|Vicia faba plants in flower|
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 bean (Fabaceae) native to North Africa, southwest and south Asia, and extensively cultivated elsewhere. A variety is provisionally recognized:
- Vicia faba var. equina Pers. – horse bean
It is a rigid, erect plant 0.5–1.8 m tall, with stout stems with 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 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. These commonly cultivated plants can be attacked by fungal diseases, such as rust (Uromyces viciae-fabae) and chocolate spot (Botrytis fabae). They are also attacked by the black bean aphid (Aphis fabae).
The broad bean has high plant hardiness; it can withstand rough climates, and in this case, cold ones. Unlike most legumes, the broad bean can be grown in soils with high salinity, as well as in clay soil. However, it does prefer to grow in rich loams.
In much of the English-speaking world, the name "broad bean" is used for the large-seeded cultivars grown for human food, while horse bean and field bean refer to cultivars with smaller, harder seeds (more like the wild species) used for animal feed, though their stronger flavour is preferred in some human food recipes, such as falafel. The term fava bean (from the Italian fava, meaning "broad bean") is usually used in English-speaking countries such as the US, but the term broad bean is the most common name in the UK and Australia.
Culinary uses 
Broad beans are eaten while still young and tender, enabling harvesting to begin as early as the middle of spring for plants started under glass or overwintered in a protected location, but even the main crop sown in early spring will be ready from mid to late summer. Horse beans, left to mature fully, are usually harvested in the late autumn. The young leaves of the plant can also be eaten either raw or cooked like spinach.
Broad beans were one of the main foods in old Mediterranean Civilization above all for Old Romans and old Greek.
Preparing favas involves first removing the beans from their pods, then parboiling the beans to loosen their exterior coating, and removing that before cooking.
The beans can be fried, causing the skin to split open, and then salted and/or spiced to produce a savory, crunchy snack. These are popular in China, Malaysia, Colombia, Peru (habas saladas), Guatemala (habas), Mexico (habas con chile), Gilan (North of Iran) and Thailand (where their name means "open-mouth nut").
Broad bean purée with wild chicory is a typical Puglian dish in Italy.
In the Sichuan cuisine of China, broad beans are combined with soybeans and chili peppers to produce a spicy fermented bean paste called doubanjiang. Perhaps due to the bean's popularity in Sichuan cuisine, in addition to the regular Chinese term for "broad bean," they are also known as "Sichuan beans" (川豆) in Chinese.
In some Arab countries, the fava bean is used for a breakfast dish called ful medames.
Fava beans are common in Latin American cuisines, as well. In central Mexico, mashed fava beans are a common filling for many corn flour-based antojito snacks such as tlacoyos. In Colombia, they are most often used whole in vegetable soups. Dried and salted fava beans are a popular snack in many Latin countries.
In Portugal, a fava bean (usually referred to as fava in Portuguese) is included in the bolo-rei (king cake), a Christmas cake. Traditionally, the person who gets the fava has to buy the cake the following year.
In the Netherlands, they are traditionally eaten with fresh savory and some melted butter. When rubbed, the velvet insides of the pods are a folk remedy against warts.
Broad beans are widely cultivated in the Kech and Panjgur districts of Balochistan Province in Pakistan, and in the eastern province of Iran. In the Balochi language, they are called bakalaink, and baghalee in Persian.
Broad beans, or "Baghalee" (Persian: باقالی) are primarily cultivated in the central and north parts of Iran. The city of Kashan has the highest production of broad beans with high quality in terms of the taste, cooking periods and color. However, broad beans have a very short season (roughly two weeks.) The season is usually in the middle of spring. When people have access to fresh beans in season, they cook them in brine and then add vinegar and Heracleum persicum depending on taste. They also make an extra amount to dry to be used year round. The dried beans can be cooked with rice, which forms one of the most famous dishes in north of Iran (Gilan) called baghalee polo (Persian: باقالی پلو) which means rice with broad bean. In Iran broad beans are cooked, served with Golpar-origan and salt and sold on streets in the winter. This food is also available preserved in metal cans. Fava bean is one of the typical dishes of North of Iran (Gilan), specially in the village of Foshtom near Rasht. It is cooked with garlic, dill weed, olive oil and duck eggs. In the city of Rasht, it is cooked similarly but the duck eggs are replaced by chicken eggs, and olive oil is replaced by butter.
Fava beans (Arabic: فول – Ful) are a common staple food in the Egyptian diet, eaten by rich and poor alike. Egyptians eat fava beans in various ways: they may be shelled and then dried, bought dried and then cooked by adding water in very low heat for several hours, etc. They are the primary ingredient in Ta`meyyah (Arabic: طعميه) (Egyptian Arabic for falafel). However, the most popular way of preparing them in Egypt is by taking the mashed, cooked beans and adding oil, garlic, lemon, salt and cumin to them. The dish, known as ful medames, is traditionally eaten with bread and onions (generally at breakfast) and is considered the Egyptian national dish.
