Mucuna Explained

Mucuna is a genus of around 114 accepted species of climbing lianas (vines) and shrubs of the family Fabaceae: tribe Phaseoleae, typically found in tropical and subtropical forests in the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, southern, southeastern, and eastern Asia, New Guinea, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.

The leaves are trifoliolate, alternate, or spiraled, and the flowers are pea-like but larger, with distinctive curved petals, and occurring in racemes. Like other legumes, Mucuna plants bear pods. They are generally bat-pollinated and produce seeds that are buoyant sea-beans. These have a characteristic three-layered appearance, appearing like the eyes of a large mammal in some species and like a hamburger in others (most notably M. sloanei) and giving rise to common names like deer-eye beans, donkey-eye beans, ox-eye beans, or hamburger seed.

The name of the genus is derived from mucunã, a Tupi–Guarani word for these species.^[1]

Ecology

Some Mucuna species are used as food plants by caterpillars of Lepidoptera. These include Morpho butterflies and the two-barred flasher (Astraptes fulgerator), which is sometimes found on M. holtonii and perhaps others. The plant pathogenic fungus Mycosphaerella mucunae is named for being first discovered on Mucuna.

Uses

The pods of some species are covered in coarse hairs that contain the proteolytic enzyme mucunain and cause itchy blisters when they come in contact with skin; specific epithets such as pruriens (Latin: "itching") or urens (Latinized Ancient Greek: "stinging like a nettle") refer to this. Other parts of the plant have medicinal properties. The plants or their extracts are sold in herbalism against a range of conditions, such as urinary tract, neurological, and menstruation disorders, constipation, edema, fevers, tuberculosis, and helminthiases such as elephantiasis.^[2] In an experiment to test if M. pruriens might have an effect on the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, Katzenschlager et al. found that a seed powder had a comparable, if not more favourable, effect as commercial formulations of L-dopa, although the trial only consisted of four people per test group.^[3]

M. pruriens was found to increase phosphorus availability after application of rock phosphate in one Nigerian experiment.^[4] M. pruriens was used in Native American milpa agriculture.

Mucuna seeds contain a large number of antinutritional compounds. The most important is L-dopa, which the digestive system of most animals confuses with the amino acid tyrosine, causing the production of defective proteins. Other antinutrients are tannins, lectins, phytic acid, cyanogenic glycosides, and trypsin and amylase inhibitors, although all these can be removed by long cooking.^[5] M. pruriens may also contain chemicals such as serotonin, 5-HTP, nicotine, and the hallucinogenic tryptamines 5-MeO-DMT, bufotenine and dimethyltryptamine,^{[5] [6]} Mucuna is not traditionally consumed as a food crop, but some preliminary experiments have shown that if the antinutrients are removed or at least brought down to safe level, the beans can be fed to livestock or people. The L-dopa content is the most important and difficult toxin to get rid of. The seeds must be extensively processed before they can be safely eaten. Diallo & Berhe found the best method was to crack open the seeds and soak them in constantly running fresh water such as under an open faucet for 36 hours, or to put them in a bag and leave in a flowing river for 72 hours, before cooking them for over an hour. Over a thousand people in the Republic of Guinea were fed a meal of Mucuna (mixed with many other ingredients) with no obvious ill effects.^[7]

Species

Plants of the World Online currently (2023) includes:^[8]

