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Mucuna pruriens
Fabaceae FAMILY

Mucuna pruriens

Mucuna pruriens

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
4/5

Safety & Hazards

The seed pods are covered with reddish-orange irritant hairs that are readily dislodged and can contaminate clothes or other objects. The hairs act as a mechanical-chemical skin-irritant and, even Mucuna species in general possess irritant hairs on the leaves, seedpods etc. These hairs consist of 1-2 small basal cells and a large needle-like top cell. The top cell breaks off easily, piercing the skin and injecting chemical compounds that are present in the hairs. The proteolytic enzyme 'Mucunain' is said to be the active agent[1]. The hairs can contaminate clothes or other objects, and remain active when dried, though they can be destroyed by heat[2, 3, 4]. Intense itching, with reddening of the skin and small papules or urticaria occur a few minutes after contact with the hairy parts of the plant. There is no serious danger, unless the hairs get into the eye, in which case, in extreme situations, they have caused blindness. To remove the hairs from the skin, adhesive tape and washing with water and soap are considered useful. Dermatitis can be treated with corticosteroid ointment. See a doctor immediately if hairs go into the eyes[3]. The seed contains a range of anti-nutritive substances and can be toxic for human and non-ruminant animal consumption. The most important toxic compounds are the non-protein amino acids L-dopa (content in seeds <2% - >7%) and hallucinogenic tryptamines[5]. Furthermore, trypsin-inhibiting activities have been detected in the seed[5].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual/Perennial
Growth—

A plant of the hot and humid tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 2,100 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 30°c, but can tolerate 10 - 34°c[6]. Young growth can be severely damaged at 5°c[6]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,000 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 400 - 3,100mm[6]. Prefers a well-drained, moist, humus-rich soil and a position in full sun or partial shade[7]. Found in the wild on sandy soils, loams, limestone, and volcanic soil.s[1]. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 7, tolerating 4 - 8[6]. Established plants are drought tolerant[6]. The plant can grow in a range of habitats and could become naturalised in grasslands, bushland, riverine forest and forest edges throughout tropical and subtropical regions. It can form woody thickets and smother underlying vegetation. It has been classified as 'Invasive' in some Pacific Islands, in Indonesia and in Thailand[8]. The plant can mature a crop of seeds within 100 - 130 days in N. America and 210 - 270 days in the tropics[6]. In India seed yield are reported to average between 0.7 - 1.1 tonnes per hectare[6]. Yields of seed up to 3.3 tonnes can be obtained[6]. There are numerous cultivars of Mucuna pruriens, some of which were formerly treated as separate species[6]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[9]. When removing plant remains at the end of the growing season, it is best to only remove the aerial parts of the plant, leaving the roots in the ground to decay and release their nitrogen.

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Mucuna+pruriens>

Pollinators

Self

References

  1. [1]Notes on Malesian Fabaceae (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) 16. The genus Mucuna — Wiriadinata H.; Ohashi H.; Adema F. · 2016 · http://dx.doi.org/10.3767/000651916X692799 ↩︎An excellent treatment
  2. [2]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  3. [3]Contact-Poisonous Plants of the World — Rohde. M. · 2006 · http://mic-ro.com/plants/ ↩︎A document on the internet. Gives brief information on about 35 species of plants that can cause severe problems from a single contact with the skin.
  4. [4]The Leguminosae; A Source Book of Characteristics, Uses and Nodulation — Allen O.N.; Allen E.K. · University of Wisconsin · 1981 · ISBN 0-333-32221-5 ↩︎An amazing and comprehensive work, giving a brief guide to the many genera of the family Fabaceae and also the principle uses of the genus.
  5. [5]Tropical Forages — http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/index.htm ↩︎Mainly focussed on forage plants, the site gives a lot of information on the plant, with a good botanical description, details of cultivation, plant uses and a good selection of photographs.
  6. [6]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  7. [7]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  8. [8]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
  9. [9]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  10. [10]African Flowering Plants Database — Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. · http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php ↩︎Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
  11. [11]Trade in Indian Medicinal Plants — D.K.Ved, S.Noorunnisa Begum, & K.Ravi Kumar · Apple Academic Press; Oakville, Canada · 2018 · ISBN 978-1-77188-600-0 ↩︎
  12. [12]Genetic Resources of Under-exploited Legumes/Tribal Pulses of Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu — Kalidass C. & Mohan V.R. · 2011 ↩︎
  13. [13]Economic Plants. An index to Economic Products of the Vegetable Kingdom in Jamaica — Fawcett. W. · Government of Jamaica, Kingston. · 1891 ↩︎A nice little guide giving a terse description and details of useful plants grown economically in Jamaica. Rather dated, so many of the names have been changed since then. Also available for download from the Internet.
  14. [14]Plants of Guam — Moore P.H. & McMakin P. · University of Guam. · 1979 · http://university.uog.edu/cals/people/POG/scipn.htm ↩︎Brief details, usually with a photo, of plants native to the island of Guam, often together with some information on their uses. An online version is available.
  15. [15]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region