Basic Species Information
Lentil is the common English name of the cultivated legume, Lens culinaris Medik. The genus, Lens, is in the plant family Fabaceae, in the subfamily Papilionoindeae, and in the tribe Vicieae. Lentil ranks fifth in the world’s production of seed legumes, after soybean (Glycine max L.), pea (Pisum sativum), chickpea (Cicer arietinum), and cow pea (Vigna unguiculata). It is grown worldwide and the largest producing country is Canada, followed by India, Turkey, and the United States (http:/faostat.fao.org). The global success of this crop is due largely to the high protein content of its seeds (25 %) and therefore its use as a common meat substitute (Zohary 1995). In addition to being a companion to a starch-rich diet of cereal-based agriculture, legumes are a valuable resource in restoring nitrogen to the soil as they are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen and replenish soil fertility (Zohary et al. 2012).
Lens culinariswas domesticated in Southwest Asia and...
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References
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Lucas, L., Fuller, D.Q. (2014). Lentil: Origins and Development. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2323
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