Les légumineuses sont des légumes qui produisent des graines destinées à la consommation humaine. Elles sont récoltées à sec, puis cuites, ce qui nécessite généralement une longue immersion dans le liquide de cuisson. Elles sont riches en glucides, en vitamines B et en protéines - souvent capables de servir de substituts de viande dans le régime alimentaire. La teneur en huile des légumineuses varie considérablement. De nombreuses légumineuses contiennent des facteurs anti-nutritionnels ou des substances toxiques et doivent être bien cuites avant d'être consommées. Dans des conditions appropriées, elles peuvent être stockées pendant de nombreuses années, constituant ainsi une source précieuse de sécurité alimentaire. La plupart des légumineuses tropicales sont des plantes annuelles.


  1. Cowpea Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata

    niébé, pois yeux noirs dolique mongette

    Vigna unguiculata is a grain legume that originates in Africa. Attributes such as vine shape (climbing, prostrate, or semi-erect), seed color (shades of white, pink, brown, and black), and seed maturation time (60 to 240 days) vary with variety. Pods appear in V-shaped pairs.It is an important...
  2. Lablab Lablab purpureus

    lablab, pois boucoussou, pois antaque, pois indien

    On considère généralement que le lablab est originaire de l’Asie du Sud-est. Cependant, certains spécialistes sont de l’avis qu’il provient de l’Afrique, où il est connu depuis le huitième siècle. Le lablab est aujourd’hui cultivé dans l’ensemble des régions tropicales et sous-tropicales.
  3. Rice Bean Vigna umbellata

    Vigna umbellata is a nitrogen-fixing perennial legumeoften grown as an annual. Depending on the variety, V. umbellata presents as vining, bush, or semi-erect forms, reaching heights of 30-200 cm. Produces 7.5-12.5 cm long pods. V. umbellata seeds vary in color from green-yellow to red to black. A...
  4. Mung Bean Vigna radiata

    Vigna radiata is an annual, erect or semi-erect legume, reaching heights up to 1.25 m. V. radiata produces 4-30 yellow or green flowers per cluster that become pubescent pods. Leaves are alternate and trifoliate.
  5. Common Bean Phaseolus vulgaris

    Phaseolus vulgaris is a vining (indeterminate) or bush-type (pseudo-determinate) herbaceous annual. Vining types are perennial and reach 2-5 m in length. Bush-types are annuals and reach heights of 20-60 cm. Pubescent leaves are trifoliate, present alternately on the stem, and range from green to...
  6. Horse Gram Macrotyloma uniflorum

    Horse gram is a dense, low-growing, nitrogen-fixing, annual crop grown for forage and human consumption. It is usually sown as an intercrop but can also be used as a green manure or cover crop. It will tolerate drought conditions, poor soil, and some salinity.
  7. Pois cajan Cajanus cajan

    pois cajan, pois d'angole, pois congo, pois pigeon

    The Pigeon pea probably originated in tropical Africa but is now popular in SE Asia, the Caribbean, east and west Africa and the tropics of the U.S. It is a shrubby, drought-tolerant, fast-growing legume with a long tap root and a mass of fibrous roots. It can grow up to 4 m. (13’ ) in height but...
  8. Adzuki Bean Vigna angularis

    haricot adzuki

    Adzuki bean is a bushingor vining, nitrogen-fixingannual plant that is moderately drought tolerant. This bean grows best in temperate climates or higher altitudes in the tropics. The young pods, fresh seeds, and dry beans are used for human consumption.
  9. Black Gram Bean Vigna mungo

    haricot mungo

    Black gram is an erect, 1 m tall, nitrogen-fixing, drought-tolerantannual plant grown for the dry beans. The bean seed is used whole, split, husked, fermented, sprouted or ground into flour, which when combined with rice flour is especially valued for baking. Black gram is also used as a green...
  10. Fava Bean Vicia faba

    Fève

    Vicia faba is an annual herbaceous plant in the legume family, usually considered to contain three subspecies: V. faba subsp. major (broad bean), V. faba subsp.equina (horse bean), and V. faba subsp. minor (tick bean or pigeon bean). Plants are upright, reaching heights of 1.5-2 m. Leaves of V....
  11. Lima Bean Phaseolus lunatus

    Pois Souche

    Phaseolus lunatus is a vining (indeterminate) or bush-type (pseudo-determinate) legume from Central and South America. Vining types are vigorous, perennial, and reach 2-6 m in length. Bush-type cultivars are annuals and reach heights of 0.25-1 m. Leaves are trifoliate, present alternately on the...
  12. Marama Bean Tylosema esculentum

