Pea, Pisum sativum

Peas have been known since ancient times, even if it is not clear from the sources what the difference between a pea or a bean was back then. Unlike cereals and tubers, fresh vegetables such as green peas were not among the foods on which entire civilisations were based, but as a naturally storable product, the dried pea was as important to humanity as wheat, maize, potatoes or yams.

What peas need to thrive

The pea belongs to the legume family, which is particularly good at binding nitrogen from the air at its roots in symbiosis with nodule bacteria and converting it into plant-available soil nitrogen. The pea is an annual, herbaceous, deep-rooted plant. The bluish-green stems are horizontal-growing or climbing and grow to a height of half a meter to two meters. The leaves have one to three pairs of ‘leaflets’ and branched leaf tendrils. The inflorescence is one to three-flowered with white, pale lilac to dark purple flowers. The fruits, i.e. the pods, are three to twelve centimetres long and, depending on the variety, yellow or brownish, or, very rarely, black. They contain four to ten seeds, which, like the plant, are called peas. Peas can either be eaten as dried green peas after cooking, or as vegetables when eaten before drying. For this, the peas are harvested when they have reached their size but are still green and tender. In the case of dry peas, the seeds are harvested when ripe. They belong to the legume family.

The pea grows best on loamy soil with sufficient humus and lime and needs a balanced water supply and good aeration. It can be found up to 67° north latitude and up to 2000 meters above sea level in the Alps. However, the plant is sensitive to frost and grows best between 10°C and 20°C. A growth cycle takes between 65 and 100 days for green peas, while dried peas take around 20 days longer. Cultivation breaks of six to eight years should be observed on land planted with peas, as the pea has a strong intolerance to itself. Suitable rotation crops during the breaks include alfalfa, potato and sugar beet.

One of the oldest cultivated plants of mankind

Peas are one of the oldest cultivated plants known to mankind. They were cultivated in Anatolia (known as Asia Minor) over 10,000 years ago. The first evidence of peas come from Iraq and Syria, followed by Anatolia and the Jordan Valley. From 7000 BC onwards, evidence of peas was found in the Aegean, Cyprus and Bulgaria. Peas are also found together with lentils and other crops in Stone Age agricultural excavations from around 4800 BC. The first mention of peas used as offerings to the dead comes from Egypt in the 19th century BC. In Central Europe, peas were later also seen as a fertility booster. In the Bronze Age, the pea spread throughout Europe and the grain size also increased considerably: from 2.5 mm to around 6.1 mm. The Romans liked to eat the fresh pea as a puree and Charlemagne’s records (around 800 AD) show that peas were cultivated on a large scale in Central Europe alongside field beans.

Up until the 17th century, peas were used as a dried vegetable and mostly eaten as a puree. It was only around this time that varieties were bred that could be eaten unripe and green or as sugar peas with the pod. For a long time, dried peas were used almost exclusively in India and oriental countries, but are now becoming increasingly popular in Europe thanks to their high protein and fiber content.

According to the FAO, around 13.8 million tons of dried peas and 21.5 million tons of green peas were grown worldwide in 2020. The main countries of cultivation for green peas are China, India and Pakistan, and for dry peas Russia, Canada and China.

One of the oldest cultivated plants of mankind

Peas are one of the oldest cultivated plants known to mankind. They were cultivated in Anatolia (known as Asia Minor) over 10,000 years ago. The first evidence of peas come from Iraq and Syria, followed by Anatolia and the Jordan Valley. From 7000 BC onwards, evidence of peas was found in the Aegean, Cyprus and Bulgaria. Peas are also found together with lentils and other crops in Stone Age agricultural excavations from around 4800 BC. The first mention of peas used as offerings to the dead comes from Egypt in the 19th century BC. In Central Europe, peas were later also seen as a fertility booster. In the Bronze Age, the pea spread throughout Europe and the grain size also increased considerably: from 2.5 mm to around 6.1 mm. The Romans liked to eat the fresh pea as a puree and Charlemagne’s records (around 800 AD) show that peas were cultivated on a large scale in Central Europe alongside field beans.

Up until the 17th century, peas were used as a dried vegetable and mostly eaten as a puree. It was only around this time that varieties were bred that could be eaten unripe and green or as sugar peas with the pod. For a long time, dried peas were used almost exclusively in India and oriental countries, but are now becoming increasingly popular in Europe thanks to their high protein and fiber content.

Small miracle balls

Green peas are mostly used as a vegetable side dish, while dried peas are also eaten as a staple food, depending on the country. The green fruits are not yet ripe and are therefore sweet and tender. They contain around 5 percent protein and around 10 percent carbohydrates. Dried peas are dried legumes and consist of around 20 percent protein and 50 percent carbohydrates. They also contain numerous vitamins and minerals and a special combination of amino acids, which are important for building muscle, producing hormones and transporting oxygen in the blood.

Fresh peas are easier to digest, juicier and lower in calories, but they also spoil quickly and only have a short season. They are therefore usually preserved and sold as frozen or canned goods. In the freezer, you can usually find sweet marrowfat peas, which are blanched after harvesting and then deep-frozen to preserve their vitamins. Canned peas are usually paler peas, which – often with salt, sugar and flavoring – are cooked before bottling, which reduces the amount of nutrients as they are often sensitive to heat.

Peas support the general health and performance of the body, but can cause skin rashes or gout in sensitive people – the former is due to the salicylic acid they contain, the latter due to their high purine content. The phytoestrogens they also contain can also reduce the fertility of mammals, which is why they are also used by women in India to delay conception. As peas ripen in the pods, they are fortunately extremely low in nitrates and very rarely contaminated with air pollutants such as lead.

However, most of the dried peas are used in animal feed. Pea meal, waste from nutrient production in the form of pea feed and shells are fed as pea bran. Pea straw is also fed due to its high nutrient content. Peas are also used as green manure in fields and to produce green fodder.

A healthy diet with peas – we knew how to do it 6000 years ago!

A study conducted by Kiel University with researchers from Moldova and Ukraine shows the valuable contribution that pulses such as peas can make to a healthy, meat-reduced diet for the more than eight billion people on our planet. The first mega-metropolises emerged there around 6000 years ago.

For a long time, it was not clear how all these people fed themselves. It was obvious that they relied heavily on agriculture, even though the techniques of the time were relatively limited. The study found that they mainly ate pulses and cereals, i.e. mostly vegetarian to vegan. According to the study, meat could (or had to) be avoided for the most part – it only made up around 10 percent of the food web.

The results of isotope analyses showed that the peas had apparently been intensively fertilised to achieve high yields. The inhabitants’ food supply was based on extremely sophisticated food and pasture management. Most of the cattle and sheep were kept on fenced pastures near the houses, mainly as producers of fertiliser. Their manure could thus be easily collected and helped the pea plants in particular to grow better. Likewise, the animals could be fed with pea straw. This close link between crop cultivation and livestock farming apparently made it possible for the people of the mega-settlements to largely dispense with the labour-intensive and resource-consuming production of meat and still have enough food and healthy diet.