Nature on our doorsteps: Common Vetch – perhaps a potential food crop?

THE wildflower, Common Vetch, is a scrambling plant that grows in meadows, along hedgerows, and in farmland. Its pink flowers bloom between May and September.

The plant has weak stems and cannot support itself as it grows. Instead, it uses twining tendrils located at the end of its leaf stems to help it cling onto other plants.

Common Vetch is a member of the legume (or pea) family of plants.

This family contains important human food crops like garden peas, beans, and lentils.

While archaeological evidence suggests that seeds of Common Vetch were eaten in the distant past by our ancestors, it is not grown today as a human food crop.

Although its seeds are indeed high in protein and other minerals, unfortunately they contain chemical compounds that can be toxic to us if they are eaten raw or if they are not cooked in a particular way.

Because of its high protein value, however, scientists are looking for ways to breed a variety of Common Vetch that does not contain the harmful compounds in its seeds.

The blue-purple Bush Vetch is another member of the Vetch family of plants

The plant also has other useful characteristics that make it of particular interest as a potential source of plant protein for human beings.

It is known to be tolerant of poor soils.

This ability is due to a special relationship between the plant and a soil bacterium which allows Common Vetch make the nitrates it needs to help it grow.

This means that expensive artificial fertilisers would not be needed for a crop of Common Vetch.

Also, the plant is tolerant of periods of drought and high temperatures, meaning that food crops of this species might withstand the challenging weather conditions predicted by a changing climate.

The potential for this pretty wildflower to be grown widely around the world as a plant protein crop in the future is therefore appealing, and the studies underway are considered to be well worth the effort.