![Doperwt rijserwt bloemen Pisum sativum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Doperwt_rijserwt_bloemen_Pisum_sativum.jpg)
The pea is most commonly the small spherical
seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
or the seed-pod of the
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
, since they contain seeds and develop from the ovary of a (pea) flower. The name is also used to describe other edible seeds from the
Fabaceae such as the
pigeon pea
The pigeon pea (''Cajanus cajan'') is a perennial legume from the family Fabaceae native to the Old World. The pigeon pea is widely cultivated in tropical and semitropical regions around the world, being commonly consumed in South Asia, South ...
(''Cajanus cajan''), the
cowpea
The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus ''Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few inputs, ...
(''Vigna unguiculata''), and the seeds from several species of ''
Lathyrus
''Lathyrus'' is a genus of flowering plants
in the legume family Fabaceae, and contains approximately 160 species. Commonly known as peavines or vetchlings, they are native to temperate areas, with a breakdown of 52 species in Europe, 30 spec ...
''.
Peas are
annual plants, with a
life cycle
Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to:
Science and academia
*Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring
* Life-cycle hypothesis ...
of one year. They are a cool-season crop grown in many parts of the world; planting can take place from winter to early summer depending on location. The average pea weighs between 0.1 and 0.36 gram.
The immature peas (and in
snow pea
The snow pea is an edible-pod pea with flat pods and thin pod walls. It is eaten whole, with both the seeds and the pod, while still unripened.
Names
The common name snow pea seems to be a misnomer as the planting season of this pea is no ea ...
s the tender pod as well) are used as a vegetable, fresh, frozen or canned; varieties of the species typically called field peas are grown to produce dry peas like the
split pea shelled from a matured pod. These are the basis of
pease porridge
Pease pudding, also known as pease porridge, is a savoury pudding dish made of boiled legumes, typically split yellow peas, with water, salt and spices, and often cooked with a bacon or ham joint. A common dish in the north-east of England, it ...
and
pea soup
Pea soup or split pea soup is soup made typically from dried peas, such as the split pea. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is most often greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of pe ...
, staples of
medieval cuisine
Medieval cuisine includes foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various European cultures during the Middle Ages, which lasted from the fifth to the fifteenth century. During this period, diets and cooking changed less than they did in t ...
; in Europe, consuming fresh immature green peas was an innovation of
early modern cuisine.
Description
A pea is a most commonly green, occasionally golden yellow, or infrequently purple pod-shaped
vegetable
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...
, widely grown as a cool-season vegetable crop. The seeds may be planted as soon as the soil temperature reaches , with the plants growing best at temperatures of . They do not thrive in the summer heat of warmer temperate and lowland tropical
climate
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...
s, but do grow well in cooler, high-altitude, tropical areas. Many cultivars reach maturity about 60 days after planting.
![PeaYield](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/PeaYield.png)
Peas have both low-growing and
vining cultivars. The vining cultivars grow thin
tendril
In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as '' Cuscuta''. There are many plants that have tend ...
s from leaves that coil around any available support and can climb to be high. A traditional approach to supporting climbing peas is to thrust branches pruned from
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s or other woody plants upright into the soil, providing a lattice for the peas to climb. Branches used in this fashion are called pea sticks or sometimes pea brush. Metal fences,
twine
Twine is a strong thread, light string or cord composed of two or more thinner strands twisted, and then twisted together ( plied). The strands are plied in the opposite direction to that of their twist, which adds torsional strength to the co ...
, or netting supported by a frame are used for the same purpose. In dense plantings, peas give each other some measure of mutual support. Pea plants can
self-pollinate
Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms). There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred t ...
.
History
![Tokarski Still life with pea](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Tokarski_Still_life_with_pea.jpg)
The wild pea is restricted to the
Mediterranean Basin and the Near East. The earliest archaeological finds of peas date from the late Neolithic era of current Greece, Syria, Turkey, Israel, Iraq and Jordan. In Egypt, early finds date from c. 4800–4400 BC in the
Nile delta area, and from c. 3800–3600 BC in Upper Egypt. The pea was also present in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
in the 5th millennium BC. Farther east, the finds are younger. Peas were present in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
c. 2000 BC; in
Harappan civilization
Harappa (; Urdu/ pnb, ) is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal. The Bronze Age Harappan civilisation, now more often called the Indus Valley Civilisation, is named after the site, which takes its name from a mod ...
around modern-day
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
and western- and northwestern
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in 2250–1750 BC. In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, this
legume crop appears in the
Ganges Basin
The Ganges Basin is a part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra- Meghna (GBM) basin draining 1,999,000 square kilometres in Tibet, Nepal, India and Bangladesh. To the north, the Himalaya or lower parallel ranges beyond form the Ganges-Brahmaputra divide. ...
and southern India.
