Information AboutPulses |
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Pulses are defined by the Food And Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as annual Leguminous crops yielding from one to twelve Grain s or Seed s of variable size, shape and color within a Pod . Pulses are used for food and animal feed. The term pulses, as used by the FAO, is reserved for crops harvested solely for the dry grain. This therefore excludes green beans and green peas, which are considered vegetable crops. Also excluded are crops which are mainly grown for oil extraction ( Oilseeds like soybeans and peanuts), and crops which are used exclusively for sowing (clovers, alfalfa). Pulses are important food crops due to their high Protein and Essential Amino Acid content. Like many leguminous crops, pulses play a key role in Crop Rotation due to their ability to Fix Nitrogen . STATISTICS India is both the world's largest producer and the world's largest importer of pulses. Canada , Myanmar , Australia and the United States are significant exporters of pulses. These are the four most significant suppliers of India's imports, in that order. The vast majority of leguminous crops grown in the United States are Soybean s, used as livestock feed and for extraction of Vegetable Oil , and Peanut s, neither of which is considered a pulse. CLASSIFICATION OF PULSES FAO recognizes 11 primary pulses. # Dry beans ('' Phaseolus spp.'' including several species now in ''Vigna'')
# Dry Broad Beans (''Vicia faba'')
# Dry peas (''Pisum spp.'')
# Chickpea , Garbanzo, Bengal gram (''Cicer arietinum'') # Dry Cowpea , Black-eyed Pea , blackeye bean (''Vigna unguiculata ssp. dekindtiana'') # Pigeon Pea , Toor, cajan pea, congo bean (''Cajanus cajan'') # Lentil (''Lens culinaris'') # Bambara Groundnut , earth pea (''Vigna subterranea'') # Vetch , common vetch (''Vicia sativa'') # Lupin s (''Lupinus spp.'') # Minor pulses include:
PROTEIN CONTENT Pulses are 20 to 25% protein by weight, which is double the protein content of wheat and three times that of rice. For this reason, pulses are sometimes called "poor man’s meat". While pulses are generally high in protein, and the digestibility of that protein is also high, they often are relatively poor in the Essential Amino Acid Methionine . Grains (which are themselves deficient in Lysine ) are commonly consumed along with pulses to form a complete protein. REFERENCES
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