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Vegetable Legumes

Immature legume pods and green seed are used as vegetables. Green pods contain good quantities of fiber and most nutrients, especially protein, vitamins and minerals, but minimal oil and carbohydrates. Immature seed contains similar nutrients to mature seed but are higher in vitamins A and C and are easier to digest. A few leguminous vegetables contain toxic substances. All should be cooked before consuming. They can be adequately prepared by boiling 20 minutes.

  1. Hopi Red Lima Phaseolus lunatus

    Hopi Red Lima

    The Hopi Red Lima is believed to have originated in Mexico and south-western areas of the United States and was stewarded by the Hopi Native Americans. The vines produce small pods that contain red lima bean seeds.

  2. Winged Bean Psophocarpus tetragonolobus

    Winged Bean, Asparagus Pea, Goa Bean, Four Angled Bean, Manila Bean, Kok Tau, Haricot Dragon

    Winged bean is a climbing, nitrogen-fixing,short-lived perennial vineusually grown as an annual. The pods, beans, leaves, tubers, and flowers of this plant are all edible. It thrives in hot, humid areas where other beans are more likely to succumb to plant diseases.

  3. Grain Soybean Glycine max

    Grain Soybean, Soyabean, Shoyu, Soybean

    Soybean is an annual, nitrogen-fixing, nutritious, bean crop grown mainly as a pulse and for oil used for human consumption and many industrial uses. It is a very day length sensitive crop with varieties developed for many different latitudes. Soybeans are also used a fresh vegetable. Soy sauce,...

  4. Yardlong Bean Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis

    Asparagus Bean, Yard Long Bean, Snake Bean, Dow Gauk

    Yardlong beans are an annual, vining or bushy, subspecies of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) that produce elongated pods up to 1 m long. Green pods and seeds are eaten as a fresh vegetable and the plants are also used as fodder, green manure, or cover crop.

  5. Adzuki Bean Vigna angularis

    Adzuki Bean, Azuki Bean

    Adzuki bean is a bushingor vining, nitrogen-fixingannual plant that is moderately drought tolerant. This bean grows best in temperate climates or higher altitudes in the tropics. The young pods, fresh seeds, and dry beans are used for human consumption.

  6. Vegetable Soybean Glycine max

    Vegetable Soybean, Soya, Edamame

    Vegetable Soybean cultivation probably originated in northeastern China, a region where wild soybeans exist. These high protein beans are best known as pulses and oilseeds.

  7. True Red Cranberry Bean Phaseolus vulgaris

    Shell Bean, Shellouts, Borlotti, French Horticultural Bean

    The True RedCranberry Bean is deep red in color like a cranberry but the pod is ivory with red flecks. It is a pole bean that blossoms and sets pods over the course of a growing season. Beans from this species serve as a major protein source for humans. Cranberry Bean was first grown in South...

  8. Common Bean Phaseolus vulgaris

    Common bean, garden bean, green bean, pole bean, kidney bean

    Phaseolus vulgaris is a vining (indeterminate) or bush-type (pseudo-determinate) herbaceous annual. Vining types are perennial and reach 2-5 m in length. Bush-types are annuals and reach heights of 20-60 cm. Pubescent leaves are trifoliate, present alternately on the stem, and range from green to...

  9. Lima Bean Phaseolus lunatus

    Lima Bean, Butter Bean, Sieva Bean, Haba Bean, Madagascar bean

    Phaseolus lunatus is a vining (indeterminate) or bush-type (pseudo-determinate) legume from Central and South America. Vining types are vigorous, perennial, and reach 2-6 m in length. Bush-type cultivars are annuals and reach heights of 0.25-1 m. Leaves are trifoliate, present alternately on the...

  10. Chickpea Cicer arietinum

    Chickpea, Garbanzo, Gram, Bengal Gram, Cece, Homos, Chana

    Chickpea is a very drought-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing, cool season crop that tolerates heat during fruiting and ripening. It is grown as a cool season annual in a broad belt through the Mediterranean region to the subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Europe, Central, and South America. The...

  11. Cowpea Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata

    Cowpea, Black Eyed Pea, Crowder

    Vigna unguiculata is a grain legume that originates in Africa. Attributes such as vine shape (climbing, prostrate, or semi-erect), seed color (shades of white, pink, brown, and black), and seed maturation time (60 to 240 days) vary with variety. Pods appear in V-shaped pairs.It is an important...

  12. Runner Bean Phaseolus coccineus

    Scarlet Runner Bean, runner bean

    Phaseolus coccineus is a perennialvining legume from the highlands of Central America. Due to its showy red flowers, P. coccineus is often grown as an ornamental, though nearly all parts of the plant are ediblegiven the appropriate preparations. A climbing vine, P. coccineus reaches heights of...

  13. Nuñas Phaseolus vulgaris

    Popping Beans, Nuñas

    From findings discovered in a cave in Peru, experts say that nuñas may have been available 11,000 years ago. This discovery indicates Nuñas were around well before the Incas, and perhaps before the common bean ('frijol', Spanish). Because of their age, Nuñas have been called "a kind of witness of...

  14. Seven Year Lima Phaseolus lunatus

    Seven Year Lima, Madagascar Bean, Painted Lady, Tropical Lima, Haricot De Madagascar

    A lima bean variety that originated in Central Americabut has been bred in parts of East Africa and South Africa and is commonly used as a cover crop. If grown along the ground, it produces a 60 cm high mat of foliage that smothers weeds. It can also be trellised for easier seed harvest. The...