Oriental Green Peas and the possible benefit of this winter crop.
Article Content:
- .Basic Botanical Data of Green Peas.
- .Green peas Description: Taxonomy, Morphology and Floral Biology.
- .History and Origin of Green peas.
- .Chemistry of Green peas:Phytochemical and constituents, Nutrients and Facts.
- .Uses and Traditional Medicinal Uses of Green peas.
- .Safety of Green Peas.
- .How to Select and Store Green Peas.
- .Tips for Preparing and Cooking Green Peas:A Few Quick Serving Ideas.
- .Research Update:Greean Pea or Pisum sativum L.
History and Origin of Green peas.
Origin:Pea probably originated in southwestern Asia, possibly northwestern India, Pakistan or adjacent areas of former USSR and Afghanistan and thereafter spread to the temperate zones of Europe (Kay, 1979; Makasheva, 1983). Based on genetic diversity, four centers of origins, namely, Central Asia, the Near East, Abyssinia and the Mediterranean have been recognized (Gritton, 1980). Non-pigmented peas to be used as a vegetable were grown in United Kingdom in the middle Ages (Davies et al., 1985). Pea was introduced into the Americas soon after Columbus and a winter type pea was introduced from Austria in 1922. Pea was taken to China in the first century (Makasheva, 1983). Peas were reported to be originally cultivated as a winter annual crop in the Mediterranean region (Smart, 1990).
The modern-day garden pea is thought to have originated from the field pea that was native to central Asia and Europe and has been consumed by man for thousands and thousands of years. In fact, peas are mentioned in the Bible and were prized by the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece and Rome.
Yet, it was not until the 16th century, when cultivation techniques created more tender varieties, that people began to consume peas in their fresh state as opposed to just eating dried peas. It seems that the Chinese, a culture which had consumed this legume as far back as 2,000 BC, were the first ones to consume both the seeds and the pods as a vegetable.
The French king Louis XIV popularized peas in the 17th century by making them an item of high regard on the menus of parties held at his palace. Snow peas are suggested to have been developed in Holland around this same time. Peas were introduced into United States soon after the colonists first settled in this country.
In the 19th century during the early developments of the study of genetics, peas played an important role. The monk and botanist, Gregor Mendel used peas in his plant-breeding experiments.
It was only recently, in the 1970s, that sugar snap peas were developed, the result of a cross between garden peas and snow peas. Today, the largest commercial producers of fresh peas are the United States, Great Britain, China, Hungary and India.
Reference:
1.Oriental Green Peas and the possible benefit of this winter crop.




