| Phaseolus vulgaris | |
|---|---|
| A variety of the common bean with flat pods | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Genus: | Phaseolus |
| Species: | P. vulgaris |
| Binomial name | |
| Phaseolus vulgaris L. |
|
Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean, is an herbaceous annual plant domesticated independently in ancient Mesoamerica and the Andes, and now grown worldwide for its edible bean, popular both dry and as a green bean. The leaf is occasionally used as a leaf vegetable, and the straw is used for fodder. Beans, squash and maize constituted the "Three Sisters" that provided the foundation of Native American agriculture.
Botanically, the common bean is classified as a dicotyledon. Beans are a legume and thus acquire their nitrogen through an association with rhizobia, a species of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. 18.3 million tonnes of dry common beans and 6.6 million tonnes of green beans were grown worldwide in 2007.[1]
The other major type of bean is the broad bean (Vicia faba), of which only 3.7 million tonnes were grown in 2007. The commercial production of beans is well-distributed worldwide with countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, South and North America all among the top bean growers. Brazil and India are the largest producers of dry beans while China produces, by far, the largest quantity of green beans, almost as much as the rest of the top ten growers combined.[1]
Contents |
| Top Ten Dry Bean Producers (million metric ton), 2007 |
|
|---|---|
| Brazil | 3.2 |
| India | 3.0 |
| Myanmar | 1.7 |
| China | 1.2 |
| United States | 1.1 |
| Mexico | 0.9 |
| Tanzania | 0.5 |
| Kenya | 0.4 |
| Argentina | 0.4 |
| Uganda | 0.3 |
| World Total | 18.3 |
| Source: FAO, FAOSTAT | |
| Top Ten Green Bean Producers (million metric ton), 2007 |
|
|---|---|
| China | 2.47 |
| Indonesia | 0.87 |
| Turkey | 0.52 |
| India | 0.42 |
| Spain | 0.22 |
| Egypt | 0.22 |
| Italy | 0.19 |
| Morocco | 0.18 |
| United States | 0.12 |
| Belgium | 0.11 |
| World Total | 6.61 |
| Source: FAO, FAOSTAT | |
The common bean is a highly variable species with a long history. Bush varieties form erect bushes 20–60 centimeters (7.9–24 in) tall, while pole or running varieties form vines 2–3 meters (6 ft 7 in–9 ft 10 in) long. All varieties bear alternate, green or purple leaves, divided into three oval, smooth-edged leaflets, each 6–15 centimeters (2.4–5.9 in) long and 3–11 centimeters (1.2–4.3 in) wide. The white, pink, or purple flowers are about 1 cm long, and give way to pods 8–20 centimeters (3.1–7.9 in) long, 1–1.5 cm wide, green, yellow, black or purple in color, each containing 4–6 beans. The beans are smooth, plump, kidney-shaped, up to 1.5 cm long, range widely in color, and are often mottled in two or more colors.
Similar to other beans, the common bean is high in starch, protein and dietary fiber and is an excellent source of iron, potassium, selenium, molybdenum, thiamine, vitamin B6, and folic acid.
Dry beans will keep indefinitely if stored in a cool, dry place, but as time passes, their nutritive value and flavor degrade and cooking times lengthen. Dried beans are almost always cooked by boiling, often after having been soaked for several hours. While the soaking is not strictly necessary, it shortens cooking time and results in more evenly textured beans. In addition, discarding one or more batches of soaking water leaches out hard-to-digest complex sugars that can cause flatulence, though those who eat beans regularly rarely have difficulties with flatulence as intestinal microbes adjust. There are several methods including overnight soaking, and the power soak method, which is to boil beans for three minutes, then set them aside for 2–4 hours, then drain and discard the water and proceed with cooking. Common beans take longer to cook than most pulses: cooking times vary from one to four hours but are substantially reduced with pressure cooking.
