Talk:Mucuna pruriens

Discussion
Hi, I know a few things about Mucuna pruriens or as I would call it Velvet bean, from work done down in Central America. Velvet bean is what got me into Honduras in the first place.

In Central America it is used as green manure/cover crop for soil improvement. It produces a large number of beans which have been used as a coffee substitute (Nescafe) on a limited trial bases. However this practice has almost entirely been abandoned as a single cup of the beverage has about as much l-Dopa in it the standard dose used for Parkinson’s patients. Low-levels of l-dopa can cause nasuia and headaches. It can also cause birth defects and induce spontaneous abortions in pregnant women. For guys it has the added benefit of “Large amounts of L-dopa may cause priapism, a painful, persistent erection that has nothing to do with sexual arousal.”

For normal human consumption the beans are boiled, and the water is thrown out three times prior to eating.

It is not a viable cash crop, as it has little practical value outside of enhancing the soil it is grown on. If it could be sold for cash, or used safely as a coffee substitute, no one would have to promote it for its soil building properties, it would sell itself. Years ago it was used in Alabama, Georgia, and surrounding states, but then someone figured out that you can actually sell soybeans, so everyone switched over to growing soybeans instead.

The article as now written specially states “L-DOPA is still under study as an anti-Parkinson's agent, and since this plant is a rich source of the chemical, it is receiving attention as a "natural" herbal source. Its popularity in the herbal, athletic, and ayurvedic supplements industries is growing.” When in fact l-Dopa IS the main drug for Parkinson’s treatment, and has been for years.

The whole mucuna pruriens as herbal medicine aspect needs to be dropped. I feel the article as now written is about as accurate as saying that arsenic is a traditional medication, and then listing out all of the potential “benefits” of arsenic. Brimba 19:55, 21 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Perhaps you might reconsider once you read this comprehensive review of Mucuna pruriens (2007).
 * WriterHound (talk) 22:00, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Questionable common names

 * nescafe
 * konch

Both of these seem common names seem highly questionable. Fuzzform (talk) 21:48, 18 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Actually, the second name 'konch' or 'kaunch' is the common name in Hindi. Leo Breman (talk) 14:35, 18 September 2020 (UTC)

I have seen that it helps my with bipolar disorder. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.161.245.73 (talk) 15:53, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Use Of Mucuna Pruriens as a Murder Weapon
I have removed the assertion that the plant is used to kill people in Africa. It has remained unsourced with a citation needed flag for 6 months and I was unable to find a source which made this claim which did not copy word for word the same information found on this page. -Fiber B (talk) 02:09, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
 * That's good that you removed it, since I didn't find anything either.
 * WriterHound (talk) 03:02, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Food and drink Tagging
This article talk page was automatically added with WikiProject Food and drink banner as it falls under Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here. Maximum and carefull attention was done to avoid any wrongly tagging any categories, but mistakes may happen... If you have concerns, please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 19:06, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Bot report : Found duplicate references !
In the last revision I edited, I found duplicate named references, i.e. references sharing the same name, but not having the same content. Please check them, as I am not able to fix them automatically :) DumZiBoT (talk) 13:23, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * "grin" :

Wikibooks Cookbook
Hello all, I'm Taric25 from Wikibooks, and I just added the interwiki link to the Cookbook recipe for Almond-Cowitch Matcha Smoothy to this article. If anyone can help with the recipe, please improve it. Taric25 (talk) 20:17, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Blindness if hairs enter eyes?
Apparently blindess is likely if the hairs from a Mucuna Pruriens plant get into the eyes. See here. I haven't been able to find a more reliable source for this information (and given that the hairs are known to blow off in the wind it seems surprising). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Erlendd (talk • contribs) 09:46, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

"Water should not be used if contact occurs, as it only dilutes the chemical."
The above-quoted sentence sorely needs clarification by someone who knows what this means. It sounds like a good idea to "dilute" it. Huw Powell (talk) 02:14, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 1 one external link on Mucuna pruriens. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20080531125218/http://www.idrc.ca:80/en/ev-31916-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html to http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-31916-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 12:02, 23 June 2016 (UTC)

External links modified (February 2018)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 7 external links on Mucuna pruriens. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080515210229/http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Mucuna_pruriens.htm to http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Mucuna_pruriens.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080515210229/http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Mucuna_pruriens.htm to http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Mucuna_pruriens.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20041119073349/http://sun.ars-grin.gov:8080/npgspub/xsql/duke/plantdisp.xsql?taxon=644 to http://sun.ars-grin.gov:8080/npgspub/xsql/duke/plantdisp.xsql?taxon=644
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080515210229/http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Mucuna_pruriens.htm to http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Mucuna_pruriens.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20081202044636/http://grande.nal.usda.gov/ibids/index.php?mode2=detail&origin=ibids_references&therow=779012 to http://grande.nal.usda.gov/ibids/index.php?mode2=detail&origin=ibids_references&therow=779012
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20041119073349/http://sun.ars-grin.gov:8080/npgspub/xsql/duke/plantdisp.xsql?taxon=644 to http://sun.ars-grin.gov:8080/npgspub/xsql/duke/plantdisp.xsql?taxon=644
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080531125218/http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-31916-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html to http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-31916-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 15:40, 7 February 2018 (UTC)