An insight into dietetic and nutraceutical properties of underutilized legume: Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC.

Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC., an underused tropical legume, holds remarkable nutritional parity with conventional legumes like soya beans, with matching in protein, fat, mineral contentand many more. Despite its amino acid, lecithins and carbohydrate richness, it harbors compounds like phenolics, tannoids, L-DOPA, and lectin proteins, limiting its potential. Exploring Mucuna seed's multifaceted benefits for rural advancement necessitates for addressing these challenges. While it is utilized in medicine but due to its nutrional values it is also utilized asfood, livestock grazing, establishing its safe dosages for animals remains crucial. This review delves into Mpruriens (L.) DC. comprehensively, embracing its nutrition, bioactivesandas nutracuticals. The review encompasses detailed analysis of research compilation from 1987 to 2023 articles published in PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, SciFinder, Science Direct. M.pruriens(L.) DC. containsbioactive compounds, most notably L-DOPA (levodopa), a precursor to dopamine, neurotransmitter involved in various physiological processes. M. pruriens(L.)DC. has gained attention for its potential in managing neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson'sas well as for its nutritional properties Velvet plants were having abundance of stinging hairs, which was an unfavorable agronomic characteristic and further improved by developing varieties with less or nonstinging hairs to domesticate for commercial production through breeding efforts.