1. Mucuna acuminata Graham ex Baker
2. Mucuna aimun Wiriad.
3. Mucuna analuciana T.M.Moura, Mansano & A.M.G.Azevedo
4. Mucuna angustifolia Adema
5. Mucuna argentea T.M.Moura, G.P.Lewis & A.M.G.Azevedo
6. Mucuna argyrophylla Standl.
7. Mucuna atropurpurea (Roxb.) DC. ex Wight
8. Mucuna aurea C.B.Rob.
9. Mucuna bennettii F.Muell. – red jade vine
10. Mucuna biplicata Teijsm. & Binn. ex Kurz
11. Mucuna birdwoodiana Tutcher
12. Mucuna bodinieri H.Lév.
13. Mucuna brachycarpa Rech.
14. Mucuna bracteata DC. ex Kurz
15. Mucuna cajamarca T.M.Moura, G.P.Lewis & A.M.G.Azevedo
16. Mucuna calophylla W.W.Sm.
17. Mucuna canaliculata Verdc.
18. Mucuna championii Benth.
19. Mucuna chiapaneca M.Sousa & T.M.Moura
20. Mucuna coriacea Baker
    1. M. coriacea subsp. coriacea
    2. M. coriacea subsp. irritans (Burtt Davy) Verdc.
21. Mucuna cuatrecasasii Hern.Cam. & C.Barbosa ex L.K.Ruíz
22. Mucuna curranii Elmer
23. Mucuna cyclocarpa F.P.Metcalf
24. Mucuna diabolica Backer
25. Mucuna diplax Wilmot-Dear
26. Mucuna discolor Merr. & L.M.Perry
27. Mucuna ecuatoriana T.M.Moura, G.P.Lewis, Mansano & A.M.G.Azevedo
28. Mucuna elliptica DC.
29. Mucuna elmeri Merr.
30. Mucuna eurylamellata Adema
31. Mucuna ferox Verdc.
32. Mucuna flagellipes Vogel ex Hook.f.
33. Mucuna gigantea (Willd.) DC.
34. Mucuna glabra (Reinecke) Wilmot-Dear
35. Mucuna glabrialata (Hauman) Verdc.
36. Mucuna globulifera T.M.Moura, N.Zamora & A.M.G.Azevedo
37. Mucuna gracilipes Craib
38. Mucuna guangxiensis K.W.Jiang & Y.Feng Huang
39. Mucuna hainanensis Hayata
40. Mucuna havilandii Wiriad.
41. Mucuna hirtipetala Wilmot-Dear & R.Sha
42. Mucuna holtonii (Kuntze) Moldenke
43. Mucuna hooglandii Verdc.
44. Mucuna humblotii Drake
45. Mucuna imbricata (Roxb. ex Lindl.) DC. ex Baker
46. Mucuna incurvata Wilmot-Dear & R.Sha
47. Mucuna interrupta Gagnep. (synonym M. nigricans)
48. Mucuna japira A.M.G.Azevedo, K.Agostini & Sazima
49. Mucuna jarocha T.M.Moura, Mansano, Gereau & A.M.G.Azevedo
50. Mucuna kabaenensis Adema
51. Mucuna kawakabuti Wiriad.
52. Mucuna keyensis Burck
53. Mucuna killipiana Hern.Cam. & C.Barbosa
54. Mucuna klitgaardiae T.M.Moura, G.P.Lewis & A.M.G.Azevedo
55. Mucuna kostermansii Wiriad.
56. Mucuna lamellata Wilmot-Dear
57. Mucuna lamii Verdc.
58. Mucuna laticifera Ingalh., N.V.Page & S.S.Gaikwad
59. Mucuna longipedunculata Merr.
60. Mucuna macrobotrys Hance
61. Mucuna macrocarpa Wall.
62. Mucuna macrophylla Miq.
63. Mucuna macropoda Baker f.
64. Mucuna manongarivensis Du Puy & Labat
65. Mucuna melanocarpa Hochst. ex A.Rich.
66. Mucuna membranacea Hayata
67. Mucuna mindorensis Merr.
68. Mucuna mitis (Ruiz & Pav.) DC.
69. Mucuna mollis (Kunth) DC.
70. Mucuna mollissima Teijsm. & Binn. ex Kurz
71. Mucuna monosperma Roxb. ex Wight
72. Mucuna monticola N.Zamora, T.M.Moura & A.M.G.Azevedo
73. Mucuna mooneyi T.M.Moura, Gereau & G.P.Lewis
74. Mucuna mutisiana (Kunth) DC.
75. Mucuna neocaledonica Baker f.
76. Mucuna novoguineensis Scheff.
77. Mucuna occidentalis (Hepper) T.M.Moura & G.P.Lewis
78. Mucuna oligoplax Niyomdham & Wilmot-Dear
79. Mucuna pachycarpa Parreno ex Wilmot-Dear
80. Mucuna pacifica Hosok.
81. Mucuna pallida Cordem.
82. Mucuna paniculata Baker
83. Mucuna papuana Adema
84. Mucuna persericea (Wilmot-Dear) T.M.Moura & A.M.G.Azevedo
85. Mucuna pesa De Wild.
86. Mucuna platyphylla A.Gray
87. Mucuna platyplekta Quisumb. & Merr.
88. Mucuna poggei Taub.
    1. M. poggei var. pesa (De Wild.) Verdc.
    2. M. poggei var. poggei
89. Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. – velvet bean, cowhage, kapikachu, etc.
90. Mucuna pseudoelliptica T.M.Moura, G.P.Lewis & A.M.G.Azevedo
91. Mucuna reptans Verdc.
92. Mucuna reticulata Burck
93. Mucuna revoluta Wilmot-Dear
94. Mucuna rostrata Benth.
95. Mucuna sakapipei Wiriad.
96. Mucuna samarensis Merr.
97. Mucuna sanjappae Aitawade & S.R.Yadav ^[9]
98. Mucuna schlechteri Harms
99. Mucuna sempervirens Hemsl.
100. Mucuna sericophylla Perkins
101. Mucuna sloanei Fawc. & Rendle
102. Mucuna stanleyi C.T.White
103. Mucuna stans Welw. ex Baker
104. Mucuna stenoplax Wilmot-Dear
105. Mucuna subumbellata Wilmot-Dear
106. Mucuna sumbawaensis Wiriad.
107. Mucuna tapantiana N.Zamora & T.M.Moura
108. Mucuna thailandica Niyomdham & Wilmot-Dear
109. Mucuna tomentosa K.Schum.
110. Mucuna toppingii Merr.
111. Mucuna urens (L.) Medik. - type species
112. Mucuna verdcourtii Wiriad.
113. Mucuna warburgii K.Schum. & Lauterb.
114. Mucuna yadaviana S.S.Gaikwad, Lawand & Gurav

