Macrotyloma uniflorum
Macrotyloma uniflorum (horse gram, kulthi bean, hurali, Madras gram) is a legume native to tropical southern Asia, commonly grown for horse feed and occasionally for human consumption and in Ayurvedic cuisine. Horse gram is grown in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and West Bengal in India, as well as in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and elsewhere. It is consumed as a whole seed, as sprouts, or as whole meal in India, popular in many parts of India. Medical uses of these legumes  have been discussed. Description. "Macrotyloma uniflorum" is a perennial climbing plant with a rhizome, growing to a height of about . The stem sprouts from the rhizome each year. It is clad in varying amounts of whitish hairs and bears alternate, trifoliate leaves with petioles up to long. The leaflets are obovate or elliptical, and up to long. The flowers are borne in twos or threes in the leaf axils, and are typical of the bean family with banner, wings and keel. They are cream, yellowish or green, often with a purple blotch inside. These are followed by linear-oblong, upcurving  pods up to long, containing up to ten reddish-brown, speckled or black seeds. Distribution. Horse gram is native to tropical southern Asia and has been found in archaeological sites in India, starting from 2500 BC. It was probably first domesticated in India, and is now grown as a legume from India to Myanmar. It is also grown for fodder and as a green manure crop in tropical countries in southeastern Asia, and in northern Australia. Horse gram thrives where the temperature is in the range but is killed by frost. It is a drought tolerant crop and is mostly  grown in areas with under of precipitation, and even as little as . In wetter areas, it is usually sown at the end of the wet season, to grow and crop in the dry season. Nutrition. 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-dihydroxybenzoic, 4-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic, caffeic, "p"-coumaric, ferulic, syringic and sinapic acids. Though both require prolonged cooking, a soak solution (1.5% NaHCO + 0.5% + 0.75% citric acid) has been shown to reduce cooking time and improve protein quality. Moth bean is mostly consumed as dhal or sprouts. Horse gram seed contains carbohydrate (57.2% w/w), protein (22% w/w), dietary fiber (5.3% w/w), fat (0.50% w/w), calcium (287 mg), phosphorus (311 mg), iron (6.77 mg) and calories (321 kcal) as well as vitamins like thiamine (0.4 mg), riboflavin  (0.2 mg) and niacin (1.5 mg) per 100 grams of dry matter. Its nutritional content is partly dependent on soil conditions and the weather. Its less appealing taste has led it to be not commonly eaten. Indian regional specifics. In India, it is also known as "ulavalu, gahat, muthira, kulath", or "kulthi". It is used to make popular dishes like "Kulitan Saaru, Kulitan Upkari, Kulitan Ghassi" (coconut curry preparation), and an "idli"-like preparation (but not fermented) called "Kulitan Sannan". In Myanmar (Burma), horse gram is known as "pe bazat" (). It is commonly used in making "pon ye gyi", a fermented  bean paste used in traditional Burmese cuisine. Medicinal uses. Scientists from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology have found that unprocessed raw horse gram seeds not only possess antihyperglycemic properties, but also have qualities which reduce insulin resistance. The scientists made a comparative analysis between horse gram seeds and their sprouts and found that the seeds have greater beneficial effects on the health of hyperglycemic individuals. The majority of antioxidant properties are confined to the seed coat and its removal would not do any good. Raw horse gram seed is rich in polyphenols, flavonoids, and proteins, major antioxidants present in  fruits and other food materials. The seed has the ability to reduce postprandial hyperglycemia by slowing down carbohydrate digestion and reducing insulin resistance by inhibiting protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1 beta enzyme.