In Mexico, Central America and South America, the traditional spice to use with beans is epazote, which is also said to aid digestion. In East Asia a type of seaweed, Kombu, is added to beans as they cook for the same purpose. Salt, sugar, and acidic foods like tomatoes may harden uncooked beans resulting in seasoned beans at the expense of slightly longer cooking times.
Dry beans may also be bought pre-cooked and canned as refried beans, or whole with water, salt, and sometimes sugar.
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 129 kJ (31 kcal) |
| Carbohydrates | 7 g |
| - Sugars | 1.4 g |
| - Dietary fiber | 3.4 g |
| Fat | 0.1 g |
| Protein | 1.8 g |
| Vitamin A equiv. | 35 μg (4%) |
| Vitamin C | 16 mg (19%) |
| Calcium | 37 mg (4%) |
| Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database |
|
There are three commonly known types of green beans: string or runner beans, stringless or French beans (depending on whether the pod has a tough, fibrous "string" running along its length), and snap beans, which may be round or have a thin flat pod that requires less cooking time. Compared to the dry beans, they provide less starch and protein, and more vitamin A and vitamin C. The green beans are often steamed, boiled, stir-fried, or baked in casseroles.
Shell, shelled, or shelling beans are beans removed from their pods before being cooked or dried. Common beans can be used as shell beans, but the term also refers to other species of beans whose pods are not typically eaten, such as lima beans, soybeans, peas, and fava beans. Fresh shell beans are nutritionally similar to dry beans but are prepared more like a vegetable, often being steamed, fried, or made into soups.
The nuña is an Andean subspecies, Phaseolus vulgaris subsp. nunas (formerly Phaseolus vulgaris (Nuñas Group)), with round multicolored seeds that resemble pigeon eggs. When cooked on high heat, the bean explodes, exposing the inner part, in the manner of popcorn and other puffed grains.
The toxic compound phytohaemagglutinin, a lectin, is present in many common bean varieties but is especially concentrated in red kidney beans. White kidney beans contain about a third as much toxin as the red variety; broad beans (Vicia faba) contain 5 to 10% as much as red kidney beans.[2]
Phytohaemagglutinin can be deactivated by boiling beans for ten minutes; the ten minutes at boiling point (100 °C (212 °F)) are sufficient to degrade the toxin, but not to cook the beans. For dry beans the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also recommends an initial soak of at least 5 hours in water, which should then be discarded.[2]
If the beans are cooked at a temperature below boiling (without a preliminary boil), as in a slow cooker, the toxic effect of haemagglutinin is increased: beans cooked at 80 °C (176 °F) are reported to be up five times as toxic as raw beans.[2] Outbreaks of poisoning have been associated with cooking kidney beans in slow cookers. [2]
The primary symptoms of phytohaemagglutinin poisoning are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Onset is from 1 to 3 hours after consumption of improperly prepared beans, and symptoms typically resolve within a few hours.[2] Consumption of as few as four or five raw, soaked kidney beans can cause symptoms.[2]
Beans are high in purines, which are metabolized to uric acid. Uric acid is not a toxin as such, but may promote the development or exacerbation of gout. For this reason, persons with gout are often advised to limit their consumption of beans.[3] Uric acid is an important antioxidant in humans and, according to cohort studies, might be neuroprotective in cases of multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.
Many well-known bean varieties belong to this species, and none of the lists below are in any way exhaustive. Both bush and running (pole) varieties exist. The colors and shapes of pods and seeds vary tremendously.
The Aztec bean, also known as [New Mexico] cave bean, New Mexico Appaloosa bean, and Jacob's Cattle[4], is a mottled red and white bean native to the North American Southwest, said to have been cultivated from 1,500-year-old beans found in a cave in New Mexico, USA. This bean is also available under the trademark Anasazi Bean.
