Health Benefits of Pigeon Peas (Arhar Dal) And Its Side Effects

The pigeon pea is a perennial legume, reigns from the family Fabaceae. The cultivation takes place as a single crop or with cereals like sorghum(Sorghum bicolor), pearl millet(Pennisetium glaucum), maize(Zea mays) or combined to legumes like peanuts(Arachis hypogaea).

Pigeon Peas seed pods look flat, straight, sickle-shaped with a length of 5-9 cm. Every pod contains 2 to 9 seeds with a mixture of colors such as white, cream, yellow, purple, and black or combined with any of these individual colors. The maximum height of pigeon pea is 0.5-4.0 m, they have grown annually and harvested at the end of one season.

The nutritional values of pigeon peas comprises of Carbohydrates,Sugars,Dietary fibre, Fat, Protein. It contains Vitamins like-Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin (B3), Pantothenic acid (B5), Vitamin B6, Folate (B9),Choline, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K along with trace metals like Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Zinc.

Mentioned below are the best health benefits of eating Pigeon Peas (Arhar Dal). Pigeon Peas contain right amount of fibre content and low fat value. As compared to other legumes Pigeon Peas is good source of protein. Include Pigeon Peas in your diet meal plan, It also aids in blood pressure problem, prevent anemia and if you want to lose weight then start consuming it.

Pigeon pea are chief legumes which are cultivated in semi-arid tropical regions, their immature seeds are either taken fresh as a vegetable otherwise they are left to become mature and then dried to be consumed as a pulse. Their seed pods are consumable and consumed as a vegetable. Their seed husks and leaves are utilized as feed for animals.

In Thailand, pigeon peas are grown as a host for scale insects which produce lac, the key ingredient in shellac. Pigeon peas are in some areas an important crop for green manure, the woody stems of pigeon peas can also be used as firewood, fencing and thatch.

There are no such side effect of pigeon peas. But if come one is allergic to beans, they must stop eating it.

Pigeon peas has its domestication in India at least 3,500 years ago, and their seeds are food grains in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Pigeon peas are commonly cultivated in tropical and semitropical regions. Crop cultivation is done in marginal lands. The desirable temperatures for the crops to grow well, ranges from 18-38 degrees.

Pigeon peas are grown well in many soils from sandy to clay soil, Soil must be able to hold up good amount of water and nicely drained, the plant can resist a pH range of 4.5-8.5 but minimally needs a range of 5 and 7. They can resist the draught conditions and can less irrigation.

Pigeon peas undergo propagation from seed and must be cultivated at depth of 2.5-10 cm with a distance of 30-50 cm between each of the plant and 150 cm in the middle of rows.