Macrotyloma

uniflorum

Macrotyloma uniflorum (horsegram, also known as horse gram, kulthi bean, gahat , hurali, or
Madras gram[2]) is a legume nat ive t o t ropical sout hern Asia, known for it s dist inct t ast e and
t ext ure, widely used legume in many cuisines. It is also known for human consumpt ion for it s rich
nut rient s and reput ed medicinal propert ies. It is commonly grown for horse feed, hence t he name
“horse gram”. Horse gram grown in part s of India, as well as Nepal, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and is
int roduced t o t he West Indies.[3] It is consumed whole, sprout ed, or ground. It is consumed in
many part s of India and is also known as a superfood. Horse gram is also allowed t o be eat en on
some Hindu fast ing days. Medical uses of t hese legumes have been discussed and is described
in t he Ayurveda.
 Macrotyloma uniflorum

Horse gram seeds

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Tracheophytes

Clade: Angiosperms

Clade: Eudicots

Clade: Rosids

Order: Fabales

Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Macrotyloma

Species: M. uniflorum

Binomial name

Macrotyloma uniflorum
(Lam.) Verdc.

Varieties

M. uniflorum var. benadirianum

M. uniflorum var. stenocarpum (Brenan)

Verdc.

M. uniflorum var. uniflorum

M. uniflorum var. verrucosum

Synonyms[1]

Dolichos uniflorus Lam.

 Glycine uniflora (Lam.) Dalzell

Kerstingiella uniflora (Lam.) J.A.Lackey

Description
Macrotyloma uniflorum is a perennial climbing plant wit h a rhizome, growing t o a height of about
60 cm (24 in). The st em sprout s from t he rhizome each year. It is clad in varying amount s of
whit ish hairs and bears alt ernat e, t rifoliat e leaves wit h pet ioles up t o 7 cm (2.8 in) long. The
leaflet s are obovat e or ellipt ical, and up t o 7 cm (2.8 in) long. The flowers are borne in t wos or
t hrees in t he leaf axils, and are t ypical of t he bean family wit h banner, wings and keel. They are
cream, yellowish or green, oft en wit h a purple blot ch inside. These are followed by linear-oblong,
upcurving pods up t o 8 cm (3.1 in) long, cont aining up t o t en reddish-brown, speckled or black
seeds.[4] The seeds have a lengt h of 3–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in).[5]
Young plant

Flowers
 Young fruit

Dissection of floral parts

Distribution
Horse gram is nat ive t o t ropical sout hern Asia and has been found in archaeological sit es in India,
st art ing from 2500 BC.[6] The plant was probably first domest icat ed in India, and is now grown as
a legume from India t o Myanmar. Addit ionally, t he crop is also grown for fodder and green manure
in t ropical count ries in sout heast ern Asia, and in nort hern Aust ralia.[4] Generally, t he major growing
areas of Macrotyloma uniflorum are locat ed in India, Africa and Aust ralia.[7]

Cultivation
Horse gram is drought t olerant [8] and also wit hst ands harsh environment al condit ions such as
salinit y or met al st resses.[9] Generally, Horse Gram is plant ed wit h low agronomic input s and
wit hout weeding. Furt hermore, t he crop grows on a broad range of soil t ypes wit h different pH
ranges. Cult ivat ion is also possible on soils wit h poor organic mat t er and nit rogen availabilit y.[5]
Horse gram t hrives where t he t emperat ure is in t he range of 20 t o 30 °C (68 t o 86 °F). Frost
t emperat ures are let hal.[7] Due t o t he drought -resist ance Macrotyloma uniflorum is grown in
areas wit h low precipit at ion (300–900 mm (12–35 in)). In wet t er areas, Horse gram is usually
sown at t he end of t he rainy season t o st ill facilit at e cult ivat ion. Nonet heless, Macrotyloma
uniflorum does not t olerat e wat erlogging.[10]

The plant is not only cult ivat ed as a monocult ure, but also as an int er- or mixed crop t oget her
wit h groundnut , sorghum, sesame, niger, maize, finger millet , pearl millet , amarant h, marvel grass
or kidney bean. Furt hermore, Macrotyloma uniflorum can also be grown along wit h t rees such as
neem, whit e siris or babul. Bot h, grain and green forage yield are highly dependent on t he growing
region as well as t he select ed cropping syst em. Subst ant ial yield differences in t he various
growing regions exist : In India green forage yield varies from 5 - 14 t /ha and in Aust ralia
approximat ely 4.4 t /ha are report ed. Grain yield in India is around 0.13 – 1.2 t /ha and 1.1 – 2.2 t /ha
in Aust ralia.[5][7][11]

