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Biodiversity in Indian Underexploited/Tribal Pulses

2003; Springer Nature (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-94-017-0109-9_17

1569-268X

K. Janardhanan, Vellingiri Vadivel, M. Pugalenthi,

Genetic and Environmental Crop Studies

Pulses are an important source of proteins to the vegetarian and socio-economically weaker sections of the population. With rapid increase in population coupled with stagnation in pulses production at around 12 to 14 million tonnes, the per capita availability of protein has decreased causing Protein-Energy-Malnutrition (PEM) especially among children below the age of five years in India. This has necessitated exploration of alternate sources of protein to bridge the gap for protein requirement of the various sections of vegetarian population. In this context, alternate sources like untraditional legumes (underexploited/tribal pulses) assume significance. Therefore it is time to understand their biodiversity with a view to exploit such genetic resources for additional supply of plant protein, so that they can augment the availability of protein from conventional pulse crops in India. Around 40 legumes belonging to the genera, Abrus, Acacia, Alysicarpus,Atylosia, Bauhinia, Canavalia, Cassia, Dolichos,Entada, Erythrina, Indigofera, Lens, Mucuna,Parkia, Parkinsonia, Phaseolus, Pongamia, Prosopis,Sesbania, Tamarindus, Vicia, Vigna and Xylia are known to be consumed by as many as 550 tribal communities in India who account for 67.76 million of total Indian population. Besides there are another 10 underexploited/little known legumes, which have not been exploited to the extent they deserve. The importance of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) including the traditional medicinal properties of these wild legumes have been enumerated. The authors' team of workers have gathered 192 germplasm (accessions) of wild legumes including 45 tribal pulses from different agroclaimatic regions in India. Marked genetic variation among the germplasm/varieties of several tribal pulses at the time of collection and evaluation for agrobotanical characters have been recorded. The genetic erosion of germplasm of tribal pulses, such as Entada scandense, Mucuna monosperma, M. gigantea, Atylosia goensis,Bauhinia vahlii, Xylia xylocarpa, Parkia roxburghii, Vigna radiata var. sublobata, V. mungo var. silvestris and V grandis, has been noticed. Several germplasm conservation strategies and their utility in this context have been stressed. Chemical investigations on levels of crude protein and crude lipid also have revealed the existence of genetic diversity not only among different varieties but also among different germplasm of the same species. Several germplasm/varieties/species such as Atylosia goensis, Canavalia ensiformis, C. gladiata, Erythrina indica, Indigofera linifolia, Lens esculenta, Mucuna spp., Psophocarpus spp., Pongamia pinnata, Phaseolus lunatus, Sesbania bispinosa, Vicia faba, Vigna trilobata and Xylia xylocarpa possess 20–80% (w/w) more crude protein compared to the conventional pulses. Similarly several germplasm/varieties/species like Alysicarpus rugosus, Bauhinia spp., Cassia spp., Entada scandense, Erythrina indica, Mucuna spp., Parkia roxburghii, Pongamia pinnata, Prosopis chilensis, Psophocarpus spp., Tamarindus indica and Xylia xylocarpa contain high levels of crude lipid (10–30%, w/w). Human nutrition requires a balanced source of essential amino acids. Generally seed proteins of several legumes are deficient in sulfur — containing amino acids, cysteine and methionine. Exceptionally the seed proteins of Alysicarpus rugosus, Indigofera linifolia and Tamarindus indica contain sulfur containing amino acids more than FAO/WHO (1991) requirement pattern. Similarly seed proteins of certain varieties/germplasm of tribal pulses like Abrus precatorius, Acacia leucophloea, A. nilotica, Bauhinia malabarica, Canavalia gladiata, Cassia laevigata, Entada scandens, Indigofera linifolia, Mucuna pruriens var. pruriens, M. pruriens var. utilis, Parkia roxburghii, Phaseolus lunatus, Prosopis chilensis, Parkinsonia aculeata, Pongamia pinnata, Vigna aconitifolia, V. capensis, V. sesquipedalis, V. sinensis, V. sublobata, V. umbellata, V. vexillata and Xylia xylocarpa contain tryptophan more than FAO/WHO (1991) requirement pattern. The germplasm of untraditional pulses such as Canavalia ensiformis, C. gladiata, Mucuna pruriens var. pruriens, M. pruriens var. utilis and Psophocarpus tetragonolobus have been advocated for large scale cultivation and consumption as alternate and additional sources of plant protein after toxicological evaluation and technological processing.