Broad beans (Greek: κουκιά, koukiá) are eaten in a stew combined with artichokes, while they are still fresh in their pods. Dried broad beans are eaten boiled, sometimes combined with garlic sauce (skordalia). In Crete, fresh broad beans are shelled and eaten as companion to tsikoudia, the local alcoholic drink. Favism is quite common in Greece because of malaria endemicity in previous centuries, and people afflicted by it do not eat broad beans.
The Greek word fáva (φάβα) does not refer to broad beans, but to the yellow split pea and also to the legume Lathyrus sativus, either of which are boiled with salt to the local variety of pease pudding, also called fáva. This creamy fáva is then served hot or cold, sprinkled with olive oil and garnished with a variety of condiments and seasonings such as diced onion, capers, parsley, pepper, lemon juice, etc.
Broad beans (Amharic: baqueella) are one of the most popular legumes in Ethiopia. They are tightly coupled with every aspect of Ethiopian life. They are mainly used as an alternative to peas to prepare a flour called shiro, which is used to make shiro wot (a stew almost ubiquitous in Ethiopian dishes). During the fasting period in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church tradition called filliseta (which is in August), two uncooked, spicy, vegetable dishes are made using broad beans. The first is elibet, a thin, white paste of broad bean flour mixed with pieces of onion, green pepper, garlic, and other spices based on personal taste. The second is silijou, a fermented, sour, spicy, thin, yellow paste of broad bean flour. Both are served with other stews and injera (a pancake-like bread) during lunch and dinner.
Baqueella nifro (boiled broad beans) are eaten as a snack during some holidays and during a time of mourning. Interestingly, this tradition goes well into religious holidays, too. On the Thursday before Good Friday, in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church tradition tselote hamus (the Prayer of Thursday), people eat a different kind of nifro called gulban. Gulban is made of peeled, half beans collected and well cooked with other grains such as wheat, peas and chickpeas. This is done to mourn the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Boq'ullit (boiled salted broad beans embryo) is one of the most favorite snacks in the evening, the common story-telling time in north and central Ethiopia. It is particularly a favorite for the story-teller (usually a society elder), as it is delicious, and easy to chew and swallow.
Ripe broad beans are eaten by passers-by. Besides that, they are one of the gift items from a countryside relative in a period close to the Ethiopian Epiphany.
In Nepal, fava beans are called bakulla. They are eaten as a green vegetable when the pods are young, generally stir-fried with garlic. When dried, fava beans are eaten roasted, or mixed with other legumes, such as moong beans, chick peas, and peas, and called qwati. The mixture, soaked and germinated, is cooked as soup and consumed with rice or beaten rice on day of Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi. The dry and stir-fried version of qwati is called biraula. The qwati soup is believed to reinvigorate the body affected by monsoon paddy season.
Fava beans (Colombia: Haba(s)) are a common food in most regions of Colombia, mostly in Bogota and boyaca.
Health issues 
Raw broad beans contain the alkaloids vicine, isouramil and covicine, which can induce hemolytic anemia in patients with the hereditary condition glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. This potentially fatal condition is called favism after the fava bean. Areas of origin of the bean correspond to malarial areas. Some epidemiological and in vitro studies suggest the hemolysis resulting from favism acts as protection from malaria, because certain species of malarial protozoa, such as Plasmodium falciparum, are very sensitive to oxidative damage due to deficiency of the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme, which would otherwise protect from oxidative damage via production of glutathione reductase.
Nutritional information 
|Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)|
|Energy||1,425 kJ (341 kcal)|
|- Dietary fiber||25 g|
|Thiamine (vit. B1)||0.555 mg (48%)|
|Riboflavin (vit. B2)||0.333 mg (28%)|
|Niacin (vit. B3)||2.832 mg (19%)|
|Vitamin B6||0.366 mg (28%)|
|Folate (vit. B9)||423 μg (106%)|
|Vitamin C||1.4 mg (2%)|
|Vitamin K||9 μg (9%)|
|Calcium||103 mg (10%)|
|Iron||6.7 mg (52%)|
|Magnesium||192 mg (54%)|
|Manganese||1.626 mg (77%)|
|Phosphorus||421 mg (60%)|
|Potassium||1062 mg (23%)|
|Sodium||13 mg (1%)|
|Zinc||3.14 mg (33%)|
|Link to USDA Database entry
Percentages are relative to
US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database
Other uses 
- In ancient Greece and Rome, beans were used in voting; a white bean was used to cast a yes vote, and a black bean for no. Even today, the word koukia (κουκιά) is used unofficially, referring to the votes. Beans were used as a food for the dead, such as during the annual Lemuria festival.
- The ancient Roman family name Fabia and the modern political term Fabian derive from this particular bean.