The small, shiny black turtle bean is especially popular in Latin American cuisine, though it can also be found in Cajun and Creole cuisines of south Louisiana. It is often called simply the black bean (frijol negro, zaragoza, poroto negro, caraota o habichuela negra in Spanish, feijão preto in Portuguese), although this can cause confusion with other black beans.
The black turtle bean has a dense, meaty texture, which makes it popular in vegetarian dishes, such as the Mexican-American black bean burrito. It is a very popular bean in various regions of Brazil, and is used in the national dish, feijoada. It is also a main ingredient of Moros y Cristianos in Cuba, is a must-have in the typical gallo pinto of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, is a fundamental part of pabellón criollo in Venezuela, and is served in almost all of Latin America, as well as many Hispanic enclaves in the United States. The black turtle bean is also popular for making into soups. In Cuba, black bean soup is a traditional dish and it is served with white rice.
It is also common to keep the boiled water of these beans (which acquires a black coloring) and consume it as a soup with other ingredients for seasoning (known as sopa negra, black soup), as a broth (caldo de frijol, bean broth) or to season or color other dishes (aforementioned gallo pinto, for example).
Samples of black turtle beans were reported in 2006 to contain total anthocyanins in their dried seed coats of 0−2.78 mg/g.[5]
Black turtle bean varieties include:
Cranberry beans originated in Colombia as the cargamanto.[6] The bean is a medium-large, tan or hazelnut-colored bean, splashed with red/black to magenta streaks. A new cranberry bean variety, Crimson, is light tan and speckled maroon, and is also resistant to viruses and has a high yield.[7]
Borlotti beans, also known as Roman beans or romano beans (not to be confused with Italian flat beans, a green bean also called "romano bean"), are a variety of cranberry bean bred in Italy to have a thicker skin. They are much used in Italian, Portuguese and Greek cuisine.
Pinto beans look the same as cranberry and borlotti beans, but differ in taste.
Pink beans are small, oval-shaped beans, pale pink in color, also known by the Spanish name habichuelas rosadas.[8] The Santa Maria pinquito (spanglish = pink and small(ito)), is commercially grown on the mesas above Santa Maria, California, and is a necessary ingredient in Santa Maria Style BBQ.
The pinto bean (Spanish: frijol pinto, literally "speckled bean"; Portuguese: feijão carioca, literally "carioca bean") is named for its mottled skin (compare pinto horse), hence it is a type of mottled bean. It is the most common bean in the United States[9] and northwestern Mexico,[10] and is most often eaten whole in broth or mashed and refried. Either whole or mashed, it is a common filling for burritos. The young pods may also be harvested and cooked as green pinto beans.
This is the bean most commonly used for refried beans (fresh or canned) and in many dishes. Rice and pinto beans served with cornbread or corn tortillas are often a staple meal where meat is unavailable; the amino acids in this combination make it a complete protein source. This variety is often used in chili con carne, although the kidney bean, black bean, and many others may also be used in other locales (see below).
Pinto beans rank probably second or third as the most commonly eaten beans in Brazil (and first in São Paulo), after the black bean used for feijoada and widely present in Brazilian tables (legumes, mainly common bean, are a staple food everywhere in the country, cultivated since 3000BCE, along with starch-rich food such as rice as well manioc, pasta and other wheat-based products, polenta and other corn-based products, potato and yams). There, it is called feijão carioca, probably due to its color which resemble the skin phenotype of some suntanned white people, mildly swarthy and freckled, as many White Brazilians from Rio de Janeiro — other ways Brazilians use to call common bean varieties are feijão preto, feijão mulato and feijão branco, literally black, mulatto and white beans then open to comparisons with human "races" and phenotypes (nevertheless, the newly introduced or recently rediscovered red beans are called feijão vermelho in Portuguese as literal translation from English, and Brazilians are not used to yellow beans so far).
In the southeastern part of the United States, pinto beans were once a staple of the people, especially during the winter months. Some churches in rural areas still sponsor "pinto bean suppers" for social gatherings and fund raisers.
