Hyacinth beans

Abstract

The hyacinth bean (include the scientific name here) is a tropical and subtropical food legume which is of Asian origin. In Europe, Africa, Middle East, America, and Asia, hyacinth beans have been cultivated for many years. Leaves, green beans, and pods of hyacinth beans are edible and consumed widely (Maass et al. 2010). Lablab purpureus are climbing plants that can grow up to a length of 5 m, with leaves 3-foliate and pinnate, 6-12 cm by 5-9 cm acute leaflets, purplish pink or white flowers, and green podded fruits with 4-5 seeds, flattened 6 cm long and 2 cm wide. Color change of pods from green to light brown is used as a maturity index (Al-Snafi 2017). Different names of hyacinth beans are hyacinthbean, Egyptian bean, field bean, bonavist bean, and Dolichos lablab L., Lablab niger Medikus, Lablab vulgaris (L.) Savi, Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet, Vigna aristata Piper, Dolichos benghalensis Jacq., and Dolichos purpureus L., are the different scientific names (Sheahan 2012).