Outbreaks of lathyrism in India have been blamed on eating large amounts of the non-edible chickpea without proper cooking. Well-cooked, it is safe to eat. But it shouldn't matter to us at all because it is considered an inedible species. Of these 1,500 species, only a few dozen are regularly used as human food. Such is the case with saponins.
Saponins are a compound found in legumes and legume sprouts.
In fact, Saponins appear to be beneficial, being responsible for a major part of the cholesterol- lowering effect of legumes. Perhaps it is more than coincidence that the increase in the incidence of heart disease in the 20th century in the Western countries coincides with a decline in the consumption of saponin-rich legumes. Even some of the most beneficial nutrients, such as vitamin C, can be shown to be toxic under certain laboratory conditions. Vitamin C is considered an important antioxidant, and substantial evidence shows that it is involved in cancer prevention. These experimental conditions do not appear to be relevant to what goes on in our bodies.