Pests
Yield-impact ing dieseases are ant hracnose (Colletotrichum lindemuthianum), t he yellow mosaic
virus as well as powdery mildew. Ot her diseases affect ing horse gram are dry root rot
(Macrophomina phaseolina ), rust s, aerial blight (Rhizoctonia solani) and leaf spot (Cercospora ).
The pod borer (Etiella zinckenella ) and t he pod fly (Melanagromyza obtusa ) are t he most
damaging insect pest s. [5][7] Ot hers are aphids (Aphis craccivora ), hairy cat erpillar (Azazia
rubicans ), pod cat erpillar (Helicoverpa armigera ), American serpent ine leaf miner (Liriomyza
trifolii), t hrips, leaf hoppers and Callosobruchus as a st orage pest .[5][7]

Nutrition
Horse gram and mot h bean are legumes of t he t ropics and subt ropics, grown most ly under dry-
land agricult ure. The chemical composit ion is comparable wit h more commonly cult ivat ed
legumes. Like ot her legumes, t hese are deficient in met hionine and t rypt ophan, t hough horse
gram is an excellent source of iron and molybdenum. Comparat ively, horse gram seeds have
higher t rypsin inhibit or and hemagglut inin act ivit ies and nat ural phenols t han most bean seeds.
Nat ural phenols are most ly phenolic acids, namely, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic, 4-hydroxybenzoic,
vanillic, caffeic, p-coumaric, ferulic, syringic and sinapic acids. Though bot h require prolonged
cooking, a soak solut ion (1.5% NaHCO3 + 0.5% Na2CO3 + 0.75% cit ric acid) has been shown t o
reduce cooking t ime and improve prot ein qualit y. [12]

Horse gram seed cont ains carbohydrat e (57.2% w/w), prot ein (22% w/w), diet ary fiber (5.3%
w/w), fat (0.50% w/w), calcium (287 mg), phosphorus (311 mg), iron (6.77 mg) and calories (321
kcal) as well as vit amins like t hiamine (0.4 mg), riboflavin (0.2 mg) and niacin (1.5 mg) per 100
grams of dry mat t er. The nut rit ional cont ent is part ly dependent on soil condit ions and t he
weat her. The less appealing t ast e has led it t o be not commonly eat en.[13]

The carbohydrat e-fract ion of horse gram flour consist s of oligo-saccharides and st arches. The
st arches can be divided in t erms of digest abilit y in t hose t hat can be digest ed and upt aken in t he
small int est ine, and t hose t hat part ly will ferment ed in t he colon by t he microflora. The lat t er
ones, called resist ant st arches, account for 43.4% of t he carbohydrat e cont ent of horse gram
flour. Oligo-saccharides such as raffinose and st achyose cont ribut e t o digest ion difficult ies. The
ferment at ion in t he colon oft en may lead t o flat ulence and diarrhoea, given t he high
concent rat ion of bot h, resist ant st arches and oligo-saccharides, for horse gram longer cooking
t imes, and ot her t reat ment s are needed.[9] Enzymat ic t reat ment s wit h xylanase has t he goal t o
improve t he funct ional and expansive propert ies of horse gram seeds in order t o facilit at e t he
use as an ingredient in t he food indust ry. By following a high t emperat ure short t ime (HTST)
t reat ment , t he cont ent of phyt ic acid, t annins and prot ease-inhibit ors could be reduced by 46%,
61% and 92% respect ively. The flour result ing from t his t reat ment had higher wat er- and oil-
absorpt ion capabilit ies. Those improvement s in digest ibilit y and processibilit y could make
horsegram an int erest ing prot ein- and flour source for t he food indust ry.[14]

Breeding
Globally, sout hwest India and t he African cont inent are regarded as horse gram gene-rich
regions.[7] From t he 1970s, germplasm of horse gram has been conserved.[15] The US Department
of Agriculture's (USDA) Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) has preserved 35
accessions of horse gram, t he Australian Tropical Crops and Forages Genetic Resources Centre,
has 38 accessions and t he Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) has conserved 21
accessions.[7]

