Velvet Bean Seed/ Macuna parensis

Descripción del producto

"Products & uses

Nutrition: Velvet beans can be used as a human foodstuff but require considerable care in their preparation, because of the toxic principle they contain. In many parts of Africa and Asia they are regarded as a famine food. The toxic principle can be removed by boiling and soaking the seeds in several changes of water. In parts of Asia, the seeds are sometimes roasted before being eaten. In other parts of Asia, notably Java, the seeds are sometimes boiled, the seed-coat removed, and the decorticated seeds soaked in water, after which they are chopped, steamed, and left to ferment to produce a bean cake, 'tempe benguk', which resembles tempe produced from soybeans. The immature pods and leaves are occasionally boiled and eaten as a vegetable.
Medicine: The possibility of utilizing velvet beans as a commercial source of L-dopa (which is relatively expensive to produce synthetically), used in the treatment of Parkinson's' disease, has received attention in recent years. Yields of around 4.8% are reported to be attainable from the decorticated seed meal. Details of Mucuna's traditional medicinal uses, chemical constituents, pharmacological activities and clinical trials have been reported in 'Medicinal Plants of the World' by Ross I.A. ***9.
Secondary: The possibility of utilizing the seed as a source of industrial starch has been investigated in Brazil and results indicate that a starch with a high viscosity, similar to that obtained from cowpeas, and suitable as a thickening agent for food products, or as an adhesive in the paper and textile industries, could be obtained.

Nutritional Quality and Animal Production

Velvet beans are a nutritious animal feed and are used mainly for grazing, although the mature seeds are also used in the manufacture of compound feeds, or fed direct to the animals, when they are often soaked in water for *4 hours, or ground into a meal. They are used mainly for feeding cattle or sheep and can only be fed to pigs if they constitute less than *5% of the diet. They are considered unsuitable for poultry. The residual cake has a protein content of ****0%." - Taken from FAO Website