Mucuna is a genus of around 114 accepted species of climbing lianas (vines) and shrubs of the familyFabaceae: tribe Phaseoleae, typically found in tropical and subtropical forests in the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, southern, southeastern, and eastern Asia, New Guinea, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.[2]
The leaves are trifoliolate, alternate, or spiraled, and the flowers are pea-like but larger, with distinctive curved petals, and occurring in racemes. Like other legumes, Mucuna plants bear pods. They are generally bat-pollinated and produce seeds that are buoyantsea-beans. These have a characteristic three-layered appearance, appearing like the eyes of a large mammal in some species and like a hamburger in others (most notably M. sloanei) and giving rise to common names like deer-eye beans, donkey-eye beans, ox-eye beans, or hamburger seed.
The name of the genus is derived from mucunã, a Tupi–Guarani word for these species.[3]
The pods of some species are covered in coarse hairs that contain the proteolytic enzymemucunain and cause itchy blisters when they come in contact with skin; specific epithets such as pruriens (Latin: "itching") or urens (Latinized Ancient Greek: "stinging like a nettle") refer to this. Other parts of the plant have medicinal properties. The plants or their extracts are sold in herbalism against a range of conditions, such as urinary tract, neurological, and menstruation disorders, constipation, edema, fevers, tuberculosis, and helminthiases such as elephantiasis.[4] In an experiment to test if M. pruriens might have an effect on the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, Katzenschlager et al. found that a seed powder had a comparable, if not more favourable, effect as commercial formulations of L-dopa, although the trial only consisted of four people per test group.[5]
M. pruriens was found to increase phosphorus availability after application of rock phosphate in one Nigerian experiment.[6]M. pruriens was used in Native Americanmilpa agriculture.[citation needed]
Mucuna seeds contain a large number of antinutritional compounds. The most important is L-dopa, which the digestive system of most animals confuses with the amino acid tyrosine, causing the production of defective proteins. Other antinutrients are tannins, lectins, phytic acid, cyanogenic glycosides, and trypsin and amylase inhibitors, although all these can be removed by long cooking.[7]M. pruriens may also contain chemicals such as serotonin, 5-HTP, nicotine, and the hallucinogenictryptamines5-MeO-DMT, bufotenine and dimethyltryptamine,[7][8][verification needed]Mucuna is not traditionally consumed as a food crop, but some preliminary experiments have shown that if the antinutrients are removed or at least brought down to safe level, the beans can be fed to livestock or people. The L-dopa content is the most important and difficult toxin to get rid of. The seeds must be extensively processed before they can be safely eaten. Diallo & Berhe found the best method was to crack open the seeds and soak them in constantly running fresh water such as under an open faucet for 36 hours, or to put them in a bag and leave in a flowing river for 72 hours, before cooking them for over an hour. Over a thousand people in the Republic of Guinea were fed a meal of Mucuna (mixed with many other ingredients) with no obvious ill effects.[9]
Canavalia mattogrossensis (Barb. Rodr.) Malme (as M. mattegrossensis Barb. Rodr.)
Psophocarpus scandens (Endl.) Verdc. (as M. comorensis Vatke)[11]
Referencesedit
^ ab"Genus: Mucuna Adans". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-10-05. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
^ abcPlants of the World Online: Mucuna Adans. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
^Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. 3 M-Q. CRC Press. p. 1738. ISBN 978-0-8493-2677-6.
^Aitawade, Makarand M.; Yadav, S.R. (2012). "Mucuna sanjappae, a new species from the north-Western Ghats, India". Kew Bulletin. 67 (3). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: 539–543. doi:10.1007/s12225-012-9369-1. S2CID 46121626.
^"GRIN Species Records of Mucuna". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
Further readingedit
Diallo, O.K.; Berhe, T. (2003). "Processing the Mucuna for Human Food in the Republic of Guinea" (PDF). Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems. 1 (2/3): 193–196. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-26.
International Legume Database & Information Service (ILDIS) (2005): Genus Mucuna. Version 10.01, November 2005. Retrieved 2007-DEC-17.
Katzenschlager, R.; Evans, A.; Manson, A.; Patsalos, P.N.; Ratnaraj, N.; Watt, H.; Timmermann, L.; van der Giessen, R.; Lees, A.J. (2004). "Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson's disease: a double blind clinical and pharmacological study". Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 75 (12): 1672–1677. doi:10.1136/jnnp.2003.028761. PMC1738871. PMID 15548480.
Oudhia, Pankaj (2002): Kapikachu or Cowhage (Mucuna pruriens) Crop Fact Sheet. Version of 5-9-2002. Retrieved 2007-DEC-17.
Vanlauwe, B.O. (2000). "Nwoke, C.; Diels, J.; Sanginga, N.; Carsky, R.J.; Deckers, J. & Merckx, R. (2000) Utilization of rock phosphate by crops on a representative toposequence in the Northern Guinea savanna zone of Nigeria: response by Mucuna pruriens, Lablab purpureus and maize". Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 32 (14): 2063–2077. doi:10.1016/S0038-0717(00)00149-8.
External linksedit
Media related to Mucuna at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Mucuna at Wikispecies
Bat-Pollinated Mucuna Flowers – The Source Of Tropical Sea Beans