Peas, lentils or lupine That's why legumes are very healthy

Lentils, beans and Co are usually associated in this country with heavy home cooking. However, legumes are an important part of nutrition in many countries around the world because of their high protein content. In the West, too, they are gaining new prominence by turning away from high meat consumption. 2016 has been declared the "Year of Legumes".
Important food source for millions of people
For a long time, legumes lived a shadowy existence in the local kitchen. Even today, they bring many people only with heavy bean stew or hearty lentil soup in combination. However, this reputation fails to recognize the positive qualities of legumes. They not only supply the soil with nutrients and support sustainable agriculture, but with their high protein content they are an important food source for millions of people worldwide. The year 2016 has now been declared UN International Year of Legumes - "wishing to draw attention to the role of legumes as part of sustainable food production focused on food security and good nutrition". In a resolution, UN experts write that "pulses such as lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas are an important source of vegetable protein and amino acids for people around the world.".

Healthy legumes. Image: Jiri Hera - fotolia

Legumes can prevent diseases
As reported by the dpa news agency, health organizations around the world have long been recommending the consumption of pulses as part of a healthy diet. According to experts, they should prevent overweight, diabetes, heart disease and cancer, among others. The international cuisine hardly gets by without legumes. Be it soybean-made tofu, which is used in many countries of East Asia for many dishes, Falafael and hummus from chickpeas or the Nepalese national dish Dal Bhat with lentils. "In cultures where traditionally little meat is or can be eaten, they are the essential protein nutritional base," said Manuela Specht, consultant at the Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP). In Central Europe, however, they were "out of fashion".

Turning away from high meat consumption
In times of economic miracle meat was considered a status symbol. In addition, legumes contain difficult-to-digest sugar molecules. The result: a bloated abdomen with flatulence. Not only for office people rather unpleasant. In the meantime, however, legumes are being given a higher control value due to the rejection of high meat consumption. More and more people are eating vegetarian or vegan food - that means without any animal products. "Dietary habits are changing," said Kurt-Jürgen Hülsbergen, Professor of Organic Agriculture at the Weihenstephan Science Center of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) to dpa. Nowadays, peas, beans, and lentils are no longer poor people's food. "I believe the trend will continue." Legumes are among nutritional foods that are important for vegetarians and vegans. For example, chickpeas are healthy mineral bombs.

Research and breeding should be encouraged more
According to the figures, the EU agricultural reform in 2015 almost doubled the still marginal production of legumes. This has to do with the fact that, according to the new rules, the farmers have to cultivate five percent of the fields as ecological priority areas, such as legumes. "Legumes are practically their own small nitrogen factory," Specht explained. On the one hand, they enter into a symbiosis with bacteria that accumulate nitrogen at their roots, natural fertilizer. On the other hand, they loosen the ground. "The signals stand for growth, because they mean so much good for agriculture," says Specht. The disadvantage, however, is that bean and pea are subject to strong fluctuations in yield and quickly ailing. "It is a big problem to grow healthy peas," said Hülsbergen. Since, among other things, little was invested in new breeds because of the low cultivation, researchers and farmers urgently demand more support for research and breeding here. The Federal Government has launched a so-called "protein crop strategy".

Lupines are big in coming
The legumes also include lupins. Previously, the lupine was mainly used as animal feed or as a colorful ornament in the garden. The seeds do not taste, smell of hay, and the bitter substances contained can even be poisonous. However, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging in Freising (IVV) and the company Prolupin GmbH in Grimmen in Mecklenburg have succeeded in developing a process to remove the bitter and grassy aftertaste. They were able to isolate the lupine proteins for food production. In 2014, they received the German Future Prize from the Federal President. Meanwhile, you can find various lupine products in the supermarket: lupine desserts, noodles, bread spread, a kind of milk and yogurt. Some people already refer to lupine as the new soy. "The demand for vegan and vegetarian products is huge - and rising," said Prolupin CEO Malte Stampe dpa. Other experts have made similar statements in the past. They expect a veritable boom in veggie food. Also for snacking is the neutral lupine protein. So one of the first products was Lupine Ice Cream. In addition, the protein can serve for pastries and should also be suitable for marshmallows. It is not all that new, but one could speak of a renaissance of an ancient cultivated plant: even the ancient Egyptians gave their pharaohs lupine seeds to their graves. (Ad)