    The Marama Bean is a wild plant prized by people living in and around the Kalahari in southern Africa
  13. Moth Bean Vigna aconitifolia

    Moth bean is a low-growing, nitrogen-fixing, annual plant that forms a mat on the ground. It is drought tolerant, nutritious and can be eaten fresh or as a dried bean. Moth bean can also be used as a cover crop to suppress weeds and improve soil.
  14. Runner Bean Phaseolus coccineus

    haricot d'espagne

    Phaseolus coccineus is a perennialvining legume from the highlands of Central America. Due to its showy red flowers, P. coccineus is often grown as an ornamental, though nearly all parts of the plant are ediblegiven the appropriate preparations. A climbing vine, P. coccineus reaches heights of...
  15. Tepary Bean Phaseolus acutifolius

    Phaseolus acutifolius is a vining or bushy herbaceous annual reaching lengths of 4 m. Leaves are trifoliate, alternate, and usually pubescent. Flowers are borne in groups of 2-5, butterfly-shaped, and can range in color from white to lilac. Pods are 5-9 cm in length and contain 2-9 seeds each....
  16. True Red Cranberry Bean Phaseolus vulgaris

    The True RedCranberry Bean is deep red in color like a cranberry but the pod is ivory with red flecks. It is a pole bean that blossoms and sets pods over the course of a growing season. Beans from this species serve as a major protein source for humans. Cranberry Bean was first grown in South...
  17. Vegetable Soybean Glycine max

    Vegetable Soybean cultivation probably originated in northeastern China, a region where wild soybeans exist. These high protein beans are best known as pulses and oilseeds.
  18. Wild Mung Bean Vigna vexillata

    Wild mung bean is a perennial, vining, nitrogen-fixing plant with edible beans and tubers. This plant is rarely cultivated but rather pods and tubers are collected from wild plants. It has potential for human food, as well as a green manure or cover crop.
  19. Pois carré Psophocarpus tetragonolobus

    pois carré, haricot ailé

    L’origine du pois carré est incertaine. De nombreux auteurs affirment qu’il provient de la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée et de régions insulaires indonésiennes où l’on trouve nombre de ses souches génétiques. Le pois carré, également connu sous le nom de haricot ailé, est cultivé intensément en...
  20. Pois de sept ans Phaseolus lunatus

    pois de sept ans, pois du cap, fève créole

    Le pois de sept ans proviendrait de l’Amérique centrale. Il tire son nom de sa capacité à demeurer productif durant plusieurs années. Les semences d’ECHO proviennent de l’Asveldt Ranch de Mwenezi, Zimbabwe où le pois de sept ans est semé autour des maisons et pousse sur les toits à l’abri des...
  21. Arachide Arachis hypogaea

    arachide

    Originaire d’Amérique du Sud, l’arachide n’est pas vraiment une noix mais bien une légumineuse de la famille des haricots.
  22. Nuñas Phaseolus vulgaris

    From findings discovered in a cave in Peru, experts say that nuñas may have been available 11,000 years ago. This discovery indicates Nuñas were around well before the Incas, and perhaps before the common bean ('frijol', Spanish). Because of their age, Nuñas have been called "a kind of witness of...
  23. Lentil Lens culinaris

    lentille

    Lentils are a low-growing, nitrogen-fixing herbaceous annual and are among the oldest of cultivated crops. Lentils are well adapted to semi-arid growing conditions in the cool season of warm temperate regions. They also tolerate subtropical climates and high elevation tropical environments.
  24. Chickpea Cicer arietinum

    Chickpea is a very drought-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing, cool season crop that tolerates heat during fruiting and ripening. It is grown as a cool season annual in a broad belt through the Mediterranean region to the subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Europe, Central, and South America. The...
  25. Edible Australian Acacias Acacia colei, A. elachantha, A. torulosa, A. tumida

    edible australian acacias

    Most edible acacia seed species are from northern semi-arid regions of Australia and range from medium-sized trees to large, multi-stemmed bushes. Several edible acacia species have been successfully introduced into African semi-arid regions like Niger and Senegal. A. colei has excelled in acacia...
  26. Haricot de lima rouge Phaseolus lunatus

    haricot de lima rouge, pois chouche, pois savon

    The Hopi red lima is believed to have originated in Mexico and south-western areas of the United States. ECHO seeds originally came from dry-land regions of Kenya.
  27. Grain Soybean Glycine max

    Soybean is an annual, nitrogen-fixing, nutritious, bean crop grown mainly as a pulse and for oil used for human consumption and many industrial uses. It is a very day length sensitive crop with varieties developed for many different latitudes. Soybeans are also used a fresh vegetable. Soy sauce,...