A large amount of drought resist ance genes exist in horse gram and grain yield enhancement
represent s t he main breeding goal.[7][15][8] Lit t le at t ent ion has been given t o t he genome
st ruct ure and organizat ion of horse gram. The use of new genes for horse gram breeding could
benefit from genet ic dat a on numerous phenological and morphological feat ures. These may
impact agronomic met hods and crop product ivit y.[16] Many unfavorable t rait s such as lat e
flowering, indet erminat e t wining growt h habit , long and t hin st em, t hermo- and phot osensit ivit y
and a poor harvest index exist in horse gram.[7] The digest abilit y and processabilit y improvement s
described in Nut rit ion sect ion implicit ly suggest t o consider t he reduct ion of phyt ic acid cont ent ,
t annins and prot ease-inhibit ors as addit ional breeding goals.

Medicinal uses
Scient ist s from t he Indian Inst it ut e of Chemical Technology have found t hat unprocessed raw
horse gram seeds not only possess ant ihyperglycemic propert ies, but also have qualit ies which
reduce insulin resist ance. The scient ist s made a comparat ive analysis bet ween horse gram seeds
and t heir sprout s and found t hat t he seeds have great er beneficial effect s on t he healt h of
hyperglycemic individuals. The majorit y of ant ioxidant propert ies are confined t o t he seed coat
and it s removal would not do any good. Raw horse gram seed is rich in polyphenols, flavonoids,
and prot eins, major ant ioxidant s present in fruit s and ot her food mat erials. The seed has t he
abilit y t o reduce post prandial hyperglycemia by slowing down carbohydrat e digest ion and
reducing insulin resist ance by inhibit ing prot ein-t yrosine phosphat ase 1 bet a enzyme.[17]

Indian regional specifics

In India, it is also known as ulavalu, gahat, muthira, kulath, khollu or kulthi. It is used t o make
popular dishes like Kulitan Saaru, Kulitan Upkari, Kulitan Ghassi (coconut curry preparat ion), and
an idli-like preparat ion (but not ferment ed) called Kulitan Sannan.

In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, horse

gram (called ఉలవలు (ulavalu) in Telugu)
is prescribed for jaundice or as a
diuretic, and as part of a weight-loss
diet. It is considered helpful for iron
deficiencies. Ulavacharu (horse gram
soup) is popular dish in Telangana,
Andhra Pradesh, it is served with cooked
rice in some of the Telugu-speaking
people's weddings and ceremonies.[18]
In Darjeeling and Sikkim, horse gram
(called (gahat in Nepali) is considered a
medicinal food. It is given to children
suffering from mumps. Water in which
gahat is soaked is taken by people
suffering from kidney stones in the belief
that this dissolves the crystals. Gahat's
use is specially reserved for the cold
winters, when its heat-producing
properties are most useful.
In Kerala, horse gram, (called മുതിര
(muthira) in Malayalam which almost
sounds like കുതിര (kuthira), Malayalam
word for horse), is used in special kinds
of dishes.
In Tamil Nadu, horse gram (called
கொள்ளு - 'kollu' in northern districts
and காணம் - 'kaanam' in southern
districts ) is commonly used in Tamil
dishes, including kollu chutney, kollu
porial, kollu avial, kollu sambar, and kollu
rasam.