The alubia pinta alavesa, or the "Alavese pinto bean", is a red variety of the pinto bean that originated in Añana,[11] a town and municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country of northern Spain. In October, the Feria de la alubia pinta alavesa (Alavese pinto bean fair) is celebrated in Pobes.[12]
Pinto bean varieties include:
Studies have indicated pinto beans can help reduce cholesterol levels.[13][14]
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 1,393 kJ (333 kcal) |
| Carbohydrates | 60 g |
| - Sugars | 2 g |
| - Dietary fiber | 15 g |
| Fat | 1 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Water | 12 g |
| Pantothenic acid (B5) | 0.8 mg (16%) |
| Folate (vit. B9) | 394 μg (99%) |
| Calcium | 143 mg (14%) |
| Iron | 8 mg (62%) |
| Magnesium | 140 mg (39%) |
| Potassium | 1406 mg (30%) |
| Zinc | 3 mg (32%) |
| Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database |
|
The kidney bean, otherwise called the chili bean, with its dark red skin, is named for its visual resemblance in shape and colour to a kidney. Kidney beans are also known as red beans, although this can confuse it with other beans that are red, such as azuki beans. Red kidney beans (rājmā in Hindi and Punjabi) are an integral part of the cuisine in northern region of India. Red kidney beans are used in New Orleans and much of southern Louisiana for the classic Monday Creole dish of red beans and rice. The smaller, darker red beans are also used, particularly in Louisiana families with a recent Caribbean heritage. They are a common ingredient in chili con carne. Small kidney beans used in La Rioja, Spain, are called caparrones.
Kidney beans, and some others, are toxic if not heated at boiling point for at least 10 minutes.
Many beans are eaten without their pods.
The light green flageolet bean is often eaten in France. The Chevrier variety has been submitted for the French "Label Rouge" controlled label, similar to "Appellation d'origine controllée". A number of other beans are already produced under this label.
Flageolet bean varieties include:
The small, white navy bean, also called pea bean or haricot, is particularly popular in the United Kingdom and the US, featured in such dishes as baked beans and even pies, as well as in various soups such as Senate bean soup.[15] Consumption of baked beans has been shown to lower total cholesterol levels and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.[16][17] This might be at least partly explained by high saponin content of navy bean. Saponins also exhibit antibacterial and anti-fungal activity, and have been found to inhibit cancer cell growth.[18] Furthermore, navy bean is the richest source of ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid among the common bean varieties.[19]
In Costa Rican cuisine, white beans are exclusively used in dishes containing pork meat.
Navy bean varieties include:
Other white beans include cannellini, a popular variety in Central and Southern Italy, which is related to the kidney bean, and like the kidney bean, it has higher levels of the toxin lectin (phytohaemagglutinin). Two notable Greek types of giant white beans exist, the gígantes (Greek: γίγαντες, giants) and the eléfantes (ελέφαντες, elephants), which are more than twice as big as regular beans, taste slightly sweeter, and are favored for baking. These beans are white types of the runner bean. They are produced in a specific part of northern Greece (protected label), but can be found throughout the country.
Sinaloa Azufrado, Sulphur, Mayocoba, and Peruano (also called canary) are types of yellow beans.
Peruano beans (also called canary or mayacoba beans) are small, oval, yellow-colored beans about 1/2 inch (1 cm) long with a thin skin. Peruano beans have a creamy texture when cooked, and are one of the top-selling beans in Mexico City since 2005 (being native to Mexico, despite the name). However, yellow beans are uncommon in the United States due to a controversial patent issued in 1999 to John Proctor, who selected and named a strain of yellow bean from seeds he brought back from Mexico. U.S. Patent No. 5,894,079 (the Enola or yellow bean patent) granted POD-NERS, LLC., exclusive right to import and sell yellow beans in the United States from 1999 through 2008, when the patent was rejected after reexamination.[20][21]