CLUSTERBEANS <i>Cyamopsis tetragonolоba</i> (L.) Taub. - PROPERTIES, USE, PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES AND EXPECTED INTRODUCTION IN RUSSIA
Clusterbeans Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub. is annual leguminous plant of multipurpose use. In India it is known as a forage crop, green mass serves for animal feeding and as a green manure (K.V. Muradov, 1973). Young green pods are used as vegetable, and many vegetable guar varieties are cultivated (N.K. Dwivedi, 2009). Guar meal (husk and germ) is a high-protein ingredient for feeding cattle, broilers and fish, its antidigestive factors can be reduced by temperature treating and adding enzymes (M. Hussain et al., 2012). Guar powder Churi 40 contains about 40 % of protein, granular guar fodders Korma 50 and Korma 60 contain 50 and 60 % of protein. Guar gum extracted from endosperm of guar seeds is used widely in food, textile, paper, cosmetic and oil industries for its ability to emulsify and thicken liquids (D. Mugdil et al., 2014). The demand in guar gum is increasing in domestic and world markets. Plant genetic diversity of the crop is allocated mainly to India where guar had been growing from ancient times. In USA guar breeding has succeeded with improved varieties (W. Liu, 2003). Guar collection founded in the Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR), Russia, by N.I. Vavilov lists more than 100 accessions. Germination of guar seeds from VIR collection after 40-year storage even at the room temperature remained high. The research data and the practice of guar growing in Russia testify that the crop could be successfully cultivated in the southern regions. Here, the main desired traits of the guar are short time for crop maturation and high gum viscosity.