Grass Pea

Grass pea, Lathyrus sativus, is a legume in the family Fabaceae that produces high-protein seeds and is commonly grown for human consumption and livestock feed in Asia and East Africa, functioning as an insurance crop that delivers a reliable harvest in drought-prone regions when other crops fail; it was likely domesticated in the Balkan region around 6000 BCE. It features prominently in Mediterranean and South Asian cuisines, and in Spain flour milled from its seeds, called almorta, is the primary ingredient of the traditional La Mancha dish gachas manchegas, with immature seeds eaten like green peas and mature seeds requiring thorough soaking and cooking. The seeds contain the neurotoxic amino acid ODAP, and according to Kew Gardens, eating grass pea as a diet staple over a three-month period can cause permanent paralysis below the knees in adults and brain damage in children, a condition called lathyrism that has historically emerged following famines and remains present in some regions where the legume becomes a primary source of nutrition.