- The Pythagorean code prohibited the consumption or even touching of any sort of bean.
- In Ubykh culture, throwing beans on the ground and interpreting the pattern in which they fall was a common method of divination (favomancy), and the word for "bean-thrower" in that language has become a generic term for seers and soothsayers in general.
- The colloquial expression 'not worth a bean' alludes to their widespread economy and association with the peasant diet.
- In Italy, broad beans are traditionally sown on November 2, All Souls Day. Small cakes made in the shape of broad beans (though not out of them) are known as fave dei morti or "beans of the dead". According to tradition, Sicily once experienced a failure of all crops other than the beans; the beans kept the population from starvation, and thanks were given to Saint Joseph. Broad beans subsequently became traditional on Saint Joseph's Day altars in many Italian communities. Some people carry a broad bean for good luck; some believe that if one carries a broad bean, one will never be without the essentials of life. In Rome, on the first of May, Roman families traditionally eat fresh fava beans with Pecorino Romano cheese during a daily excursion in the Campagna. In northern Italy, on the contrary, fava beans are traditionally fed to animals and some people, especially the elderly, might frown on human consumption. But in Liguria, a maritime region near northern Italy, fava beans are loved raw, and consumed fresh in early spring as the first product of the garden, alone or with fresh Pecorino Sardo or with local salami from Sant'Olcese. In some Central Italian regions, a once-popular and recently rediscovered fancy food is the bagiana, a soup of fresh or dried fava beans seasoned with onions and beet leaves stir-fried, before being added to the soup, in olive oil and lard (or bacon or cured ham fat).
- In Portugal and Spain a Christmas cake called bolo Rei in Portuguese and roscón de reyes in Spanish (King's cake) is baked with a fava bean inside. Whoever eats the slice containing it, is supposed to buy next year's cake.
- A similar tradition exists in France, where the fève (originally a dried bean, but often now a small china or metal trinket) is placed in the galette des rois; the person who finds it in their slice becomes the king or queen of the meal, and is often expected to serve the other guests to drink.
- The Grimm Brothers collected a story in which a bean splits its sides laughing at the failure of others. Dreaming of a bean is sometimes said to be a sign of impending conflict, though others said they caused bad dreams.
- Pliny claimed they acted as a laxative.
- European folklore also claims that planting beans on Good Friday or during the night brings good luck.
- Frederick E Rose (London) Ltd v William H Pim Junior & Co Ltd  2 QB 450, is an English contract law case where the two litigants had both mistaken feveroles for ordinary horse beans.
See also 
- "Core Historical Literature of Agriculture". Chla.library.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
- "Daughter of the Soil". Daughter of the Soil. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
- Collar "Recipes from Luxembourg", Luxembourg Tourist Office, London. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
- Daniel K. Hall-Flavin, M.D. "MAOIs and diet: Is it necessary to restrict tyramine?". Mayo Clinic.
- Kathrynne Holden. "Fava Beans, Levodopa, and Parkinson's Disease".
- Russ Parsons. "The Long History of the Mysterious Fava Bean".
- Nelson, L. David; Cox, M. Michael. 2005. “Chapter 14- Glycolysis, Gluconeogenesis, and the Pentose Phosphate Pathway” in Principles of Biochemistry. Freeman, New York. p. 551.
- Vered, Y; Grosskopf, I; Palevitch, D; Harsat, A; Charach, G; Weintraub, MS; Graff, E (1997). "The influence of Vicia faba (broad bean) seedlings on urinary sodium excretion". Planta medica 63 (3): 237–40. doi:10.1055/s-2006-957661. PMID 9225606.
- The digestibility in piglets of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) as affected by breeding towards the absence of condensed tannins. A. F. B. Van Der Poela, L. M. W. Dellaerta, A. Van Norela and J. P. F. G. Helspera, British Journal of Nutrition (1992), Volume 68 – Issue 03, pp. 793–800, Cambridge University Press doi:10.1079/BJN19920134
- Qualitative analysis and HPLC isolation and identification of procyanidins from vicia faba. Rachid Merghem, Maurice Jay, Nathalie Brun and Bernard Voirin, Phytochemical Analysis, Volume 15, Issue 2, pages 95–99, March/April 2004 doi:10.1002/pca.731
- The polyphenolic content and enzyme inhibitory activity of testae from bean (Vicia faba) and pea (Pisum spp.) varieties. D. Wynne Griffiths, Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Volume 32, Issue 8, pages 797–804, August 1981, doi:10.1002/jsfa.2740320808
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vicia faba|
|Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on|
- Crop Wild Relatives Gap Analysis Portal reliable information source on where and what to conserve ex-situ, regarding Vicia genepool
- Fava beans and G6PD Deficiency information
- Vicia faba at Purdue University
- Alternative Field Crops Manual at Purdue University