broad bean
Sign in to savespecies of plant, vegetable
AI overview
A broad bean is a large legume vegetable that has been cultivated for thousands of years across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It matters as a nutritious food source rich in protein and fiber, and as an important crop for both human consumption and soil improvement in agriculture.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Subclass of
- herbaceous plant
- Parent taxon
- Vicia
- Image
- Tuinboon bontbloeiend.jpg
Show 5 more facts
Article
Vicia faba, commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieties with smaller, harder seeds that are fed to horses or other animals are called field bean, tic bean or tick bean. This legume is commonly consumed in many national and regional cuisines.
Some people have favism, a hemolytic response to the consumption of broad beans, a condition linked to a metabolic disorder known as G6PDD. Otherwise the beans, with the outer seed coat removed, can be eaten raw or cooked. With young seed pods, the outer seed coat can be eaten, and in very young pods, the entire seed pod can be eaten.