In early times, peas were grown mostly for their dry seeds. From plants growing wild in the Mediterranean Basin, constant selection since the
Neolithic dawn of agriculture improved their yield. In the early 3rd century BC
Theophrastus
Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routle ...
mentions peas among the
legumes that are sown late in the winter because of their tenderness. In the first century AD,
Columella
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire.
His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...
mentions them in ''
De re rustica
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire.
His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...
'', when Roman legionaries still gathered wild peas from the sandy soils of
Numidia and
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sou ...
to supplement their rations.
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, field peas are constantly mentioned, as they were the staple that kept
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...
at bay, as
Charles the Good, count of
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
, noted explicitly in 1124.
Green "garden" peas, eaten immature and fresh, were an innovative luxury of
Early Modern Europe. In England, the distinction between field peas and garden peas dates from the early 17th century:
John Gerard
John Gerard (also John Gerarde, c. 1545–1612) was an English herbalist with a large garden in Holborn, now part of London. His 1,484-page illustrated ''Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes'', first published in 1597, became a popular gard ...
and
John Parkinson both mention garden peas.
Sugar peas, which the French called , because they were eaten pods and all, were introduced to France from the market gardens of
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
in the time of
Henri IV
Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...
, through the French ambassador. Green peas were introduced from
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
to the court of
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of ...
in January 1660, with some staged fanfare; a
hamper
A hamper refers to one of several related basket-like items. In primarily British usage, it refers to a wicker basket, usually large, that is used for the transport of items, often food. In North America, the term generally refers to a household ...
of them were presented before the King, and then were shelled by
the Savoyan comte de Soissons, who had married a niece of
Cardinal Mazarin
Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...
; little dishes of peas were then presented to the King, the Queen, Cardinal Mazarin and Monsieur, the king's brother. Immediately established and grown for earliness warmed with
manure
Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the Soil fertility, fertility of soil by adding organic ma ...
and protected
under glass, they were still a luxurious delicacy in 1696, when
Mme de Maintenon
Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ''mad ...
and
Mme de Sevigné
Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ''madam ...
each reported that they were "a fashion, a fury".
Modern
split peas, with their indigestible skins rubbed off, are a development of the later 19th century.
The top producer of green peas – by far – is China with 12.2 million tons, followed by India (4.8 million tons), USA (0.31 million tons), France (0.23 million tons) and Egypt (0.15 million tons). United Kingdom, Pakistan, Algeria, Peru and Turkey complete the top 10.
Modern culinary use
![Dried Green Peas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Dried_Green_Peas.jpg)
In modern times peas are usually boiled or
steamed
Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. This is often done with a food steamer, a kitchen appliance made specifically to cook food with steam, but food can also be steamed in a wok. In the American southwest, steam pits used for cooking hav ...
, which breaks down the cell walls and makes the taste sweeter and the nutrients more
bioavailable
In pharmacology, bioavailability is a subcategory of absorption and is the fraction (%) of an administered drug that reaches the systemic circulation.
By definition, when a medication is administered intravenously, its bioavailability is 100%. Ho ...
. Along with
broad bean
''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieti ...
s and
lentil
The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest pro ...
s, these formed an important part of the diet of most people in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. By the 17th and 18th centuries, it had become popular to eat peas "green", that is, while they are immature and right after they are picked. New cultivars of peas were developed by the English during this time, which became known as "garden" or "English" peas. The popularity of green peas spread to
North America.
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
grew more than 30 cultivars of peas on his estate. With the invention of canning and freezing of foods, green peas became available year-round, and not just in the spring as before.
