presìdi Slow Food". Slow Food Foundation. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  8. ↑ Gachas manchegas recipe (in Spanish)
  9. ↑ "Paragraphs 3.18.09 a and b and 5.36.16 b". BOE-A-1967-16485 Decreto 2484/1967, de 21 de septiembre, por el que se aprueba el texto del Código Alimentario Español [Decree approving the Spanish Food Regulations]. Boletín Oficial del Estado (Report) (in Spanish). 21 September 1967.
  10. ↑ Informe del Comité Científico de la Agencia Española de Consumo, Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (AECOSAN) sobre la seguridad del consumo de harina de almortas (PDF) (in European Spanish). 2018-12-23.
  11. ↑ Mulet, J. M. (2011). Comer sin miedo (in European Spanish) (6th reprint ed.). Barcelona: Booket. p. 55. ISBN   9788423348862. Esto ha motivado que la harina de almorta se siga vendiendo en los supermercados a pesar de la prohibición, etiquetada como "pienso para animales" (en letra pequeña). Curiosamente, no la tienen en la sección de mascotas, sino en la de harinas.
  12. ↑ S. L. N. Rao; P. R. Adiga; P. S. Sarma (1964). "The Isolation and Characterization of β-N-Oxalyl-L-α,β-diaminopropionic acid: A Neurotoxin from the Seeds of Lathyrus sativus". Biochemistry. 3 (3): 432–436. doi:10.1021/bi00891a022. PMID   14155110.
  13. ↑ Rao, S. L. N.; Adiga, P. R.; Sarma, P. S. (1964-03-01). "The Isolation and Characterization of β-N-Oxalyl-L-α,β-Diaminopropionic Acid: A Neurotoxin from the Seeds of Lathyrus sativus*". Biochemistry. 3 (3): 432–436. doi:10.1021/bi00891a022. ISSN   0006-2960. PMID   14155110.
  14. ↑ Rao, S. L. N. (2011-03-01). "A look at the brighter facets of β-N-oxalyl-l-α,β-diaminopropionic acid, homoarginine and the grass pea". Food and Chemical Toxicology. 49 (3): 620–622. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2010.06.054. PMID   20654679.
  15. ↑ Singh, Surya S.; Rao, S.L.N. (2013-07-01). "Lessons from neurolathyrism: A disease of the past & the future of Lathyrus sativus (Khesari dal)". The Indian Journal of Medical Research. 138 (1): 32–37. ISSN   0971-5916. PMC   3767245 . PMID   24056554.
  16. ↑ "Thanks to the grass pea (Gracias á la almorta)". Fundación Goya en Aragón. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  17. 1 2 McKie, Robin (8 July 2023). "UK scientists could make poison pea a crucial crop". The Guardian.
  18. ↑ Borton, Chloe (22 March 2010). "Lathyrism". Patient. EMIS Group.
  19. ↑ Edwards, Anne; Njaci, Isaac; Sarkar, Abhimanyu; Jiang, Zhouqian; Kaithakottil, Gemy George; Moore, Christopher; Cheema, Jitender; Stevenson, Clare E. M.; Rejzek, Martin; Novák, Petr; Vigouroux, Marielle; Vickers, Martin; Wouters, Roland H. M.; Paajanen, Pirita; Steuernagel, Burkhard (2023-02-16). "Genomics and biochemical analyses reveal a metabolon key to β-L-ODAP biosynthesis in Lathyrus sativus". Nature Communications. 14 (1): 876. Bibcode:2023NatCo..14..876E. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-36503-2 . ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   9935904 . PMID   36797319.
  20. ↑ "Grasspea". Crop Trust. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  21. ↑ "Grasspea Pre-breeding Project". Crop Wild Relatives. 10 May 2019.
  22. ↑ Abdallah, Fadoua; Kumar, Shiv; Amri, Ahmed; Mentag, Rachid; Kehel, Zakaria; Mejri, Rajia Kchaou; Triqui, Zine El Abidine; Hejjaoui, Kamal; Baum, Michael; Amri, Moez (2021). "Wild Lathyrus species as a great source of resistance for introgression into cultivated grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) against broomrape weeds (Orobanche crenata Forsk. and Orobanche foetida Poir.)". Crop Science. 61 (1): 263–276. doi: 10.1002/csc2.20399 . ISSN   1435-0653.
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