Abstract
The genus Lathyrus consists of more than 184 herbaceous annual and perennial species suitable for multifaceted sustainable food and feed production system in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. The grasspea is a promising source of protein nutrition. However, its potential is not being utilized fully due to the presence of neurotoxin content (β-N-oxalyl-l-α, β diaminopropionic acid, β-ODAP), a causal agent of non-reversible lower limbs paralysis. The high protein contents in seeds and leaves with ~90% digestibility make it sustainable super food to beat protein malnutrition in future. Therefore, it is desired to breed new grasspea cultivars with low β-ODAP contents. Limited research has been carried out to date about this feature. A draft genome sequence of grasspea has been recently published that is expected to play a vital role in breeding and identifying the genes responsible for biosynthesis pathway of β-ODAP contents in grasspea. Efforts to increase awareness about the importance of genus Lathyrus and detoxify β-ODAP in grasspea are desired and are in progress. Presently, in South Asia, systematic and dedicated efforts to support the farmers in the grasspea growing regions by disseminating low β-ODAP varieties has resulted in a considerable improvement in reducing the incidence of neurolathyrism. It is expected that the situation will improve further by mainstreaming grasspea cultivation by implementing different approaches such as the development and use of low β-ODAP varieties, strengthening government policies and improved detox methods. The present review provides insight into the multifaceted characteristics of sustainable nutritious grasspea in the global and Indian perspective.
Highlights
The human population growth rate is very fast compared to the food yield per hectare as per the report of World Food Programme, 2018 [1]
The cultivation and domestication of many important annuals such as wheat, pea, grasspea and lentil started during early neolithic era around the 6th millennium Before Common Era (BCE) in the West Asia (Irano-Turanian regions)
Total Lathyrus accessions with three major species conserved in different global genebanks
Summary
The human population growth rate is very fast compared to the food yield per hectare as per the report of World Food Programme, 2018 [1]. The present communication reviews grasspea (Lathyrus sativus L.) a member of family Fabaceae (Leguminosae), subfamily Papilionoideae, and tribe Vicieae, which is an underutilized and neglected food, feed and pharmaceutically important crop that shows resistance to harsh environmental conditions [6, 7] like drought, heat, soil infertility, floods and many ranges of biotic stresses It grows either as cultivated crop or weed under natural conditions in South, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe and in many other countries of the world. The cultivation and domestication of many important annuals such as wheat, pea, grasspea and lentil started during early neolithic era around the 6th millennium Before Common Era (BCE) in the West Asia (Irano-Turanian regions) Later, these crops spread to the temperate Mediterranean region; moving further to tropics and sub-tropics in the northern hemisphere including East Africa, South Asia and naturalized in South America over time [16]. Total Lathyrus accessions with three major species conserved in different global genebanks
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