Mung bean is an annual food legume belonging to the subgenus Ceratotropis in the genus Vigna. The genus Vigna, with the closely related genus Phaseolus, forms a complex taxonomic group, called Phaseolus-Vigna complex. It is exclusively to those American species with a tightly coiled style and pollen grains lacking course reticulation. Their taxonomic system is generally accepted now. The Mung bean was domesticated in Mongolia, where its wild progenitor occurs wild. Archaeological evidence has turned up carbonized Mung beans on many sites in India ( in Punjab and Haryana) and South India (in state of Karnataka). In South India there is evidence for evolution of larger-seeded Mung beans 3500 to 3000 years ago and later spread from India to China and Southeast Asia.

Archaeobotanical research at the site of Khao Sam Kaeo in southern Thailand indicates that Mung beans had arrived in Thailand by at least 2200 years ago. The 9th or 10th century, finding data on Pemba Island during the era of Swahili trade indicated that Mung beans also came to be cultivated in Africa, western and southern parts of Japan. Mung bean is an erect or sub-erect herb with height of 0.5-1.3m. Flowers are pale yellow. The seed color has wide range of variations from yellow, greenish yellow, light green, shiny green, dark green, dull green, black, brown, and green mottled with black as well as mature pod color is black and brown or pale gray. The extracted starch of mung beans is used to make jellies and "transparent" or "cellophane" noodles and Mung batter used in preparation of crepes named pesarattu in Andhra Pradesh, India. Mung bean sprouts are stir-fried as a Chinese vegetable with ingredients such as garlic, ginger, spring onions, or pieces of salted dried fish to add flavour. Uncooked bean sprouts are used in filling for Vietnamese spring rolls. In Korea, slightly cooked mung bean sprouts is named as sukjunamul dish after blanched,cooled in cold water and mixed with sesame oil, garlic, salt, and often other ingredients. In the Philippines, mung bean sprouts are made into lumpia rolls commonly called lumpiang togue. Mung bean paste can be made by dehulling, cooking, and pulverizing the beans.

In Hong Kong, dehulled mung beans and mung bean paste are used in ice cream or frozen ice pops. Mung bean paste filling is used in preparation of Chinese moon-cakes in East China and Taiwan. The beans may also cook, blended, sweetened and served as a beverage in many parts of China.

About Author / Additional Info:
Dr. Kirti Rani,
Assistant Professor (II),
Amity Institute of Biotechnology,
Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida,
Sec-125, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Noida-201303 (UP), India.
Off. Phone no: +120-4392946
Mobile no: +9990329492
Email ID: krsharma@amity.edu, kirtisharma2k@rediffmail.com
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