NRES 700

Legumes are also known as beans and pulses. Members of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae), or the bean family, legumes are the second only to those of the grass family in terms of their importance to humans. Since the beginning of agriculture, every major civilization has had a legume in its support system in addition to a grain. For example, the civilizations of the Americas the corn and beans diet combination is well known.

The Leguminosae is a large and diverse and family with about 12,000 species. A characteristic feature of this family includes a fruit botanically known as a bean pod or legume and thus the family name. Another important feature of this family is their propensity to form root nodules that harbor nitrogen-fixing bacteria called Rhizobium. The bacteria converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, nitrite or nitrate ions, the forms of nitrogen that plants are able to utilize. This legume-bacteria association often produces an excess of usable nitrogen in the soil that is useful in crop rotation because the legume plants essentially fertilize the soil in addition to serving as food plants. Read this Texas A&M Website on Two new beans from America.

Plants whose fleshy, edible parts such as leaves, stems, roots and fruits are called vegetables. The genus Brassica is the most widely consumed vegetable in America. In this category, no plant family has been more modified than the mustard family or Brassicaceae especially the genus Brassica. Brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and cabbage belong to one species, Brassica oleracea. Each had been produced by different modification of the plant part and undergoing separate domestication process. Read this website on # The Origin and Taxonomy of Cabbage (required).

An average shopper would consider green beans and cucumbers as vegetables while cherries and bananas are definitely fruits. However, botanically, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, bananas, and cherries are all fruits. A fruit is a mature, ripened, ovary of a plant. The fruit contains the seeds (ovules) which plant will disperse (with the help of dispersal agents) so that new seedlings will sprout another the next generation of individual plants. Wind, water, and humans along with other animals are examples of dispersal agents that help plants spread seeds to new new places away from the mother plant. Read this article by Bramlage, U. of Massachusett # On the Origin of the Edible Apple. Please read this article # Is Tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable? and I say tomayto, you say tomahto (required)

If you would like more general information on the benefits of vegetables, click on and visit the following optional links: The World's Healthiest Foods

The health benefit of tomatoes.

Vegetable and Fruits