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Legumes are one of the most cultivated plants today, and they are of great importance in our current diet. However, the terms legume and legume are often confused, so in this article we are going to delve into their characteristics and differences.
Do you want to know more about legume plants? Keep reading us in this Green Ecologist article about what are legumes and their types with 20 examples. You will also discover its difference with legumes.
What are legumes - definition and characteristics
Legumes are a group of plants that belong to the family of the Fabaceae or fabaceous. It is a very large group with almost 20,000 species, among which there are from trees to herbaceous, through bushes and vines. These are the main characteristics of legume plants:
- What distinguishes legume plants from others is that its fruits are pod-shaped, inside which its seeds develop. These seeds are what is known as vegetables and they are a first-order product in the food industry human globally. These are foods low in fat, but very rich in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
- There are many species of legumes that, although they are not consumed by humans, are used regularly as fodder or to attract pollinating insects.
- Another of the most important characteristics of legume plants is their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. This means that they are capable of converting nitrogen from the air into a useful nutrient for plants in the form of mineral nitrogen in the soil. How do they do it? Thanks to the symbiosis that legumes have with the bacteria of the Rhizobium family, these plants form nodules on their roots. Bacteria take nitrogen from the air, and convert it into nutrients for the plant. Once the plant dies, these nitrogen-laden nodules will sooner or later incorporate into the soil, enriching it naturally. Rhizobia are always found in all types of soils, so simply by planting the legumes they enter into symbiosis with the plant and produce this union so beneficial for the soil. Even if few rhizomes appear at first, it will only be necessary to allow some time to grow.
- Another benefit of these plants is that they tend to develop quite deep root systems, which therefore help to drop the ground and make both oxygen and nutrients or water penetrate better.
- When you add to this the fact that legume flowers attract pollinating insects, essential for crop health, it is easy to understand why they are an essential part of many crop association and rotation techniques. Here you can learn about What are pollinating insects and their importance.
- These plants are also widely used when using the technique of green manure, which consists of letting certain plants grow in an area of the crop to later mow them and let their plant matter become incorporated into the soil. For this particular effect, it is common to sow vetch, clovers or peas, among others. Here it is a matter of letting the plant grow but without developing flowering or fruit, so that it does not consume the stored nutrients and these are incorporated into the soil. You can learn more about this technique in this other post about What is green manure and how to do it.
Legume types - plant examples
These are some of the most common legumes or popular:
- Green bean
- Beans
- Clover
- Alfalfa
- Vetch
- Peanut or peanut
- Chickpea
- Acacia
- Pea
- Red timbo
- Carob tree
- Bean
- Bean or bean
- Pea
- Lentil
- Soy
- Tamarind
- Ceibo
- Lupine
- Tipa or tipuana
Difference between legumes and legumes
As we have mentioned before, the main difference between legumes and legumes is that the first are the plants itself, while the latter are the fruit that they produce, in the form of a pod and with seeds inside.
It should be noted that in 2015 the FAO stipulated that only the fruits of pods that are not harvested green are considered legumes. An example of this is beans, which can be harvested before the pod is ripe to be eaten along with the seeds. Thus, in this case the bean is a legume plant, but not a legume. It is, however, when it is harvested fully mature, with its dried seeds.
Legumes are a very important source of protein of vegetable origin, widely consumed in gastronomies around the world and, in addition, their consumption is especially widespread in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In areas or countries where livestock farming is not widespread and getting meat or dairy is somewhat more difficult or expensive, legumes are a vital part of the population's diet.
Furthermore, the ability of these plants to fix nitrogen in the soil makes them a doubly valuable crop for farmers: in addition to producing fruit, they enrich the soil and make it more fertile. They are thus a key piece of crop rotation and sustainable agriculture systems. For all these virtues, the UN proclaimed 2016 as the International Year of Pulses.
Now that you know what are legumes and its difference with legumes, as well as its direct relationship, we encourage you to read this other post about 10 types of legumes.
If you want to read more articles similar to What are legumes, we recommend that you enter our Biology category.
