Using Mucuna (Velvet beans) as food

Plants Underutilized Plants
#1

Jack beans are being used by poor subsistence farmers in Uganda and Kenya to re-fertilise their soil. Many are also cooking and eating them.
However Jack beans are not found in some SSA countries and Mucuna may be a good alternative.
So far we have not found clear instruction on how they should be cooked.
Can anyone please clarify the requirements?

#2

There is some info here (as tons of other info on other plants as well):

http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Mucuna+pruriens+utilis

#3

I also found this here on ECHO:

#4

These more recent investigations might be helpful :

#5

Has anyone tried caustic processing similar to what is used to make lye hominy from maize? A pound( 1/2kg) of wood ash in a cotton sack boiled in a 10 qt/L porcelain glazed pot is how my family made a batch. I do not remember the amount of maize but it expands hugely as it turns to hominy. We took care not to breath the fumes and avoid contact with the caustic liquid. Also, has anyone tried soaking and pickling velvet beans? I wonder if the lacto bacteria could break down the l-dopa.

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