| Bitter vetch | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Tribe: | Fabeae |
| Genus: | Vicia |
| Species: | V. ervilia |
| Binomial name | |
| Vicia ervilia (L.) Willd. | |
Vicia ervilia, calledervil[1] orbitter vetch, is anancient legume crop of theMediterranean region. Besides the English names, other common names include:gavdaneh (Persian),kersannah (Arabic),yero (Spanish),rovi (Greek), andburçak (Turkish).[2]The nutritional value of the grain forruminant cattle has guaranteed the species' continued cultivation inMorocco, Spain andTurkey. The crop is easy to cultivate and harvest and can be grown on very shallow,alkaline soils.
The grain when split resembles redlentils. For human consumption the bitterness of the seeds needs to be removed through leaching by several changes of boiling water. Owing to this bitterness, it is unlikely that someone would accidentally confuse bitter vetch with red lentils.[3] According toZohary and Hopf, this crop is consumed only by the poorest people or in times offamine.[4]Pliny the Elder states that bitter vetch (ervum) has medicinal value likevetch (vicia), citing the letters ofAugustus where theemperor wrote that he regained his health from a diet of bitter vetch (N.H. 18.38).
The grain is an excellent sheep and cattle feed concentrate. It has been held in high esteem by farmers in the Old World since the beginning of agriculture to improve the nutritional value of bulk feeds.[3]
The wild strains of bitter vetch are limited to an area that includesAnatolia and northernIraq, with an extension south along theAnti-Lebanon Mountains ofSyria andLebanon. Traces of the earliest domesticated instances were recovered from several archeological sites inTurkey, with an uncorrectedradiocarbon dating of the 7th and 6th millennia BC.[4] The plant is linked with theTalmudicborit karshina, a plant listed in the second century as an ingredient in theincense offerings employed in theTabernacle and theFirst andSecondTemples in Jerusalem.[5]