Lentils, whose health benefits and harms have been known for thousands of years, have been a source of livelihood for our ancestors since prehistoric times. Let us consider in more detail the beneficial effect of lentil dishes on the human body. Unfortunately, it is not so often included in our menu. But in vain! It is not only tasty, but also healthy. Gourmets of antiquity once considered lentils to be the food of the poor. They even refused to eat it because of cheapness. I would not say that, in Russia, this is a cheap product - some varieties of lentils are expensive. Perhaps more importantly, this is the most delicious bean product of all.
Lentil History
Lentils are mentioned many times in the Bible: Jacob buys the birthright from Esau for lentil soup.
In the Jewish religion, it is the main food during mourning for the deceased, since the round shape of the grains symbolizes the life cycle from birth to death.
It was a major part of the diet of the ancient Iranians who consumed it daily.
In India, sprouted grains are still offered in many temples as food for the gods.
In Italy, they still eat lentils on New Year's Eve, as a symbol of prosperity - most likely because of the round, coin-like shape of the grains.
In the original version of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Cinderella,” the stepmother makes Cinderella choose lentil grains from the ash. If Cinderella fails, she won’t go to the ball. These facts prove once again that lentils are a popular food in many countries.
In Russia, this bean plant began to be grown as an agricultural crop more than five centuries ago. In the Kiev annals of the XV century there is mention of this. She was revered like bread.
The largest areas under it were allotted in the 19th century in the Penza province. And lentils grown in the Saratov region, bred in the 30s of the XX century at the Petrovsky selection and experimental station, were demonstrated at the International Food Exhibition (Brno) - its taste was recognized as the best.
The benefits of lentils for the body
What are the benefits of lentils? It contains 35% protein (wheat, by comparison, only 13-18%). Grains contain almost 60% starch, 2.5% oil, 2.9% sugar, as well as potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, vitamins B1, B2, PP, carotene, others. The protein is well absorbed by the body, contains a sufficient amount of vital amino acids. Lentil dishes reduce cholesterol, blood sugar, and prevent constipation.
It contains a large amount of fiber, dietary fiber. And fiber, dietary fiber are crucial to reduce hunger, that is, lentils are useful for those who want to lose weight.
Recommendations of nutritionists: add legume dishes to your diet three times a week. Passing through the gastrointestinal tract, it forms gel-like substances, thereby helping to remove bile from the body.
Dishes from lentils are prescribed for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, heart. It is believed that it makes a person patient, calm.
Useful sprouted lentils. In order not to repeat, watch the video, everything is clear and understandable there:
Contraindications to the use of lentils
Any product that is used often enough or uncontrollably will not benefit anyone.
Do not eat lentil dishes for people suffering from urolithiasis, joint diseases, gout, as it contains purines. Their excess can lead to the accumulation of uric acid. That is, purines are compounds that can be harmful to people prone to gout or the formation of kidney stones. In addition, lentils contain substances that can contribute ... ahem, flatulence.
To taste, nutrition, she is ahead of all leguminous crops.
How to cook lentils? It cooks faster, boils better than other legumes, has a more delicate, pleasant taste. Soups, cereals, side dishes, and stuffing for pies are prepared from it. Lentil flour is added to wheat flour to increase the amount of protein when baking bread. It is added to sausages.
Growing lentils in the country
Lentils are grown as an annual herbaceous plant in the legume family. The stem is 20-35 cm high, it depends on the variety, soil moisture, air. The leaves are paired light, gray, or dark green with 4-7 pairs of narrow leaflets with a curled top with long antennae at the ends. The flowers are white, pink, violet-blue, located 1-3 on the peduncle in the axils of the leaves. Each flower produces one short, flat pod with one or two seeds.
This is a spring, rather cold-resistant plant. Shoots withstand frosts to -3 ° C and below. He loves sunny places, moist, but not swampy soil. The growing season - 75-115 days - depends on the variety, the region of cultivation.
The plant is self-pollinated. Feels good on all types of soils, from sand to loam. But it does not tolerate wetlands or soils with high groundwater. Best for her sandy loam soils with a high content of phosphorus, potassium.
Comfortable temperature for germination is + 3-5 ° С. Lentils are a long day plant. That is, it grows well where the day is longer (for example, a non-chernozem strip). Like any legumes, it ripens quickly, but later than peas.