In Maharashtra and Goa, horse gram

(called हुलगा) (hulage/hulaga/kulith in
Marathi and kulith in Konkani) is often
used to make aamati, kulith usal, pithla
and shengule/shevanti.[19]
In Karnataka cuisine, ಹುರಳಿಸಾರು (hurali
saaru), ಹುರಳಿ (hurali) is a main
ingredient. Hurali is also used in
preparations such as usali, chutney,
bassaru, and upsaaru or upinsaru
(particularly in the Old Mysore Regions
Mandya and Chamrajnagara Districts).
In South Canara region of Karnataka, in
Tulu, it is also called kudu (ಕುಡು).
In Odisha it is known by the name କୋଳଥ
(Kolatha).
Gahat or kulath is a major ingredient in
the food of Pahari region of northern
India.
In Himachal Pradesh, kulath is used to
make khichdi. In Uttarakhand, it is
cooked in a round iron saute pan
(kadhai) to prepare ras, a favorite of
 most Kumaonis. In Garhwal region,
another more elaborate dish is phanu
which is made in a kadhai with roughly
ground gahat (previously soaked
overnight) boiled over several hours.
Towards the end, some finely chopped
greens (palak or spinach, rai, tender
radish leaves, or dhania (coriander
leaves) if nothing else is available) are
added to complete the dish. Served with
boiled rice, jhangora (a millet-like grain,
used as a staple by poorer Garhwalis
only a decade ago and now a prized
health-food).
In Myanmar (Burma), horse gram is known as pe bazat (ပဲပိစပ် ) in Burmese. It is commonly used in
making pon ye gyi, a ferment ed bean past e used in t radit ional Burmese cuisine.
References

1. "Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdc" (htt

p://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ip
ni.org:names:505875-1#synonyms) .
Plants of the World Online. Board of
Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew. 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2020.

2. "Taxonomy - GRIN-Global Web v 1.10.5.0"

(https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/ta
xonomydetail.aspx?id=425415) .
npgsweb.ars-grin.gov. Retrieved
24 September 2019.

3. "Horse Gram" (http://dpd.gov.in/Horse%20g

ram.pdf) (PDF). Government of India,
Directorate of Pulses Development. 3 April
2017.
4. Brink, Martin (2006). Cereals and Pulses (ht
tps://books.google.com/books?id=dH6S9
MwTupUC&pg=PA102) . PROTA. pp. 102–
104. ISBN 978-90-5782-170-7.

5. Kumar D (2007) Production technology for

horse gram in India, Central Arid Zone
Research Institute. Evergreen Printers,
Jodhpur, India, pp 1–27,
http://www.cazri.res.in/publications/KrishiK
osh/113-
(PRODUCTION%20TECHNOGY%20).pdf

6. Pearman, Georgina (2005). Prance,

Ghillean; Nesbitt, Mark (eds.). The Cultural
History of Plants. Routledge. p. 144.
ISBN 0415927463.
7. Aditya, J. P.; Bhartiya, Anuradha; Chahota,
Rakesh K.; Joshi, Dinesh; Chandra, Nirmal;
Kant, Lakshmi; Pattanayak, Arunava (2019-
09-01). "Ancient orphan legume horse
gram: a potential food and forage crop of
future" (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-01
9-03184-5) . Planta. 250 (3): 891–909.
doi:10.1007/s00425-019-03184-5 (https://
doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00425-019-03184-
5) . ISSN 1432-2048 (https://www.worldca
t.org/issn/1432-2048) . PMID 31115659 (h
ttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3111565
9) . S2CID 160009881 (https://api.semanti
cscholar.org/CorpusID:160009881) .
8. Bhardwaj, Jyoti; Chauhan, Rohit; Swarnkar,
Mohit Kumar; Chahota, Rakesh Kumar;
Singh, Anil Kumar; Shankar, Ravi; Yadav,
Sudesh Kumar (2013-09-23).
"Comprehensive transcriptomic study on
horse gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum): De
novo assembly, functional characterization
and comparative analysis in relation to
drought stress" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/pmc/articles/PMC3853109) . BMC
Genomics. 14 (1): 647. doi:10.1186/1471-
2164-14-647 (https://doi.org/10.1186%2F1
471-2164-14-647) . ISSN 1471-2164 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/issn/1471-2164) .
PMC 3853109 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/pmc/articles/PMC3853109) .
 PMID 24059455 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/24059455) .

9. Prasad, Saroj Kumar; Singh, Manoj Kumar

(1 May 2015). "Horse gram- an
underutilized nutraceutical pulse crop: a
review". Journal of Food Science and
Technology. 52 (5): 2489–2499.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-014-
1312-z .

