Legumes

Legumes Chickpea  (Cicer arietinum) An annual Asian plant in the pea family, widely cultivated for the edible seeds in its short inflated pods. A round yellowish edible seed, widely used as a pulse. Also called  garbanzo. There are two types of chickpeas: desi and kabuli. Desi contains smaller, darker seeds and have more of a rough coat. Kabuli is a larger, lighter colored bean with a smoother coat. Uses * Chickpeas are an important food plant in India, Africa, and Central and South America. * They are the main ingredient of hummus, a sauce originating in the Middle East. In southern Europe, chickpeas are a common ingredient in soups, salads, and stews. * A kind of meal or flour is also made from chickpeas. Snap peas  (Pisum sativum  var. macrocarpon) A cultivated pea that has edible usually round pods easily snapped like beans and that is classified with the snow pea as a variety (Pisum sativum macrocarpon) also called sugar snap pea. This is pea plant producing peas having crisp rounded edible pods USES Raw * The pod can be left whole and served with your favorite dip. The peas can be removed from the pod. Puree the raw peas in a food processor or blender and fold the puree into your favorite dip. * Snap the whole pea pod into 1-inch pieces and add to salads—vegetable, macaroni, chicken, etc. Cooked * Use instead of snow peas in oriental dishes. * In stews or soups, add whole or in pieces, 2 minutes before serving—just long enough to heat thoroughly. * Stir-fry as you would any vegetable. Azuki Bean(Vigna angularis  syn. Phaseolus angularis)The azuki bean, also known as  adzuki  or  aduki is an annual bushy leguminous vine plant widely grown throughout  East Asia  and the  Himalayas  for its small (approximately 5  mm)  beans which are used as food and to produce a flour. The  cultivars  most familiar in  Northeast Asiahave a uniform red color. However, white, black, gray and variously mottled varieties are also known. USES * In  East Asian cuisine, the azuki bean is commonly eaten sweetened. In particular, it is often boiled with sugar, resulting in red bean paste (an), a very common ingredient in all of these cuisines.It is also common to add flavoring to the bean paste, such as chestnut. * In Japan, rice with azuki beans ( ;  sekihan) is traditionally cooked for auspicious occasions. Azuki beans are also used to produce  amanatto, and as a popular flavour of  ice cream. * On October 20, 2009,  Pepsi  Japan released an azuki-flavored Pepsi product. * In Gujarat, India, they are known as  chori. Ornamental plants Zebra Plant (Aphelandra squarrosa) a Brazilian herb with leaves striped green and yellowish white that is widely cultivated as a foliage plant.This plant is often used as a  house plant. This plant likes lots of light, but not direct. It does not bloom often, but it can be encouraged to bloom by prolonged daily exposure to light. USES Indoor and outdoor decoration for houses and others. Rose (Rosa berberifolia) They form a group of plants that can be erect shrubs, climbing or trailing with stems that are often armed with sharp  prickles. They have pinnate leaves and showy flowers having five petals in the wild state but being often double or partly double under cultivation.Flowers vary in size and shape and are usually large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows and reds. * Majority of roses are used to decorate gardens as well as for various ornamental purposes. * Roses have diuretic effects as they contain Vitamin C, pectin, malic and citric acids. * It has a medicinal effect that cools the body by removing toxins and heat from the body. * Roses are also used all over the world for culinary purposes especially on desserts. * It is also widely used for preparing cosmetics, perfumes, hand lotions, creams, to rose essential oil and rose water.Glossy Abelia (Abelia x grandiflora) Any of several shrubs that have clusters of small white or pink flowers belong to the belong to the genus Abelia, of the honeysuckle family. Abelias are popular  garden  shrubs. The most widely grown is the hybrid  Abelia x grandiflora. This is a rounded, spreading, multi-stemmed shrub with gracefully arching branches to 1-1. 8 m tall, with ovate, glossy, dark green semi-evergreen leaves to 2–6  cm long, and clusters of white-tinged-pink, bell-shaped flowers to 2  cm long. USESGardening and ornamental purposes. Latex and Resins Chico (Manilkara zapota) Large tropical American evergreen yielding chicle gum and edible fruit; sometimes placed in genus Achras. The sapodilla is an attractive upright, slow-growing, long-lived evergreen tree. Distinctly pyramidal when young, with age the tree may develops a crown that is dense and rounded or sometimes open and somewhat irregular in shape. USES Because of the tannin content, young fruits are boiled and the decoction taken to stop diarrhea.An infusion of the young fr uits and the flowers is drunk to relieve pulmonary complaints. The crushed seeds have a diuretic action and are claimed to expel bladder and kidney stones. The latex is used in the tropics as a crude filling for tooth cavities. A paste of the seeds is applied on stings and bites from venomous animals. The latex can also be used as rubber. Papaya (Carica-papaya) Large palmlike plant (Carica papaya; family Caricaceae), cultivated throughout the tropics and warm subtropics, and its succulent juicy fruit.An evergreen, usually dioecious, tropical American tree  having a crown of palmately divided leaves with pinnate lobes and large yellow edible fruit. USES * A popular breakfast fruit in many countries, it is also used in salads, pies, sherbets, juices, and confections. * The juice of the unripe fruit contain an enzyme that is useful in various remedies for indigestion and in meat tenderizers. * Latex is collected in the fruit of the papaya tree. T he latex is collected after scoring t he neck of the fruit, where it may either dry on the fruit or drip into a container. Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis)A pine (Pinus halepensis) of southern Europe and the Levant that is of graceful habit, has usually two leaves in each persistent sheath, and yields a wood that is much used for shipbuilding. It is native to the Mediterranean area, and is planted as an ornamental and is a source of turpentine. USES * The resin of the Aleppo Pine is used to flavor the Greek wine  retsina. * The  Pinus halepensis  is widely planted for timber in its native area, being one of the most important trees in  forestry  in Algeria and Morocco. * This tree is also used as an ornamental tree which is extensively planted in gardens, parks, and private and agency landscapes.