Abstract:

The mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek) is a legume cultivated for its edible seeds and sprouts across Asia. There are three subgroups of Vigna radiata: one is developed (Vigna radiata subsp. radiata), and two are wild (Vigna radiata subsp. sublobata and Vigna radiata subsp. glabra). The mung bean plant is an annual, erect or semi-erect, reaching a height of 0.15-1.25 m. It is slightly hairy with a well-developed root system. Wild types tend to be prostrate, while cultivated varieties are more erect. The stems are many-branched, sometimes twining at the tips. The leaves are alternate, trifoliolate with elliptical to ovate leaflets, 5-18 cm long x 3-15 cm broad. The flowers (4-30) are papilionaceous, pale yellow, or greenish. The pods are long, cylindrical, hairy, and pending. They contain 7 to 20 tiny, ellipsoid or cube-shaped seeds. The seeds are variable in color; they are usually green and yellow, olive, brown, purplish brown or black, mottled and ridged. Seed colors and the presence or absence of a rough layer are used to distinguish different types of mungbean. Several mungbean products are helpful for livestock feeding; Mungbeans, raw or processed, and split or weathered seeds. By-products of mungbean processing: mungbean bran (called chuni in India), which is the by-product of dehulling for making dhal, and the by-product of the manufacture of mungbean vermicelli. Mungbean is sometimes grown for fodder as hay, straw, or silage. It is particularly valued as early forage as it outcompetes other summer growing legumes such as cowpea or velvet bean in their early stages. The mungbean plant makes valuable green manure and can be used as a cover crop.