![Chinese Chawal in Basmati](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Chinese_Chawal_in_Basmati.jpg)
Fresh peas are often eaten boiled and flavored with
butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...
and/or
spearmint
Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...
as a side dish vegetable. Salt and pepper are also commonly added to peas when served. Fresh peas are also used in
pot pie
Pot pie is the North American term for a type of meat pie with a top pie crust that is commonly used throughout the continent. consisting of flaky pastry. Pot pies may be made with a variety of fillings including poultry, beef, seafood, or plant- ...
s, salads and
casseroles. Pod peas (
snow pea
The snow pea is an edible-pod pea with flat pods and thin pod walls. It is eaten whole, with both the seeds and the pod, while still unripened.
Names
The common name snow pea seems to be a misnomer as the planting season of this pea is no ea ...
s and
snap pea
The snap pea, also known as the sugar snap pea, is an edible-pod pea with rounded pods and thick pod walls, in contrast to snow pea pods, which are flat with thin walls. The name mangetout (French for "eat all") can apply to snap peas and snow pe ...
s) are used in stir-fried dishes, particularly those in
American Chinese cuisine. Pea pods do not keep well once picked, and if not used quickly, are best preserved by drying,
canning or
freezing
Freezing is a phase transition where a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. In accordance with the internationally established definition, freezing means the solidification phase change of a liquid ...
within a few hours of harvest.
In
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, fresh peas are used in various dishes such as ''aloo matar'' (curried potatoes with peas) or ''
mattar paneer
Mattar paneer ( hi, मटर पनीर), also known as matar paneer, muttar paneer, and mutter paneer, is a modern restaurant-style and vegetarian North Indian dish consisting of peas and paneer in a tomato-based sauce, spiced with garam m ...
'' (
paneer
Paneer (), also known as ponir () is a fresh acid-set cheese common in the Indian subcontinent (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) made from full-fat buffalo milk or cow milk. It is a non-aged, non-melting sof ...
cheese with peas), though they can be substituted with frozen peas as well. Peas are also eaten raw, as they are sweet when fresh off the bush. Green Peas known as Hasiru Batani in
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
are used to make curry and Gasi. Split peas are also used to make ''
dal
In Indian cuisine, ''dal'' (also spelled ''daal'' or ''dhal''; pronunciation: , Hindi: दाल, Urdu: ) are dried, split pulses (e.g., lentils, peas, and beans) that do not require soaking before cooking. India is the largest producer of pu ...
'', particularly in
Guyana, and
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
, where there is a significant population of
Indians.
Dried peas are often made into a
soup or simply eaten on their own. In
Japan,
China,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and some
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
n countries, including
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
, the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, peas are roasted and salted, and eaten as
snacks. In the Philippines, peas, while still in their pods, are a common ingredient in viands and
pansit. In the UK, dried yellow or green split peas are used to make
pease pudding
Pease pudding, also known as pease porridge, is a savoury pudding dish made of boiled legumes, typically split yellow peas, with water, salt and spices, and often cooked with a bacon or ham joint. A common dish in the north-east of England, ...
(or "pease porridge"), a traditional dish. In North America, a similarly traditional dish is split
pea soup
Pea soup or split pea soup is soup made typically from dried peas, such as the split pea. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is most often greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of pe ...
.
Pea soup is eaten in many other parts of the world, including
northern Europe, parts of
middle Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common History, historical, Society, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestanti ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
and
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. In Sweden it is called ''ärtsoppa'', and is eaten as a traditional
Swedish food which predates the
Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
. This food was made from a fast-growing pea that would mature in a short growing season. ''Ärtsoppa'' was especially popular among the poor, who traditionally only had one pot and everything was cooked together for a dinner using a
tripod
A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...
to hold the pot over the fire.
In
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China, as well as overseas cuisines created by the Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has influenced many o ...
, the tender new growth
eaves and stemdou miao (
豆苗; ''dòu miáo'') are commonly used in stir-fries. Much like picking the leaves for tea, the farmers pick the tips off of the pea plant.
In
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
,
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
, and other parts of the Mediterranean, peas are made into a stew with lamb and potatoes.
In
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
and
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
, pea soup is often served with
dumplings and spiced with hot
paprika.
In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, dried, rehydrated and mashed
marrowfat peas
Marrowfat peas are green mature peas (''Pisum sativum'' L. or ''Pisum sativum'' var. ''medullare'') that have been allowed to dry out naturally in the field, rather than being harvested while still young like the normal garden pea. They are starch ...
, or cooked green split peas, known as
mushy peas
Mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight in water with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), and then rinsed in fresh water, after which the peas are gathered in a saucepan, covered with water, and brought to a boil, and ...