Formerly placed here

• Canavalia mattogrossensis (Barb. Rodr.) Malme (as M. mattegrossensis Barb. Rodr.)
• Psophocarpus scandens (Endl.) Verdc. (as M. comorensis Vatke)^[10]

Further reading

• Diallo . O.K. . Berhe . T. . 2003 . Processing the Mucuna for Human Food in the Republic of Guinea . https://web.archive.org/web/20070926223157/http://www.uady.mx/~veterina/publicaciones/journal/2002-2-3/Diallo%20and%20Berhe-b.pdf . dead . 2007-09-26 . Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems . 1 . 2/3. 193–196 .
• International Legume Database & Information Service (ILDIS) (2005): Genus Mucuna. Version 10.01, November 2005. Retrieved 2007-DEC-17.
• Katzenschlager . R. . Evans . A. . Manson . A. . Patsalos . P.N. . Ratnaraj . N. . Watt . H. . Timmermann . L. . van der Giessen . R. . Lees . A.J. . 2004 . Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson's disease: a double blind clinical and pharmacological study . Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry . 75 . 12. 1672–1677 . 10.1136/jnnp.2003.028761 . 15548480 . 1738871 .
• Oudhia, Pankaj (2002): Kapikachu or Cowhage (Mucuna pruriens) Crop Fact Sheet. Version of 5-9-2002. Retrieved 2007-DEC-17.
• Vanlauwe . B.O. . 2000. Nwoke, C.; Diels, J.; Sanginga, N.; Carsky, R.J.; Deckers, J. & Merckx, R. (2000) Utilization of rock phosphate by crops on a representative toposequence in the Northern Guinea savanna zone of Nigeria: response by Mucuna pruriens, Lablab purpureus and maize . Soil Biology and Biochemistry . 32 . 14. 2063–2077 . 10.1016/S0038-0717(00)00149-8 .

External links

• • • Bat-Pollinated Mucuna Flowers – The Source Of Tropical Sea Beans
• Mucuna. 18. 955.

Notes and References

1. Book: Quattrocchi, Umberto . CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names . 3 M-Q . CRC Press . 2000 . 978-0-8493-2677-6 . 1738.
2. Oudhia (2002)
3. Katzenschlager et al. (2004)
4. Vanlauwe et al. (2000)
5. Indolealkylamines in Mucuna species . Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems . 1 . 2–3 . April 2003 . 295–307 . Szabo . N. J. .
6. Erowid (2002): Mucuna pruriens. Created 2002-APR-22. Retrieved 2007-DEC-17
7. Diallo & Berhe (2003)
8. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:331783-2 Plants of the World Online: Mucuna Adans.
9. Aitawade . Makarand M. . Yadav . S.R. . 2012 . Mucuna sanjappae, a new species from the north-Western Ghats, India . Kew Bulletin . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 67 . 3 . 539–543 . 10.1007/s12225-012-9369-1 . 2012KewBu..67..539A . 46121626 .
10. Web site: GRIN Species Records of Mucuna. Germplasm Resources Information Network . United States Department of Agriculture . 2011-02-23.