What plant is the mung bean? An introduction to the genus, family and characteristics of the mung bean
The mung bean is an annual erect herbaceous plant, 20-60 cm tall. The stem is covered with long brown bristles. It is cultivated throughout northern and southern China. It is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. The seeds are used for food, and starch can also be extracted from them to make bean paste, vermicelli, and so on. Washed and placed in running water and sprouted away from light, they can be made into bean sprouts for use as a vegetable. Used medicinally, they have the effects of cooling and detoxifying, promoting urination, and improving eyesight.
Morphological characteristics
Annual erect herbaceous plant, 20-60 cm tall. The stem is covered with long brown bristles. Pinnately compound leaves with 3 leaflets; stipules peltate, ovate, 0.8-1.2 cm long, with ciliate margins; stipels conspicuous, lanceolate; leaflets ovate, 5-16 cm long, 3-12 cm wide, the lateral ones somewhat oblique, entire, apex acuminate, base broadly cuneate or rounded, both surfaces more or less sparsely covered with long hairs, with 3 prominent basal veins; petiole 5-21 cm long; rachis 1.5-4 cm long; petiolules 3-6 mm long.
Racemes axillary, with 4 to several flowers, up to 25 at most; peduncle 2.5-9.5 cm long; pedicels 2-3 mm long; bracteoles linear-lanceolate or oblong, 4-7 mm long, striate, nearly persistent; calyx tube hairless, 3-4 mm long, lobes narrowly triangular, 1.5-4 mm long, ciliate, the upper pair fused into a lobe with a 2-lobed apex; standard petal nearly square, 1.2 cm long, 1.6 cm wide, yellow-green outside, sometimes pink inside, apex slightly concave, incurved, hairless; wings ovate, yellow; keel sickle-shaped, green tinged with pink, with a conspicuous sac on the right side.
Pod linear-cylindrical, spreading, 4-9 cm long, 5-6 mm wide, covered with light brown, scattered long bristles, more or less constricted between the seeds; seeds 8-14, light green or yellowish brown, short cylindrical, 2.5-4 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, hilum white and not sunken. Flowering in early summer, fruiting from June to August.
Nutritional value
1. The mung bean contains 22-26% protein, which is 2.3 times that of wheat flour, 2.7 times that of millet, 3 times that of cornmeal, and 3.2 times that of rice. Among the proteins in mung beans, the content of the 8 essential amino acids for the human body is 2-5 times that of cereals, and they are rich in amino acids, tryptophan, lysine, leucine, and threonine as complete proteins.
2. The mung bean contains about 50% starch, second only to cereals, of which amylose accounts for 29% and amylopectin accounts for 71%. The fiber content in mung beans is relatively high, generally 3-4%, while cereals have only 1-2%.
3. The fat content in mung beans is relatively low, generally below 1%, mainly unsaturated fatty acids such as palmitic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid.
4. The mung bean is rich in nutrients such as B vitamins and minerals. Among them, vitamin B1 is 17.5 times that of chicken, and vitamin B2 is 2-4 times that of cereals and higher than that of pork, milk, chicken, and fish. Calcium is 4 times that of cereals and 7 times that of chicken, iron is 4 times that of chicken, and phosphorus is 2 times that of cereals and pork, chicken, fish, and eggs. It also contains a variety of phospholipids needed by the human body.
5. The mung bean contains many bioactive substances such as coumarin, alkaloids, phytosterols, saponins, and so on.
The mung bean has high nutritional value and is grown very widely. Eating more mung beans is also good for the body, and you can eat a little more in summer.