Book Review: Rooftop Or Shallow-Bed Gardening
Reaction To Bee Stings
More On Making Your Own Biological Control For Cassava Hornworm
Can Peach Pits Be Used As Food?
Crop Production Bulletin #2, Soybeans
Is Velvet Bean Safe To Eat?
Articles
Is Velvet Bean Safe to Eat?
Martin L. Price
I am devoting three pages to this question because velvet bean is generating so much interest and the pressure to use it for human food is considerable. The multiple uses of velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) as a green manure plant, for weed and erosion control and for moisture conservation has been discussed in EDN #12 and #20. Its use by World Neighbors and others in Central America is increasing rapidly. It has now become the most frequently requested seed in ECHO's seedbank and others are starting to get excited too. For example, Felix Quero in the Philippines says, "What impresses us most is its aggressiveness. It could even compete with the problem grass Imperata cylindrica and has potential of at the same time controlling this grass and providing food."