Mucuna seed pruriens
LATIN NAME: MUCUNA PRURIENS
COMMON NAME: Velvet Bean
The velvet bean velvets the vigorous, twining annual vine with the trifoliate leaves of the three broad, oval leaflets and the long, pendent clusters of the small, purple, pea-like flowers that open through the warm season, the curved, fuzzy pods following, each pod covered with the soft, golden-brown hairs and holding the round, mottled seeds. The vine grows fast and covers the trellis and the fence, and it likes the sun, and the moist, well-drained soil.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The nitrogen-fixing roots of the velvet bean give it a long place in the research on the green-manure crops of the pea family, and the pruriens species appears in the studies of the cover-crop habit and the seed chemistry. The work looks at the way the vine feeds the soil, the traditional seed uses, and the seed biology. The agronomists value the soil-building growth, and the growers of the warm-season vines keep the species in their catalogues.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
In the warm garden, the velvet bean velvets the fence with the purple flowers and the fuzzy pods. The vine covers the fence and the arbour within the season, it enriches the ground for the next crop, and the seeds have served the traditional preparations. It grows well in the moist, well-drained, sunny ground. Vigorous, velvet-podded and soil-feeding.
To grow the Velvet Bean from seed, rub the hard coats with the sandpaper, then soak the seeds overnight, sow them into the warm, moist mix of the pot, keep the pot warm and steadily moist, and the seedlings break through within a couple of weeks.
Keep the pot warm and steadily moist, and pot the seedlings on as they grow. The velvet pods come within the season. Plant the young vines in the sunny, moist ground, and the velvet pods will fuzz through the season.
Mucuna pruriens is a tropical annual vine in the legume family and is known for its jet black, velvety seed pods and purple flowers. The beans can range form almost pure black to speckled to spotted beige. Growing as large as 15 meters in height, it is native to Africa, India and the Caribbean. In India it is an important in ayurvedic medicine and is considered an aphrodisiac, especially in combination with tribulus terrestris. It is also said to relieve pain, calm nerves, kill parasites, reduce muscle spasms and reduce cholesterol and inflammation. Its chemical makeup consists of a wide range of compounds, the most plentiful of which is L-dopa, a precursor to dopamine that is useful in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Mucuna Pruriens has also been used a coffee substitute in Central and South America where the beans are roasted in the same way as coffee. The hairs on the seed pods are a skin irritant, which has given way to the name cowitch. Velvet bean is also a beneficial garden plant because it is a nitrogen fixer and will help improve your soil.