10. Brink, Martin (2006). Cereals and Pulses (ht

tps://books.google.com/books?id=dH6S9
MwTupUC&pg=PA102) . PROTA. ISBN 978-
90-5782-170-7.
11. Haq Nazmul (2011) Underutilized food
legumes: potential for multipurpose uses.
In: Pratap A, Kumar J (eds) Biology and
breeding of food legumes. CAB
International, UK, pp 335–336

12. Kadam, S. S.; Salunkhe, D. K. (1985).

"Objectives" (http://www.tandfonline.com/d
oi/abs/10.1080/10408398509527416) . C
R C Critical Reviews in Food Science and
Nutrition. 22 (4): 1–26.
doi:10.1080/10408398509527416 (https://
doi.org/10.1080%2F1040839850952741
6) . ISSN 0099-0248 (https://www.worldca
t.org/issn/0099-0248) . PMID 3899515 (htt
ps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3899515) .
13. Bhartiya, A.; Aditya, J. P.; Kant, L. (2015).
"Nutritional and Remedial Potential of an
Underutilized Food Legume Horsegram
(Macrotyloma uniflorum): A Review". The
Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences. 25
(4): 908–920. ISSN 1018-7081 (https://ww
w.worldcat.org/issn/1018-7081) .
14. Sreerama, Yadahally N.; Sasikala,
Vadakkoot B.; Pratape, Vishwas M. (2008-
06-01). "Nutritional implications and flour
functionality of popped/expanded horse
gram" (https://www.sciencedirect.com/scie
nce/article/pii/S0308814607012150) .
Food Chemistry. 108 (3): 891–899.
doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.11.055 (http
s://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.foodchem.2007.1
1.055) . ISSN 0308-8146 (https://www.worl
dcat.org/issn/0308-8146) .
PMID 26065750 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/26065750) .
15. Chahota, Rakesh & Thakur, Nisha & Sharma,
Reecha. (2020). Efficient Improvement in an
Orphan Legume: Horsegram, Macrotyloma
uniflorum (Lam.) Verdi, Using Conventional
and Molecular Approaches. 10.1007/978-3-
030-47306-8_12. }
16. Katoch, Megha; Mane, Rushikesh Sanjay;
Chahota, Rakesh Kumar (2022).
"Identification of QTLs Linked to
Phenological and Morphological Traits in
RILs Population of Horsegram
(Macrotyloma uniflorum)" (https://www.ncb
i.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8821879) .
Frontiers in Genetics. 12.
doi:10.3389/fgene.2021.762604 (https://d
oi.org/10.3389%2Ffgene.2021.762604) .
ISSN 1664-8021 (https://www.worldcat.or
g/issn/1664-8021) . PMC 8821879 (http
s://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PM
C8821879) . PMID 35145543 (https://pub
med.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35145543) .
17. Mallikarjun, Y. (April 25, 2013). "Raw horse
gram good for diabetics" (http://www.thehi
ndu.com/sci-tech/health/diet-and-nutrition/
raw-horse-gram-good-for-diabetics/article4
651090.ece) . The Hindu. Retrieved
May 31, 2017.

18. Kashid, R. R., & Talekar, S. M. (2021). Horse

Gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum):
Nutraceutical Pulse Crop: A Review. [1] (http
s://wjpr.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/arti
cle_issue/1622798919.pdf)

19. Shah, R. (2018). What About My Calcium?.

CircleOHealth.[2] (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=UM-EDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3#v=
onepage&q=kulith&f=false)

External links
 Wikimedia Commons has media related
to Macrotyloma uniflorum.
Wikispecies has information related to
Macrotyloma uniflorum.

Fuller, D.Q. & Murphy, C. (2018). "The

origins and early dispersal of horsegram
(Macrotyloma uniflorum), a major crop
of ancient India" (https://discovery.ucl.a
c.uk/id/eprint/1561149/) . Genetic
Resources and Crop Evolution. 65: 285–
305. doi:10.1007/s10722-017-0532-2 (ht
tps://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10722-017-0
532-2) . S2CID 9543710 (https://api.sem
anticscholar.org/CorpusID:9543710) .
Kadam SS, Salunkhe DK (1985).
"Nutritional composition, processing,
 and utilization of horse gram and moth
bean". Critical Reviews in Food Science
and Nutrition. 22 (1): 1–26.
doi:10.1080/10408398509527416 (http
s://doi.org/10.1080%2F1040839850952
7416) . PMID 3899515 (https://pubmed.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3899515) .

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Macrotyloma_uniflorum&oldid=1208446087"

This page was last edited on 17 February 2024, at

15:08 (UTC). •
Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless
otherwise noted.