Editorial: Protein Crops: Food and Feed for the Future

Because of the protein content of their seeds, grain legumes, pseudocereals, and other crops are candidates to satisfy the growing demand for plant protein for food and feed. Crop production worldwide is highly specialized and currently relies on a very small number of species, raising questions about the sustainability of farming (Tilman et al., 2002). The role of legumes in nutrition has been recognized as a relevant source of plant protein together with other benefits for health. pigeon pea are currently the most important legumes for human consumption and animal feed (De Ron, 2015). The integration of legumes into agriculture could reduce the current protein deficit and contribute to the transition to more sustainable agricultural systems. Legumes contribute to the sustainable improvement of the environment due to their ability to fix nitrogen and their beneficial effects on the soil (Drevon et al., 2015), having a tremendous potential in the reclamation of poor and marginal lands for agriculture (Coba de la Pea and Pueyo, 2012). Other protein crops include some minor crops, such as flax, hemp, or caraway, and some cereals have a certain potential, for they are quite abundant in food and feed. However, most importantly, chenopods called pseudocereals, such as amaranth and quinoa are recognized as excellent sources of protein and their seeds contain in particular the lysine, an essential amino acid that is limited in cereals. Nutritional evaluations of quinoa indicate that it constitutes a source of complete protein with a good balance of all of the amino acids needed for human diet, and also important minerals, vitamins, high quality oils, and flavonoids. In this Research Topic (Protein crops: Food and feed for the future), were included papers dealing with different aspects of protein crops, such as breeding and selection of varieties for high yield or specific traits, biodiversity, sustainable cultivation, food and feed uses, nutritional value, health benefits, and socioeconomic or environmental issues, which may be considered crucial to help provide the plant proteins of the future. A novel assessment framework was developed by Reckling et al. and applied in five case study regions across Europe with the objective of evaluating trade-offs between economic and environmental effects of integrating legumes into cropping systems. Cropping systems with legumes significantly reduced nitrous oxide emissions and N fertilizer use in arable and forage systems. However, grain legumes reduced gross margins in 3 of 5 regions, while forage legumes