Listing description
Mucuna pruriens is a tropical legume native to Africa and tropical Asia and widely naturalized and
cultivated. Its English common names include velvet
bean, Bengal velvet bean, Florida velvet bean, Mauritius velvet bean, Yokohama velvet bean, cowage, cowitch, lacuna bean, and Lyon bean.
Detailed d
The plant is notorious for the extreme itchiness it
produces on contact, particularly with
the young foliage and the seed pods. It has value in agricultural and
horticultural use and has a range of medicinal properties.
The plant is an annual climbing shrub with long
vines that can reach over 15 metres (50 ft) in length. When the plant is
young, it is almost completely covered with fuzzy hairs, but when older, it is
almost completely free of hairs. The leaves are tripinnate, ovate, reverse ovate, rhombus-shaped or widely
ovate. The sides of the leaves are often heavily grooved and the tips are
pointy. In young M. pruriens plants, both sides of the leaves have
hairs. The stems of the leaflets are two to three millimeters long
(approximately one tenth of an inch). Additional adjacent leaves are present
and are about 5 millimetres (0.2 in) long.
The flower heads take the form of axially arrayed panicles. They are 15–32
centimetres (6–13 in) long and have two or three, or many flowers. The
accompanying leaves are about 12.5 millimetres (0.5 in) long, the flower
stand axes are from 2.5–5 millimetres (0.1–0.2 in). The bell is 7.5–9
millimetres (0.3–0.4 in) long and silky. The sepals are longer or of the
same length as the shuttles. The crown is purplish or white. The flag is 1.5
millimetres (0.06 in) long. The wings are 2.5–3.8 centimetres
(1.0–1.5 in) long.
In the fruit-ripening stage, a 4–13 centimetres
(2–5 in) long, 1–2 centimetres (0.4–0.8 in) wide, unwinged,
leguminous fruit develops. There is a ridge along the length of the fruit. The
husk is very hairy and carries up to seven seeds. The seeds are flattened
uniform ellipsoids, 1–1.9 centimetres (0.4–0.7 in) long, .8–1.3
centimetres (0.3–0.5 in) wide and 4–6.5 centimetres (2–3 in) thick.
The hilum, the base of the funiculus (connection between
placenta and plant seeds) is a surrounded by a significant arillus (fleshy seed shell).
M.pruriens bears white,
lavender, or purple flowers. Its seed pods are
about 10 cm (4 inches) long[4] and are covered in
loose, orange hairs that cause a severe itch if they come in contact with skin.
The itch is caused by a protein known as mucunain.[5] The seeds are shiny
black or brown drift seeds.
The dry weight of the seeds is 55–85 grams
(2–3 oz)/100 seeds.
Uses
In many parts of the world Mucuna pruriens is used as an important forage, fallow and green manure crop.[7] Since the plant is a legume, it fixes nitrogen and fertilizes soil.
In Indonesia, particularly Java the beans are eaten
and widely known as 'Benguk'. The beans can also be fermented to form a food
similar to tempe and known as Benguk tempe or 'tempe Benguk'.
M. pruriens is a widespread
fodder plant in the tropics. To that end, the whole plant is fed to animals as
silage, dried hay or dried seeds. M.
pruriens silage contains
11-23% crude protein, 35-40% crude fiber, and the dried beans 20-35% crude
protein. It also has use in the countries of Benin and Vietnam as a biological
control for problematic Imperata cylindrica grass.[7] M. pruriens is said to not be
invasive outside its cultivated area.[7] However, the plant
is known to be invasive within conservation areas of South Florida, where it
frequently invades disturbed land and rockland hammock edge habitats.
Cooked fresh shoots or beans can also be eaten. M. pruriens contains relatively high (3–7% dry
weight) levels of L-DOPA, an essential compound in human metabolism. Some
people are sensitive to ingestion of high levels of L-DOPA and may experience
symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, cramping, arrhythmias, and hypotension. Up
to 99% of the L-DOPA can be leached out of M.
pruriens by soaking in
boiling water for 40 minutes, changing the water, and then soaking in cold
water. Acidic water significantly increases the rate at which L-DOPA is leached
out. The beans may then be cooked by any method desired. Pre-boiling also
contributes to better decomposition of anti-nutrients found in M. pruriens through cooking.[8]
Traditional medicine[edit]
The seeds of Mucuna
pruriens have been used for
treating many dysfunctions in Tibb-e-Unani (Unani Medicine).[9] It is also used in Ayurvedic medicine.
The plant and its extracts have been long used in
tribal communities as a toxin antagonist for various snakebites. It has been
studied for its effects against bites by Naja spp. (cobra),[10] Echis (Saw scaled viper),[11] Calloselasma (Malayan Pit viper)
and Bangarus (Krait).[12]
It has long been used in traditional Ayurvedic Indian medicine in
an attempt to treat diseases including Parkinson's disease.[13]
Itch-inducing properties
The hairs lining the seed pods contain serotonin and the protein mucunain which cause severe itching when the pods are
touched.[3][14][15]The calyx below the
flowers is also a source of itchy spicules and the stinging hairs on the
outside of the seed pods are used in itching powder.[3][16] Scratching the
exposed area can spread the itching to other areas touched. Once this happens,
the subject tends to scratch vigorously and uncontrollably and for this reason
the local populace in northern Mozambique refer to the beans as "mad
beans" (feijões malucos). The seed pods are known as "Devil
Beans" in Nigeria.
Pharmacology
The seeds of the plant contain about 3.1–6.1% L-DOPA, with trace amounts
of serotonin, nicotine, and bufotenine. One study using 36
samples of seeds found no tryptamines present.
PRICE
$11.57/KG OR $5.26/IB
For more information:
mobile: +2348039721941
contact person: emeaba uche
e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com
website: www.franchiseminerals.com
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