UNDERUTILIZED PULSES: A REVIEW ON NUTRITIONAL PROFILES, GENETIC RESOURCES AND FUTURE OUTLOOK

Abstract

Global food security and nutritional resilience are increasingly threatened by over-reliance on a narrow basket of major staple crops. Minor pulses including rice bean (Vigna umbellata), horse gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum), moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia), adzuki bean (Vigna angularis), represent an underutilized repository of climate-smart agriculture with rich sources of macro and micronutrients. This review compiles the nutritional compositions of these orphan crops, emphasizing their competitive protein, mineral, and resistant starch contents relative to widely cultivated commercial legumes. We detail their multifaceted therapeutic benefits, ranging from glycaemic regulation to anti-urolithiasis and cardiovascular protective pathways. Crucially, this paper establishes a novel operational bridge between available genetic resources and contemporary breeding strategies. We dissect the deployment of molecular breeding, high-throughput phenotyping, genomic-assisted selection, multi-parent advanced generation intercross (MAGIC) populations, and targeted CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing aimed at correcting agronomic defects (e.g., indeterminate growth, pod shattering) and eliminating key anti-nutritional factors (e.g.,trypsin inhibitors, phytic acid). Finally, we outline an integrated multi-omics roadmap and value-chain intervention strategy designed to transition minor pulses into mainstream global functional food networks.