A review with 88 references exclusively of the author and of him and his collaborators. The legumes studied are Arachis hypogaea, peanut; Vicia faba, broad bean; Pisum sativum var, arvense, smooth pea; Phaseolus vulagris, kidney bean; Vigna radiata, mung bean; V. angularis, adzuki bean; V. unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis, asparagus bean; Dolichos lablab, hyacinth bean; Canavalia gladiata, sword bean; Glycine max, soybean; and Stizolobium hassjoo, Yokohama bean. Special attention was paid to the starches and non-starchy polysaccharides, especially hemicelluloses of soybeans and broad beans. Also studied were the oligosaccharides of legumes, i. e. sucrose, raffinose, stachyose, verbascose, and ajugose. D-Pinitol was isolated from soybeans and was fully identified.