XVI International Botanical Congess

Lathyrus sativus (2n = 14), because of its higher protein (28-40%) and lysine content and easy cultivation, is cultivated in many countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and China. The full potential of this crop has not been realized due to the presence of antinutritional factor (such as ß - N - Oxalyl - L - C), ß - diaminopropionic acid (ODAP) (synonym, ß - N - Oxalylamino - L - alanine) in the seeds and vegetative portions. The prolonged consumption of ODAP - a non-protein amino acid that varies from 0.1 to 2.5% by weight of the tissue among the genotypes of L. sativus is implicated with Neurolathyrism - a paralysis of lower limbs. To develop toxin free line for human consumption, several approaches like mutation breeding (Swaminathan 1969, Nerkar 1972, Prasad & Das 1980 and Kumar and Dubey 1996), Somaclonal Variation. (Mehta et al 1994, Tiwari et al 1995) and DNA recombinant technology (Sukanya et al 1993, Nair et al 1994, Barna and Mehta 1995) have recently been adopted with appreciable success. The present communication reviews success so far achieved and its future prospect in developing Lathyrus sativus as a food legume.