Facts about Red pea

Lathyrus cicera commonly known as Red pea or Red vetchling is an annual cool-season grain legume belonging to Fabaceae / Leguminosae (Pea family). The plant is native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and it is known from other places as an introduced species. Some of the popular common names of the plants are Flat-pod peavine, Flatpod peavine, Flat-podded vetchling, Dwarf chickling-vetch, lesser chickpea, Red pea, Chickling-vetch, Red vetchling, Vetchling and wild vetch. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food. It has occasionally been cultivated in southern Europe for the edible seed. The plant is sometimes grown to stabilize and restore soils. The plant is sometimes a weed of cultivated crops and along the edges of fields.

Red Pea Facts

Plant Description

Red pea is an annual or perennial cool season climbing herb that normally grows up to 1 meter tall from a thin rootstock. The plant is found growing in fields and cultivated places. The stems are prostrate, branching from near the base and often clinging to the surrounding vegetation by means of tendrils. The leaves are each made up of two leaf like linear leaflets 3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to 2.4 in) long. They also bear branched, curling tendrils. The inflorescence holds a single pea flower 1 to 1.5 centimeters (0.39 to 0.59 in) wide which is a varying shade of red. It blooms from spring to summer. Fertile flowers are followed by hairless dehiscent legume pod.

Culinary Uses

• Seedpods must be well cooked.
• Pea seeds are used as food in many dishes.
• In India, the seeds are dried, split and used to make dal.
• In Ethiopia, the seeds are finely ground to make a sauce.
• The sauce is supplemented with the Ethiopian traditional dish called Injera.
• In Nepal and Bangladesh, seeds are ground to make flour and used for flatbread or roti making.

Other Facts

• It is widely cultivated for human consumption and economic use.
• The seeds are used for human consumption and the fodder is for livestock feeding.
• The pea foliage and seeds are economically used as fodder.
• They can be used fresh, dried and as silage.
• The plant is used as a green manure and soil cover for preventing erosion and for rehabilitating degraded land.

Precautions

• The seed (and possibly the whole plant) is poisonous unless well cooked.
• The seed of some species in this genus contain a toxic amino acid that can cause a severe disease of the nervous system known as ‘lathyrism’ if they are eaten in large amounts (although small quantities are said to be nutritious).
• Excess and prolonged intake may cause paralysis below the knees in adults and brain damage in children.
• It is the cause of neurological disorders in the human body.
• Symptoms appear as a paralysis of the muscles below the knees, pains in the back, followed by weakness and stiffness of the legs and progressive locomotive incoordination.

References:

https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=25841#null

https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=21553

https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Lathyrus+cicera

http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/ild-7747

https://npgstest2.agron.iastate.edu/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=21553

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lathyrus_cicera

https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/LTHCI

https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/31582

http://temperate.theferns.info/plant/Lathyrus+cicera

https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=LACI

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