Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding
Legumes, unlike other crops, fix nitrogen, need little
fertilizer and help maintain the soil fertility. They are
also an important source of protein and iron. Velvetbean
(Mucuna pruriens) is a promising plant with multiple
uses. Its potential as rich source of protein supplement
in food and feed has been well documented [1, 2]. The
plant also constitutes excellent raw material for some
of the indigenous ayurvedic drugs due to presence of
L-Dopa as L-3, 4-dihydrophenylalanine which provides
symptomatic relief in Parkinson’s disease [3, 4]. L-Dopa
is present in variable concentrations within different plant
parts, minimal in dried leaves and pods to maximal in
raw seeds ranging between 1.9 and 9% dry matter [5-
8]. Although pharmacologically an active ingredient [9],
it is potentially anti-nutritional and toxic if ingested in
large amounts, and concentration greater than 1% is
reported unsafe for human consumption [10, 11]. Past
researches have shown this as major bottleneck for
popularization of Velvetbean cultivation among the
farmers and thus efforts are needed to breed improved
varieties with safe levels of L-Dopa (<0.5%) to make its
cultivation broad based and acceptable.
Keywords: N/A
Year: 2011
Volume: 71
Issue: 3
Article DOI: N/A
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906
S. Mahesh and N. Sathyanarayana info_circle
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