, are popular, originally in the north of England, but now ubiquitously, and especially as an accompaniment to
fish and chips or
meat pie
A meat pie is a pie with a filling of meat and often with other savory ingredients. They are found in cuisines worldwide.
Meat pies are usually baked, fried, or deep fried to brown them and develop the flavour through the Maillard reaction. M ...
s, particularly in
fish and chip shop
A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop, is a (often fast food) restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and c ...
s.
Sodium bicarbonate is sometimes added to soften the peas. In 2005, a poll of 2,000 people revealed the pea to be Britain's seventh favourite culinary vegetable.
Processed peas are mature peas which have been dried, soaked and then heat treated (processed) to prevent spoilage—in the same manner as
pasteurizing
Pasteurization or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life.
Th ...
. Cooked peas are sometimes sold dried and coated with
wasabi
Wasabi ( Japanese: , , or , ; ''Eutrema japonicum'' or ''Wasabia japonica'') or Japanese horseradish is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes horseradish and mustard in other genera. The plant is native to Japan and the Russi ...
,
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
, or other spices.
In North America
pea milk is produced and sold as an alternative to
cow milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...
for a variety of reasons.
Pea sprouts
In East Asia, the sprouts or shoots of pea (;) were once dedicated cuisine when the plant was not highly available as nowadays. But now, when the plant can be easily grown, fresh pea shoots are available in supermarkets, and some people decided to grow them in their backyard.
Manufacturing frozen peas
In order to freeze and preserve peas, they must first be grown, picked, and shelled. Usually, the more tender the peas are, the more likely that they will be used in the final product. The peas must be put through the process of freezing shortly after being picked so that they do not spoil too soon. Once the peas have been selected, they are placed in ice water and allowed to cool. After, they are sprayed with water to remove any residual dirt or dust that may remain on them. The next step is
blanching
Blanch or blanching may refer to:
People
* Andrea Blanch (born 1935), portrait, commercial, and fine art photographer
* Arnold Blanch (1896–1968), born and raised in Mantorville, Minnesota
* Stuart Blanch, Baron Blanch (1918–1994), Anglican bi ...
. The peas are boiled for a few minutes to remove any enzymes that may shorten their shelf life. They are then cooled and removed from the water. The final step is the actual freezing to produce the final product. This step may vary considerably; some companies freeze their peas by air blast freezing, where the vegetables are put through a tunnel at high speeds and frozen by cold air. Finally, the peas are packaged and shipped out for retail sale.
Grading
Pea grading involves sorting peas by size, in which the smallest peas are graded as the highest quality for their tenderness.
[Sivasankar, B. (2002)]
''Food Processing and Preservation''
PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. pp. 175-177. Brines may be used, in which peas are floated, from which their density can be determined.
[
]
Varieties
Garden peas
There are many varieties (cultivars) of garden peas. Some of the most common varieties are listed here. ''PMR'' indicates some degree of powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant diseases to identify, a ...
resistance; ''afila'' types, also called semi-leafless, have clusters of tendrils instead of leaves. Unless otherwise noted these are so called dwarf varieties which grow to an average height of about 1m. Giving the vines support is recommended, but not required. Extra dwarf are suitable for container growing, reaching only about 25 cm. Tall varieties grow to about 2m with support required.
* Alaska, 55 days (smooth seeded)
* Tom Thumb / Half Pint, 55 days (heirloom
In popular usage, an heirloom is something that has been passed down for generations through family members. Examples are a Family Bible, antiques, weapons or jewellery.
The term originated with the historical principle of an heirloom in En ...
, extra dwarf)
* Thomas Laxton (heirloom) / Laxton's Progress / Progress #9, 60–65 days
* Mr. Big, 60 days, 2000 AAS winner
* Little Marvel, 63 days, 1934 AAS winner
* Early Perfection, 65 days
* Kelvedon Wonder, 65 days, 1997 RHS AGM winner
* Sabre, 65 days, PMR
* Homesteader / Lincoln, 67 days (heirloom, known as ''Greenfeast'' in Australia and New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
)
* Miragreen, 68 days (tall climber)
* Serge, 68 days, PMR, afila
* Wando, 68 days
* Green Arrow, 70 days
* Recruit, 70 days, PMR, afila
* Tall Telephone / Alderman, 75 days (heirloom, tall climber)
Sugar peas
Sugar peas or edible-pod peas (french: pois mange-tout, "eat-all pea"), lack the tough membrane inside the pod wall and have tender edible pods. There are two main types:
*Snow pea
The snow pea is an edible-pod pea with flat pods and thin pod walls. It is eaten whole, with both the seeds and the pod, while still unripened.
