Legumes are a group of plants from the family of Fabaceae or fabaceous. They are some of the most cultivated plants, and have great importance in our current diet. Some examples of legumes are the plants of the peas, the alfalfa, the lentils, the soybeans, the beans, etc. However, the terms of legume and legume are often confused, so in this article we will deepen its characteristics and differences.
Do you want to know more about legume plants? Keep reading in this ecology article about What are legumes and examples. You will also discover its difference with legumes.
What are legumes and their characteristics
Legumes are a group of plants belonging to the family of Fabaceae or fabaceous. It is a very numerous group with almost 20,000 speciesamong those from trees to herbaceous, through bushes and vines. These are the main characteristics of legume plants:
- What distinguishes the leguminous plants of others is that Its fruits are pod -shapedinside which their seeds develop. These seeds are what is known as legumes And they are a first -order product in the food industry human worldwide. These are low -fat foods, but very rich in proteins, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
- There are many species of legumes that, although they are not consumed by the human being, are usually used as fodder or to attract pollinating insects.
- Another of the most important features of legume plants is their Ability to set atmospheric nitrogen on the ground. This means that they are able to make air nitrogen become a usable nutrient for plants in the form of mineral nitrogen on earth. How do they get it? Thanks to the symbiosis that legumes maintain with the bacteria of the Rhizobium family, these plants form nodules in their roots. Bacteria take air nitrogen, and make it nutrients for the plant. Once the plant dies, these nodules loaded with nitrogen will be incorporated sooner or later to the ground, enriching it naturally. The rhizobia are always found in all types of soils, so simply with planting the legumes they enter symbiosis with the plant and produce this union so beneficial for the ground. Even if few rhizomas appear at the beginning, it will only be necessary to take some time to the crop.
- Another benefits of these plants is that they tend to develop quite deep radical systems, which therefore help release the ground and make them penetrate both oxygen and nutrients or water better.
- When the fact that legume flowers attract pollinating insects, indispensable to crop health, is not hard to understand why they are an essential piece of many association and rotation techniques of crops are added to this. Here you can learn about what are the pollinating insects and their importance.
- These plants are also widely used when the technique of the Green fertilizerwhich consists in allowing some plants to grow in an area of the crop to later reserve them and let their plant matter be incorporated into the ground. For this specific purpose, the planting of veza, clovers or peas, among others, is usual. Here it is about letting the plant grow but without developing flowering or fruit, so that it does not consume the stored nutrients and they are incorporated into the ground. You can learn more from this technique in this other post about what is the green fertilizer and how to do it.
Examples of legumes
These are some of the Types of more common legumes:
- EJOTE
- PORTO
- Clover
- Alfalfa
- Pea
- Peanut or peanut
- Chickpea
- Acacia
- Pea
- Colorado timbó
- Carob tree
- Bean
- Jewish or beans
- Pea
- Lentil
- Soy
- Tamarind
- Ceibo
- Lupine
- Tipuana or Tipuana
Difference between legumes and legumes
As we have mentioned before, the main difference between legumes and legumes is that Legumes are plants In itself, while Legumes are the fruits that produce the legumes, in the form of a pod and with seeds inside.
It should be noted that in 2015 FAO stipulated that only legumes of pods that are not harvested green are considered. An example of this is the beans, which can be harvested before the mature pod to consume along with the seeds. Thus, in this case the Jew is a legume plant, but not a legume. It is, however, when it is harvested totally mature, with its dry seeds.
Legumes are a very important source of protein of plant origin, widely consumed in gastronomies around the world and, in addition, its consumption is specially widespread in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In areas or countries where livestock is not very widespread and getting meat or dairy products is somewhat more difficult or expensive, Legumes suppose a vital part of the diet of the population.
In addition, the ability of these plants to fix nitrogen on the ground is made a doubly valuable crop for farmers: in addition to producing fruit, they enrich the soil and make it more fertile. They are a key piece of crop rotation and sustainable agriculture systems. For all these virtues, the UN proclaimed 2016 as the International Year of Legumes. In addition, between February 8 and 10, the World Legume Day.
Now that you know what legumes are, examples of these and their difference with legumes, as well as their direct relationship, we encourage you to read this other post about 10 types of legumes.
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