Lentils - Cultivation And Benefits. Photo

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Lentils - Cultivation And Benefits. Photo
Lentils - Cultivation And Benefits. Photo

Video: Lentils - Cultivation And Benefits. Photo

Video: Lentils - Cultivation And Benefits. Photo
Video: Exploring How Lentils are Grown & Their Sustainability Attributes 2024, March
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At one time, peas and beans forced out lentils from the food market, which also belong to the legume family. Today this unique product (somewhat new to the domestic market) is returning to our kitchens. Lentils were known for their medicinal and taste qualities and were widely used in food since ancient Egypt, replacing many types of vegetarian dishes. It was considered the food of the rich and was inaccessible to the common people. Lentils were loved for a variety of taste, ease and speed of preparation, saturation of the body (feeling of satiety) without overeating. Let's start our acquaintance with this culture with its beneficial properties.

Green, red and puy lentils
Green, red and puy lentils

Content:

  • Useful properties of lentils
  • Botanical description of lentils
  • Biological features of lentils
  • Growing lentils
  • Lentil harvesting and storage

Useful properties of lentils

Nutritional benefits

Lentils are a product genetically adapted to the human digestive system. They are high in complex proteins and carbohydrates to keep you feeling full for a long time. There are only 250-295 Kcal per 100 gramme of lentils. Highly digestible protein (60% of the mass) may well replace meat, especially with dietary nutrition.

This protein is absorbed better and faster, does not remain undigested to rot in the stomach, creating a heaviness and foul smelling belching. A serving of lentils satisfies 90% of an adult's daily need for folic acid.

In 100 g of lentils, the fat content does not exceed 1 g. With this amount of fat, you cannot accumulate extra pounds, but you can be well-fed, beautiful and healthy. Replace pasta and porridge with a lentil side dish, and you will be convinced that Esau gave his birthright for a lentil stew for a reason.

To appreciate the beneficial properties of lentils, it is enough to list the content of macro- and microelements in the beans of this culture: calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, chlorine, sulfur, iron, zinc, aluminum, manganese, copper, selenium, cobalt, chromium, molybdenum, iodine, boron, silicon, nickel, titanium.

Lentils contain vitamins "A", "PP", "E", "B1", "B2", "B5", "B6", "B9" (folic acid), beta-carotene.

A common phrase - serotonin is found in chocolate, with equal success applies to lentils. Its beans contain the amino acid tryptophan, which is converted in the human body into serotonin, the so-called "vitamin of happiness." Serotonin affects the stability of the psyche, endurance, reduces the period of depression.

Lentils
Lentils

Medicinal properties of lentils

  • Regardless of the growing conditions, lentils never accumulate nitrates, nitrites, radionuclides and other substances toxic to human health.
  • Lentil fruits strengthen the heart muscle and are involved in the process of hematopoiesis.
  • Lowers blood sugar. Lentil dishes are indispensable for diabetes.
  • Mashed potatoes, soups, cereals are used in dietary nutrition in the treatment of ulcers and colitis.
  • In lentils, even after thermal processing, isoflavones are preserved - substances very important for maintaining women's health. They have a negative effect on cancer cells that provoke breast cancer, significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, improve the elasticity of the arteries, which leads to a decrease in blood pressure, suppress platelet activity, etc.

However, including lentils in your diet, do not forget about contraindications:

  • with diseases of the kidneys and genitourinary system,
  • with liver disease,
  • with dysbacteriosis and gastrointestinal diseases,
  • in the acute period of hemorrhoids,
  • with gout,
  • able to reduce the absorption of certain vitamins and minerals.

Why is this culture so attractive and why should it be introduced into the culture circulation in your gardens and dachas?

Botanical description of lentils

Common lentil is an annual herb with a height of 30 to 60 cm. In the process of growth and development, it forms a low bush with thin 4-sided erect, sometimes semi- or completely lodging stems. Lentil stems are reddish, pubescent with short, semi-rigid hairs. Leaves are compound, paired with a different number of leaflets.

At the base of the petiole there is a simple or branched antennae. There are stipules, the shape and size of which (like the leaves) depends on the variety. The peduncles of the lentils are short with 1-4 moth-shaped small flowers of white, less often blue-blue or violet-blue.

Lentil fruit is a unilocular pod, two-leaved, rhomboid-elongated, prone to cracking when the crop is overripe. Seeds (1-3 pieces) are flattened or round. The color range of seeds is multi-colored: yellow, green, pink red, gray, brown, black, marble pattern of dots, spots. The root of the lentil is taprophic and weakly branched.

Biological features of lentils

Common cultivated lentils are subdivided into 2 subspecies:

  • large-seeded (plate) lentils used as food,
  • small-seeded lentils, which are mainly fed to livestock as a protein-rich food.

Unlike other legumes, lentils are relatively undemanding to heat. Seeds germinate at + 3 … + 4 ° С. Fast and friendly seedlings appear on the 6-7th day when the soil warms up in a 10 cm layer to + 7 … + 10 ° С. At lower temperatures, seedlings appear on the 8-12th day. Lentil shoots can withstand frosts down to -3 … -5 ° С. The optimum temperature during the growing season ranges from + 12 to + 21 ° C.

Due to their slow growth before flowering, lentils require constant weed protection and increased moisture supply.

Lentil bloom begins on day 40-45. From flowering to harvest, it outperforms other legumes in resistance to drought and high temperatures. This property allows lentils to be cultivated in dry areas.

Lentil grows well and forms fairly high yields on medium-fertile, loose air-permeable soils: chestnut and light podzolic, loamy, sandy loam and ordinary chernozems, rich in calcium compounds.

