On Food and Cooking

grains. In fact, the cotyledons are actually a
transformed endosperm. When pollen joins
ovule in the process of fertilization, both an
embryo and a primitive nutritional tissue, the
endosperm, are formed. In the grains, the
endosperm develops along with the embryo
and remains the storage organ of the mature
fruit. But in the legumes, the endosperm is
absorbed by the embryo, which repackages the
nutrients in its cotyledons.

Some    Common  Beans   and Peas

Common  Name Scientific Name

Natives of  Europe  and Southwest   Asia

Chickpea,   garbanzo,   bengal

gram

Cicer

arietinum

Lentil, masoor  dal Lens    culinaris

Pea Pisum   sativum