Names
The common name snow pea seems to be a misnomer as the planting season of this pea is no ea ...
s have flat pods with thin pod walls. Pods and seeds are eaten when they are very young.
*Snap pea
The snap pea, also known as the sugar snap pea, is an edible-pod pea with rounded pods and thick pod walls, in contrast to snow pea pods, which are flat with thin walls. The name mangetout (French for "eat all") can apply to snap peas and snow pe ...
s or sugar snap peas have rounded pods with thick pod walls. Pods and seeds are eaten before maturity.
The name "sugar pea" includes both types, and therefore it can be synonymous with either snow peas or snap peas in different dictionaries.
Snow peas and snap peas both belong to Macrocarpon Group, a cultivar group based on the variety ''Pisum sativum'' var. ''macrocarpum'' Ser.
Nicolas Charles Seringe (3 December 1776 – 29 December 1858) was a French physician and botanist born in Longjumeau.
He studied medicine in Paris, and subsequently served as a military surgeon. In this role, he was involved in the German campai ...
named in 1825. It was described as having very compressed non-leathery edible pods in the original publication.
The scientific name ''Pisum sativum'' var. ''saccharatum'' Ser. is often misused for snow peas. The variety under this name was described as having sub-leathery and compressed-terete
Terete is a term in botany used to describe a cross section that is circular, or like a distorted circle, with a single surface wrapping around it.Lichen Vocabulary, Lichens of North America Information, Sylvia and Stephen Sharnoff/ref> This is u ...
pods and a French name of ''petit pois''. The description is inconsistent with the appearance of snow peas, and therefore botanists have replaced this name with ''Pisum sativum'' var. ''macrocarpum.''
Field peas
The field pea is a type of pea sometimes called ''P. sativum'' subsp. ''arvense'' (L.) Asch. It is also known as dun (grey-brown) pea, Kapucijner pea, or Austrian winter pea, and is one of the oldest domesticated crops, cultivated for at least 7,000 years. Field peas are now grown in many countries for both human consumption and stockfeed. There are several cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
s and colors including blue, dun (brown), maple and white. This pea should not be confused with the cowpea
The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus ''Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few inputs, ...
(''Vigna unguiculata'') which is sometimes called the "field pea" in warmer climates.
It is a climbing annual legume with weak, viny, and relatively succulent stems. Vines often are 4 to 5 feet (120 to 150 cm) long, but when grown alone, field pea's weak stems prevent it from growing more than 1.5 to 2 feet (45 to 60 cm) tall. Leaves have two leaflets and a tendril. Flowers are white, pink, or purple. Pods carry seeds that are large (4,000 seeds/lb), nearly spherical, and white, gray, green, or brown. The root system is relatively shallow and small, but well nodulated.
The field pea is a cool-season legume crop that is grown on over 25 million acres worldwide. It has been an important grain legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock for ...
crop for millennia, seeds showing domesticated characteristics dating from at least 7000 years ago have been found in archaeological sites around what is now Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. Field peas or "dry peas" are marketed as a dry, shelled product for either human or livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...
food, unlike the garden pea, which is marketed as a fresh or canned vegetable. The major producing countries of field peas are Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
and China, followed by Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, Australia and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States raise over 4.5 million acres and are major exporters of peas. In 2002, there were approximately 300,000 acres of field peas grown in the United States.
Pests and diseases
A variety of diseases affect peas through a number of pathogen
In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...
s, including insects, viruses, bacteria and fungi. In particular, virus disease of peas has worldwide economic importance.
Additionally, insects such as the pea leaf weevil (''Sitona lineatus'') can damage peas and other pod fruits. The pea leaf weevil is native to Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, but has spread to other places such as Alberta, Canada
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territ ...
. They are about — long and are distinguishable by three light-coloured stripes running length-wise down the thorax
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...
