Chickpea Leaves Could Be Food Source In Developing Countries

Chickpea Plant

Chickpea leaves may prove to be an excellent alternative food source in malnourished populations of the world, with a mineral content that matches or exceeds spinach and cabbage.

The results of a Houston-based study published recently in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture follows the close examination of 19 chickpea varieties.

"Chickpea leaves are very, very nutritious," said study co-author Dr. Michael A. Grusak, associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and a researcher with the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center. "We found the mineral composition of the leaves to be quite good, especially when compared to common vegetables like cabbage and spinach."

This could have a great impact in developing countries throughout the world, he said.

"This will probably have the greatest impact in India," he said, "where there is a major production of the chickpea plant. That's also an area with a lot of nutritional deficiencies. The Middle East is another area where you find a lot of chickpea cultivation."

Additionally, cultivation of the leaves may actually assist in plant growth, he said.

"It turns out that the yield of chickpea is determined in large part by the number of branches," said Grusak. "There is some evidence that picking off leaves may actually promote enhanced branching and thus make the plant more productive as a seed crop."

Grusak and his team now plan to do further research on the effects of cultivation on plant yield in remote, outdoor locations. All their research on the nutritional value of chickpea plants was conducted in a controlled, greenhouse setting.

The chickpea itself is the third most important cool-season food legume (plant species that include peas and peanuts) after the common bean and the pea, said the report. In several developing countries, the seed of the plant serves as a staple food for humans and can account for a significant portion of daily nutritional and caloric intake.