The seed placement depth is 3-5 cm. The distance between the rows is 30 cm. Seeds are placed in the row every 10 cm. Lentil seeds germinate 10-12 days after sowing.
At first it grows slowly, but as soon as it blooms, a period of active growth begins. This occurs 40-45 days after she ascended. The first flowers appear below. The flowering period lasts 40-50 days.
Of all legumes, lentils are more heat-loving, heat-tolerant, drought-resistant crops than, for example, peas. But our Kuban heat, starting in June, and sometimes earlier, as well as eastern dry winds, does not tolerate well. Therefore, lentils should be sown early.
I sow in early or mid-March (it depends on the weather), when the soil warms up to 5-6 ° C. Before flowering, lentils require a lot of moisture, so you should not be late with sowing.
Suitable air temperature for the formation of stems, fruits - 17-22 degrees. And in the Krasnodar Territory, summer temperatures are twice as high. Therefore, plant it earlier so that before the start of the heat it will ripen and you can harvest.
Due to the uneven ripening of lentil fruits, harvesting is started when the beans ripen in the lower and middle parts of the plant. If you are a little late, then the lower ripened beans will split themselves - the whole crop will be on the ground.
Lentil kernels that are fully ripened or unripe are consumed: unripe are even tastier.
Seeds are dried immediately after harvesting so that they do not rot as a result of self-heating. But here it is also very important not to overdo it. With high humidity or with prolonged exposure to sunlight, the seeds quickly darken, lose their taste.
The plot for planting lentils is prepared as follows: dig the soil to a depth of 25-30 cm, in the fall, fertilizers are applied per 1 sq. M. potash meter - 25-30 g (1 tablespoon without slide), superphosphate 30-4 g (1 tablespoon with slide). In the spring, before sowing, apply nitrogen fertilizer. Manure, organic fertilizers for lentils do not make, because at the same time it "grows fat" - there are a lot of leaves, and there are not enough beans. Bean yield is reduced. This also applies to other legumes.
The care for lentil crops is the same as for peas.
Pests and diseases of lentils
Lentils are quite disease resistant when compared to other legumes. But nevertheless, they are.
Anthracnose
This disease is expressed as gray spots on leaves, stems, pods. The disease is caused by the Ascochyta fungus. It mainly affects peas, but can also affect other legumes. Infection begins from the bottom of the stem, rises to the top, causing the leaves to fall, the appearance of spots on the pods. This fungus appears on legumes in excess moisture or in very hot weather. Anthracnose treatment requires the use of fungicides.
Ascochitosis
The disease is caused by Ascochyta fabae. Legumes show white or purple spots on the leaves, which then turn black if the disease progresses. This mushroom weakens the plant, leads to the fall of flowers, seeds, pods darken. To avoid this, you should use good seeds. Among the existing methods for eradicating this disease without the use of fungicides, crop rotation every four years can be recommended.
Gray rot
This disease is caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea, which can affect pods and leaves. They turn gray, then fall off. The stems are covered with a gray coating. This leads to the death of the plant. Seeds on plants infected with rotten gray become wrinkled. Spores of the fungus spread by the wind, so they can infect huge areas. This disease is very difficult to eradicate, because the spores of the fungus are always in the soil. And they can develop at high humidity or, conversely, at elevated air temperatures. This disease affects plants such as peas, lentils, sunflowers, beans, etc. The best way to deal with it is to use seeds for planting whose varieties are resistant to gray rot.
Pea aphid
The disease (lat.Acyrthosiphum pisum) is the main pest of legumes, including lentils. Pea aphid damages the leaves of the plant, eating the upper tender leaves. This weakens the plant and can lead to its death. Protection against pea aphids - treatment of legumes with insecticides, preferably before tying the pods.
Snails and slugs
These mollusks can also cause great harm to leguminous crops, especially if the rainy weather is humid when the plants sprout. If there are many pests, then in one night they can significantly “thin out” lentil shoots, leaving the plants without tops, and sometimes even without stems. Snails and slugs can be fought with natural and chemical agents. As a natural remedy for these pests, you can use sand or crushed eggshells. They do not like rough surfaces. And they will not climb to where the aisles are strewn with sand or with something else rough. You can use traps - containers with beer or sweet sparkling water. Of the chemicals from snails and slugs in the garden, the Thunderstorm drug helps well.