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Faba bean

Vicia faba
Illustration Vicia faba1.jpg
Vicia faba plants in flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Tribe: Vicieae
Genus: Vicia
Species: V. faba
Binomial name
Vicia faba
L.
Synonyms

Faba sativa Moench.

Fava beans, mature seeds, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 1,425 kJ (341 kcal)
58.29 g
Dietary fiber 25 g
1.53 g
26.12 g
Vitamins
Thiamine (B1)
(48%)
0.555 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
(28%)
0.333 mg
Niacin (B3)
(19%)
2.832 mg
Vitamin B6
(28%)
0.366 mg
Folate (B9)
(106%)
423 μg
Vitamin C
(2%)
1.4 mg
Vitamin K
(9%)
9 μg
Minerals
Calcium
(10%)
103 mg
Iron
(52%)
6.7 mg
Magnesium
(54%)
192 mg
Manganese
(77%)
1.626 mg
Phosphorus
(60%)
421 mg
Potassium
(23%)
1062 mg
Sodium
(1%)
13 mg
Zinc
(33%)
3.14 mg

Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Faba sativa Moench.

Vicia faba, also known as the broad bean, fava bean, faba bean, field bean, bell bean, or tic bean, is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is native to North Africa southwest and south Asia, and extensively cultivated elsewhere. A variety Vicia faba var. equina Pers. – horse bean has been previously recognized.

It is a stiffly erect plant 0.5–1.8 m tall, with stout stems of a square cross-section. The leaves are 10–25 cm long, pinnate with 2–7 leaflets, and of a distinct glaucous grey-green color. Unlike most other vetches, the leaves do not have tendrils for climbing over other vegetation. The flowers are 1–2.5 cm long, with five petals, the standard petal white, the wing petals white with a black spot (true black, not deep purple or blue as is the case in many "black" colorings,) and the keel petals are white. Crimson-flowered broad beans also exist, which were recently saved from extinction. The flowers have a strong and sweet scent which is attractive to bees and other pollinators. The fruit is a broad, leathery pod, green maturing to blackish-brown, with a densely downy surface; in the wild species, the pods are 5–10 cm long and 1 cm diameter, but many modern cultivars developed for food use have pods 15–25 cm long and 2–3 cm thick. Each pod contains 3–8 seeds, round to oval and 5–10 mm diameter in the wild plant, usually flattened and up to 20–25 mm long, 15 mm broad and 5–10 mm thick in food cultivars. Vicia faba has a diploid (2n) chromosome number of 12 (six homologous pairs). Five pairs are acrocentric chromosomes and one pair is metacentric.

Broad beans have a long tradition of cultivation in Old World agriculture, being among the most ancient plants in cultivation and also among the easiest to grow. Along with lentils, peas, and chickpeas, they are believed to have become part of the eastern Mediterranean diet around 6000 BC or earlier. They are still often grown as a cover crop to prevent erosion, because they can overwinter and because as a legume, they fix nitrogen in the soil.


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