Horse Gram

Horse Gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) is one of the lesser known beans. The whole seeds of horse gram are generally utilized as cattle feed. However, it is consumed as a whole seed, as sprouts, or as whole meal in India, popular especially in southern Indian states. Medical uses of these legumes have been discussed.

Horse gram and moth bean are legumes of the tropics and subtropics, grown mostly under dry-land agriculture. The chemical composition is comparable with more commonly cultivated legumes. Like other legumes, these are deficient in methionine and tryptophan, though horse gram is an excellent source of iron and molybdenum. Comparatively, horse gram seeds have higher trypsin inhibitor and hemagglutinin activities and natural phenols than most bean seeds. Natural phenols are mostly phenolic acids, namely, 3, 4-dihydroxy benzoic, p-hydroxy benzoic, vanillic, caffeic, p-coumaric, ferulic, syringic and sinapic acids. Dehusking, germination, cooking, and roasting have been shown to produce beneficial effects on nutritional quality of both the legumes. Though both require prolonged cooking, a soak solution has been shown to reduce cooking time and improve protein quality. Moth bean is mostly consumed as dhal or sprouts.