Lentils do not tolerate heavy compacted soils (chernozems), with low air exchange, acidic, alkaline soils with a high groundwater level. On soils enriched with humus and nitrogen, it mainly forms a rich vegetative mass. Beans ripen unevenly, taste and quality indicators decrease.

Lentils form nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots, enriching the soil with nitrogen.

Edible lentils, or Common lentils, or Cultural lentils (Lens culinaris)
Edible lentils, or Common lentils, or Cultural lentils (Lens culinaris)

Growing lentils

In order for lentils to grow and give a crop to the delight of the owners, one more feature must be taken into account. This is a long day culture and even a 9-10 hour day will not provide normal development, let alone the formation and maturation of the crop.

The place of lentils in culture circulation

If the garden is divided into beds and the order of planting crops is observed, then lentils are an excellent precursor for potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, sweet peppers, corn, carrots, beets, garlic and other non-legumes. In turn, lentils are not demanding on their predecessors, but the field must be free of weeds. It is better to return it to its original place after 5-6 years, in order to avoid damage and accumulation of nematodes in the soil.

Preparing the soil for lentils

As a nitrogen accumulator, lentils cannot tolerate high nitrogen content in the soil. Therefore, it is placed in the crop rotation no earlier than 2-3 years after the introduction of manure. If in previous years only mineral fertilizers were applied to the site, then the soil must be calcareous in order to remove the accumulated acidity.

In autumn, the soil is filled with phosphorus (35-40 g / sq. M) and potash (20-30 g / sq. M) fertilizers and dug to a depth of 25-30 cm.

In spring, on depleted soils, you can add 20 g / sq. To the autumn norm. m of phosphorus and potash fertilizers. If the soils are provided with nutrients, then fertilizers can not be applied in the spring.

Presowing preparation of lentil seeds

The duration of the growing season of lentil varieties ranges from 2.5 to 4.0 months (75-115 days). To keep within daylight hours, it is better to germinate lentil seeds before sowing, which will shorten the pre-emergence period.

On some hard surface, 2-3 layers of moisture-absorbing material are covered, moistened with warm water, spread a thin layer of seeds, covered with a damp cloth on top and placed in a warm place. Moisten the bedding and seeds 2-3 times a day. With mass kilchevaniye seeds are ready for sowing.

Sowing lentils

As soon as the soil warms up in a 10 cm layer to + 7 … + 8 ° С, you can start sowing lentils. Early sowing results in higher yields and better disease and pest resistance.

When sowing, soil moisture is very important. Therefore, in dry spring, it is better to water the furrows before sowing.

Sowing seeds of lentils is carried out in an ordinary way, leaving a distance in a row of 5-8 cm and between rows of 10-15 cm. The seeding depth is on average 5-6 cm. The sown area is slightly compacted for better closure with the soil. Seedlings appear on 7-12 days.

Top dressing lentils

On marginal soils, lentils are fed twice. The first time is fed before flowering. The second is when pouring beans. It is best to use “AVA” fertilizer for top dressing, which contains water-soluble forms of phosphorus and 9 trace elements, including boron and molybdenum. The lack of these microelements causes the death of the growth point in the stems of the culture.

In addition, with a lack of molybdenum, the ability of bacteria to assimilate air nitrogen and fix it in the nodules on the roots, and then in the seeds, decreases. Before the flowering of lentils, you can also add 200-300 g / r. m of wood ash in the aisles for shallow tillage The "AVA" fertilizer can be used for spring application to the soil instead of phosphorus-potassium.

Lentil care and watering

Care during the growing season consists in keeping the soil in a loose, weed-free state. During the flowering period, lentils are necessarily weeded from the vetch, which litters the crop planting. It is very easy to distinguish them. The flowers of the vetch are dark pink, reddish-purple, while those of the lentil are white and light pink.

Water the lentils sparingly until flowering and if necessary. During the period of mass flowering, the culture is provided with a sufficient amount of moisture, but it is not waterlogged, as this leads to fungal and bacterial diseases of the root system and forming beans. In the subsequent time, the lentils practically do not need watering.

Protecting lentils from diseases and pests

Lentils are most often damaged by fungal and bacterial diseases at high soil and air humidity (ascochitis, fusarium, rust, powdery mildew, anthracnose, etc.). Pests - various types of aphids, scoop-gamma, meadow moth, lentil weevil, etc. The main protection measures are the correct and timely implementation of all agrotechnical measures when sowing and caring for the crop.

Of the preparations for plant treatments, it is allowed to use only biological products. Such biological products as “phytosporin-M”, “Alirin-B”, “trichodermin”, “trichophyte” are especially effective in the fight against diseases and pests. Doses and treatment times are indicated in the recommendations for each drug. Biological products can be used at any stage of plant development, up to harvesting. They are absolutely harmless to humans and animals.

Lentil harvesting and storage

Lentil beans ripen at different times. Ripening begins with the lower beans. When the beans are ripe for 2/3 of the bush, you can start harvesting. The bushes are pruned at ground level, leaving the roots in the soil. Lentil bushes are harvested in the morning after dew to reduce the loss of beans cracking. They are tied into small sheaves and hung under the roof in a draft for drying. After a few days, they start threshing.

The threshed lentil grain is cleaned of impurities, dried in the sun and immediately packed in glass or metal containers and tightly closed from moisture. The beans are hygroscopic, quickly pick up moisture, begin to mold and rot. If the beans are stored in cardboard boxes or canvas bags, it is best to place them in a dark, cool, dry place with good ventilation.

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