Vigna mungo

Vigna mungo, black gram, black lentil, mungo bean (not to be confused with the much smaller true black lentil (Lens culinaris)), black matpe bean, is a bean grown in the Indian subcontinent. At one time it was considered to belong to the same species as the mung bean. The product sold as black lentils is usually the whole urad bean, whereas the split bean (the interior being white) is called Minumulu in Telugu, Urad Dal in Hindi, or white lentils.

Black gram originated in India, where it has been in cultivation from ancient times and is one of the most highly prized pulses of India and Pakistan. The coastal Andhra region in Andhra Pradesh is famous for black gram after paddy. The Guntur District ranks first in Andhra Pradesh for the production of black gram. Black gram has also been introduced to other tropical areas mainly by Indian immigrants.

Description

It is an erect, suberect or trailing, densely hairy, annual herb. The tap root produces a branched root system with smooth, rounded nodules. The pods are narrow, cylindrical and up to six cm long. The plant grows 30–100 cm with large hairy leaves and 4–6 cm seed pods. While the urad bean was, along with the mung bean, originally placed in Phaseolus, it has since been transferred to Vigna.