. The weevil larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
...
e feed on the root nodules of pea plants, which are essential to the plants' supply of nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
, and thus diminish leaf and stem growth. Adult weevils feed on the leaves and create a notched, "c-shaped" appearance on the outside of the leaves.
The Pea moth
''Cydia nigricana'', the pea moth, is a moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in Europe.
Description
It is a small (15 mm wingspan), grey-brown moth whose larvae (caterpillars) feed in the pods of garden peas. They have a long antenn ...
can be a serious pest producing caterpillars the resemble small white maggots in the pea-pods. The caterpillars eat the developing peas making them unsightly and unsuitable for culinary use. Prior to the use of modern insecticides, pea moth caterpillars were a very common sight in pea pods.
Peas in science
In the mid-19th century, Austrian monk Gregor Mendel
Gregor Johann Mendel, OSA (; cs, Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was a biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brünn (''Brno''), Margraviate of Moravia. Mendel was ...
's observations of pea pods led to the principles of Mendelian genetics
Mendelian inheritance (also known as Mendelism) is a type of biological inheritance following the principles originally proposed by Gregor Mendel in 1865 and 1866, re-discovered in 1900 by Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns, and later populari ...
, the foundation of modern genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
. He ended up growing and examining about 28,000 pea plants in the course of his experiments.
Mendel chose peas for his experiments because he could grow them easily, develop pure-bred strains, protect them from cross-pollination, and control their pollination. Mendel cross-bred tall and dwarf pea plants, green and yellow pea Yellow pea is a common name for several plants, and may refer to:
*'' Lathyrus aphaca''
*''Lathyrus pratensis
''Lathyrus pratensis'' or meadow vetchling, yellow pea, meadow pea and meadow pea-vine, is a perennial legume that grows to 1.2 m in h ...
s, purple and white flowers, wrinkled and smooth peas, and a few other traits. He then observed the resulting offspring. In each of these cases, one trait is dominant and all the offspring, or Filial-1 (abbreviated F1) generation, showed the dominant trait. Then he crossed members of the F1 generation together and observed their offspring, the Filial-2 (abbreviated F2) generation. The F2 plants had the dominant trait in approximately a 3:1 ratio.
Mendel reasoned that each parent had a 'vote' in the appearance of the offspring, and the non-dominant, or recessive
In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and t ...
, trait appeared only when it was inherited from both parents. He did further experiments that showed each trait is separately inherited. Unwittingly, Mendel had solved a major problem with Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
's theory of evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variatio ...
: how new traits were preserved and not blended back into the population, a question Darwin himself did not answer. Mendel's work was published in an obscure Austrian journal and was not rediscovered until about 1900.
Genome
The pea karyotype consists of seven chromosome
A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...
s, five of which are acrocentric
The centromere links a pair of sister chromatids together during cell division. This constricted region of chromosome connects the sister chromatids, creating a short arm (p) and a long arm (q) on the chromatids. During mitosis, spindle fibers ...
and two submetacentric
The centromere links a pair of sister chromatids together during cell division. This constricted region of chromosome connects the sister chromatids, creating a short arm (p) and a long arm (q) on the chromatids. During mitosis, spindle fibers ...
. Despite its scientific popularity, its relatively large genome size (4.45 Gb) made it challenging to sequence compared to other legumes such as ''Medicago truncatula
''Medicago truncatula'', the barrelclover, strong-spined medick, barrel medic, or barrel medick, is a small annual legume native to the Mediterranean region that is used in genomic research. It is a low-growing, clover-like plant tall with trifol ...
'' and soybean
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses.
Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu a ...
s. The International Pea Genome Sequencing Consortium was formed to develop the first pea reference genome
A reference genome (also known as a reference assembly) is a digital nucleic acid sequence database, assembled by scientists as a representative example of the set of genes in one idealized individual organism of a species. As they are assemble ...
, and the draft assembly was officially announced in September 2019. It covers 88% of the genome (3.92Gb) and predicted 44,791 gene-coding sequences. The pea used for the assembly was the inbred French cultivar "Caméor".
Peas in medicine
Some people experience allergic reactions to peas, as well as lentil
The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest pro ...
s, with vicilin Vicilin is a legumin-associated globulin protein. Vicilin can be described as a storage protein found in legumes such as the pea or lentil. Vicilin is a protein that protects plants from fungi and microorganism. It has been hypothesized it's an all ...
or convicilin as the usual allergens.
