Tropical and subtropical vegetables (2+1)

Economic importance

Cluster Bean
Scientific name : Cyamopsis tetragonoloba
Family : Fabaceae
Common Name : Guar
Chromosome number : 2n = 14
Origin : India

Economic importance
It is grown for green pods used as vegetable and dry seeds. It is also grown as forage and green manure crop. Some of the varieties are used for extraction of gum (Guar gum). It is one of the most important vegetable crops in northern India. Among leguminous crops it is comparatively more drought resistant and is cultivated on a large scale as a forage crop in dry regions. The gum obtained from this crop is used in various industries particularly textiles, cosmetics, explosives, paper and food processing industries. Today it is one of the significant foreign exchange earners of the country. Fresh pods contain 82.5% water, 9.9% carbohydrate, 3.7% protein, 0.2% fat, 2.3% fiber and 1.4% mineral matter.