Legumes are valued worldwide as a sustainable and inexpensive meat alternative and are considered the second most important food source after cereals. Legumes are nutritionally valuable, providing proteins (20-45%) with essential amino acids, complex carbohydrates (±60%) and dietary fibre (5-37%). Legumes also have no cholesterol and are generally low in fat, with ±5% energy from fat, with the exception of peanuts (±45%), chickpeas (±15%) and soybeans (±47%) and provide essential minerals and vitamins. In addition to their nutritional superiority, legumes have also been ascribed economical, cultural, physiological and medicinal roles owing to their possession of beneficial bioactive compounds. Research has shown that most of the bioactive compounds in legumes possess antioxidant properties, which play a role in the prevention of some cancers, heart diseases, osteoporosis and other degenerative diseases. Because of their composition, legumes are attractive to health conscious consumers, celiac and diabetic patients as well as consumers concerned with weight management. The incorporation of legumes in diets, especially in developing countries, could play a major role in eradicating proteinenergy malnutrition especially in developing Afro-Asian countries. Legumes could be a base for the development of many functional foods to promote human health.