Lupin (Lupinus spp.)

Abstract

Lupin (Lupinus sp. L.) is an ancient crop that is well known in many countries. It is a member of the Papilionaceae (Fabaceae) family. In total there are 300–400 different species of lupin (Popov et al, 1966), although only about 150 of them are widely propagated (Allen and Allen, 1981). Only a few are actually cultivated. Those cultivated species include the white lupin (Lupinus albus L.), the yellow lupin (Lupinus luteus L.), the blue lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.), the perennial lupin ( Lupinus polyphyllus L.), Lind.) and the sweet lupin (Lupinus mutabilis, Sweet).