Dolichos lablab

Lablab, Egyptian bean, hyacinth bean, bonavist bean

Annual or perennial robust twiner, native to India. Similar in climatic adaptation to the cowpea. Cultivated mainly for the edible seeds, but also important for hay and silage in many countries. Grown alone or mixed with maize or sorghum. After the mature beans have been harvested, the field can be grazed by stock. Pods and seeds can be fed to stock as concentrates. Fast growing and able to withstand heavy grazing when young.

As % of dry matter

DM

CP

CF

Ash

EE

NFE

Ca

P

Ref

Fresh aerial part,

Malaysia

18.4

13.6

31.5

12.5

4.9

37.5

1.61

0.31

292

Fresh aerial part,

India

14.2

28.1

14.8

3.5

39.4

1.98

0.26

436

Hay, Sudan

16.6

37.1

9.3

2.9

34.1

98

Pods, India

10.1

36.2

6.2

0.8

46.7

0.90

0.12

436

Seeds, Zimbabwe

92.0

28.0

8.6

4.2

1.2

58.0

0.99

0.36

499

Seeds, Uganda

89.3

24.2

8.5

4.4

0.8

62.1

70

Digestibility (%)

Animal

CP

CF

EE

NFE

ME

Ref

Hay

Cattle

74.1

66.8

62.1

53.1

2.22

98

Seeds

Cattle

65.2

53.0

56.0

88.0

2.86

499

Amino acid composition as % of crude protein

Aerial part

Ref

354

Arg

Cys

Gly

Hys

Ils

Leu

Lys

Met

Phe

Thr

Try

Tyr

Val

6.8

0.7

8.2

4.2

6.8

10.4

6.9

0.9

2.2

4.2

-

1.8

7.4