Of the Fabaceae family, in which the fruit, a legume, is an elongated dry pod which dehisces along a seam and has seeds attached to one side.  Leguminous crops are sources of protein for humans and animals, vegetable oil for human consumption, phytochemicals for human health, and resources for industries and biofuels.  They are important forage crops, groundcovers, and timber resources.  Legume plants are notable for their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, due to a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with bacteria (rhizobia) found in root nodules of these plants.  Legumes' nitrogen fixation ability resupplies depleted soil with nitrogen.

Usage example: "The use of a leguminous crop, such as alfalfa, can provide a significant amount of nitrogen to subsequent crops in rotation and can replace the application of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. This means reduced fertilizer cost and reduced fossil fuel consumption to produce the fertilizer."

See also: Nitrogen cycle.

Resources:

Legume. (2010, October 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 11, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Legume&oldid=388744837.

Phan Tran, Lam-San & Nguyen, H.T. (2009).  Future Biotechnology of Legumes.  In D.W. Emerich & H.B Krishnan (Eds.), Nitrogen Fixation in Crop Production (pp. 265-307).  USA: American Society of Agronomy, Inc., Crop Science Society of America, Inc., and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Sheaffer, C., Rehm, G., & Peterson, P. (2005, January 6). Nitrogen Credit Contribution by Alfalfa to Corn.  Minnesota Crop News.  Retrieved October 14, 2010, from http://www.extension.umn.edu/cropenews/2005/05MNCN03.htm.

Entry: LLH

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