Favism
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PDD), which is the most common enzyme deficiency worldwide, is an inborn error of metabolism that predisposes to red blood cell breakdown. Most of the time, those who are affected have no symptoms. ...
, or Fava-bean-ism, is a genetic deficiency of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase that affects Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, other Middle Eastern Semitic peoples and other descendants of the Mediterranean coastal regions. In this condition, the toxic reaction to eating most, if not all, beans is hemolytic anemia
Hemolytic anemia or haemolytic anaemia is a form of anemia due to hemolysis, the abnormal breakdown of red blood cells (RBCs), either in the blood vessels (intravascular hemolysis) or elsewhere in the human body (extravascular). This most commonly ...
, and in severe cases the released circulating free hemoglobin causes acute kidney injury
Acute kidney injury (AKI), previously called acute renal failure (ARF), is a sudden decrease in kidney function that develops within 7 days, as shown by an increase in serum creatinine or a decrease in urine output, or both.
Causes of AKI are c ...
.
Nitrogen-fixing ability
Peas, like many legumes, contain symbiotic bacteria called '' Rhizobia'' within root nodules of their root systems
In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often b ...
. These bacteria have the special ability to fix nitrogen from atmospheric, molecular nitrogen () into ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wa ...
(). The chemical reaction is:
:
Ammonia is then converted to another form, ammonium (), usable by (some) plants by the following reaction:
:
The root nodules of peas and other legumes are sources of nitrogen that they can use to make amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha a ...
s, constituents of proteins. Hence, legumes are good sources of plant protein
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude ...
.
When a pea plant dies in the field, for example following the harvest, all of its remaining nitrogen, incorporated into amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha a ...
s inside the remaining plant parts, is released back into the soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt
Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty.
Common types of dirt include:
* Debri ...
. In the soil, the amino acids are converted to nitrate (), that is available to other plants, thereby serving as fertilizer for future crops.
Etymology
The term ''pea'' originates from the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''pisum'', which is the latinisation of the Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
πίσον (''pison''), neuter of πίσος (''pisos'') "pea". It was adopted into English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
as the noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, ...
''pease'' (plural ''peasen''), as in pease pudding
Pease pudding, also known as pease porridge, is a savoury pudding dish made of boiled legumes, typically split yellow peas, with water, salt and spices, and often cooked with a bacon or ham joint. A common dish in the north-east of England, ...
. However, by analogy with other plurals ending in ''-s'', speakers began construing ''pease'' as a plural
The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...
and constructing the singular form by dropping the ''-s'', giving the term ''pea''. This process is known as back-formation
In etymology, back-formation is the process or result of creating a new word via inflection, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes associated with the ...
.
Comparison
See also
* Black-eyed pea
The black-eyed pea or black-eyed bean is a legume grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. It is a subspecies of the cowpea, an Old World plant domesticated in Africa, and is sometimes simply called a cowpea.
The common commer ...
* Black pea
* Chickpea
* Dixie lee pea
* Sweet pea
The sweet pea, ''Lathyrus odoratus'', is a flowering plant in the genus ''Lathyrus'' in the family (biology), family Fabaceae (legumes), native plant, native to Sicily, southern Italy and the Aegean Islands.
It is an annual plant, annual climbi ...
* Cowpea
The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus ''Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few inputs, ...
* Pea moth
''Cydia nigricana'', the pea moth, is a moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in Europe.
Description
It is a small (15 mm wingspan), grey-brown moth whose larvae (caterpillars) feed in the pods of garden peas. They have a long antenn ...
References
Bibliography
* European Association for Grain Legume Research (AEP). ''Pea''. https://web.archive.org/web/20061017214408/http://www.grainlegumes.com/default.asp?id_biblio=52 .
* Hernández Bermejo, J. E. & León, J., (1992). ''Neglected crops: 1492 from a different perspective'', Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO
Contents
* Muehlbauer, F. J. and Tullu, A., (1997). ''Pisum sativum L.'' Purdue University
* Oelke, E. A., Oplinger E. S., et al. (1991). ''Dry Field Pea''. University of Wisconsi
External links
USDA plant profile
* https://web.archive.org/web/20150303184216/http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
{{Authority control
Edible legumes
Fabeae
Fruit vegetables
Plants described in 1753
Plant models
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Founder crops