Legumes, also known as pulses, the protein rich crops hold a great promise in fulfilling the protein requirements of human diets. They have found an extremely wide area of utilization in human foods, industrial application and also in animal feeds. Legumes also play an essential role in any crop production programme as they enrich the soil by fixing the atmospheric nitrogen through bacterial association with plant roots and maintaining the fertility of the soil without extraneous manuring. Besides, legumes are extensively cultivated and used as staple food. They are rich in high quality protein and well supplied with phosphorus, the essential element for human growth, these qualities make legumes one of the man’s best food and almost indispensable for efficient economical human and livestock feeding, the extent of the importance of the legumes is evident by the fact that recently the National Academy of science, Washington, brought out a book on tropical legumes describing legumes as resources for the future. similarly, the united Nation has a separate “cell protein Advisory Group” which coordinates and disseminates scientific knowledge in this area.