Authors
Xuexiang Chen, Zejuan Sun, Shuhan Zhang, Gyoung-Ah Lee, Hiroo Nasu, Fei Zhang, Haohong Cai, Xu Liu, Jixi Gao, Chao Zhu, Jianfeng Lang, Zhijun Zhao, Xinyi Liu
Published in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Volume 122. Issue 39. Pages e2510835122. Sep 30, 2025. Epub Sep 22, 2025.
Abstract
Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis) is a key legume widely cultivated in East Asia, prized for both its nutritional value and nitrogen-fixing properties. This paper presents one of the oldest directly dated archaeological finds of adzuki bean, recovered from the Xiaogao site in Shandong, China, and dated to 8985-8645 and 8032-7939 cal. BP-predating previously known Chinese records by at least 4,000 y (approximately 6,000 y considering published directly dated evidence alone). The evidence suggests that adzuki beans formed part of an Early Neolithic multicropping system alongside millet, rice, and soybean in a well-established agricultural tradition in the Lower Yellow River region. Morphometric analysis of adzuki beans from 41 archaeological sites across East Asia reveals a gradual increase in seed size over time when regional data are aggregated, yet highlights distinct regional trajectories. These patterns reflect complex, multiregional domestication processes shaped by both cultural practices and ecological conditions. Notably, the marked differences in bean sizes observed between the Neolithic Yellow River and Jomon-period Japan could be contingent on the distinctions in dietary regimes and associated selective pressures.
PMID:
40982682
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Sep 2025.
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