The Dietary Use of Pigeon Pea for Human and Animal Diets

Table 4

Edible parts of PP plants.

Edible portions	Way of consumption	References
Seed (whole grain)	It is possible to consume the mature (dry) seeds of PP by overnight soaking and cooking methods.	[56]
Germinated seed	After soaking the PP seeds in water, they germinate well and can be eaten raw or cooked.	[57]
Dhal	It is the dry seeds of the PP cotyledon without seed coat that are popular as they take a short time to cook and have good palatability when consumed by humans.	[19]
Green seeds as vegetable	Green seeds have a high amount of sugar and fat, and they have better protein and starch digestibility than mature dry seeds. They also have fewer protein inhibitors and higher amounts of iron and calcium than in mature dry seeds and Dhal.	[58]
Fresh pods	Fresh pods of PP are used as food after cooking, and they are used as salads.	[19]