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Lathyrus sativus
Also called Indian Pea, Chickling Pea, Chickling Vetch, Grass Pea, Riga Pea, Chicken Vetch, Cultivated Vetchling
Lathyrus sativus is a climbing annual legume grown as a pulse crop for seed and livestock feed, valued as a drought-tolerant insurance crop. It is best grown in cool-to-warm temperate conditions with reasonable moisture and full sun.
Lathyrus sativus, also known as grass pea, peagrass, cicerchia, blue sweet pea, chickling pea, chickling vetch, Indian pea, white pea and white vetch, is a legume (family Fabaceae) commonly grown for human consumption and livestock feed in Asia and East Africa. It is a particularly important crop in areas that are prone to drought and famine, and is thought of as an 'insurance crop' as it produces reliable yields when all other crops fail. The seeds contain a neurotoxin that causes lathyrism, a neurodegenerative disease, if eaten as a primary protein source for a prolonged period.
Although the exact origins of L. sativus are debated, it was most likely domesticated in the Balkan region in about 6000 BCE.
Lathyrus sativus grows best where the average temperature is 10–25 °C and average rainfall is 400–650 mm (16–26 in) per year. Like other legumes, it improves the nitrogen content of soil. The crop can survive drought or flooding, but grows best in moist soils. It tolerates a range of soil types from light sandy through loamy to heavy clay, and acid, neutral, or alkaline soils. It does not tolerate shade.
Like other grain legumes, L. sativus produces a high-protein seed. The seeds however also contain variable amounts of a neurotoxic amino acid β-N-oxalyl-L-α,β-diaminopropionic acid (ODAP). ODAP is considered the cause of the disease neurolathyrism, a neurodegenerative disease that causes paralysis of the lower body: emaciation of gluteal muscle (buttocks). The disease has historically occurred after famines in Europe (France, Spain, Germany), North Africa, and South Asia, and is still prevalent in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan (panhandle) when Lathyrus seed is the exclusive or main source of nutrients for extended periods. ODAP concentration increases in plants grown under stressful conditions, compounding the problem.The crop is harmless to humans in small quantities, but eating it as a major part of the diet over a three-month period can cause permanent paralysis below the knees in adults and brain damage in children, a disorder known as lathyrism. (Kew Gardens)
Some authors have argued that this toxicity is overstated, and L. sativus is harmless as part of a normal diet.
Seed is sold for human consumption at markets in Florence. Consumption of this pulse in Italy is limited to some areas in the central part of the country, and is steadily declining.
Angled pea · Yellow pea · Golden Pea · Red pea · Lathyrus fulvus · Everlasting-Pea · Caley pea · Beach pea · Perennial pea · Sweet pea · Round-leaved vetchling · Grass pea
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lathyrus sativus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
