Nowadays, beans are an attractive topic and they are the indispensable presences in cooking. Called the powerful food, beans with the simple words, they are the factors that make us to be confused easily with the complicated classification and the long story related to human life from the age to age.
Related to the interesting topic of beans, we have some details for reading in the previous parts of some bean species. And now you may look some last typical bean species such as Psophocarpus, Glycine, Arachis and Macuna.
-
Glycine
Glycine with Glycine max or soybean (native to East Asia) is the best known species and one of the most popular beans in the world. The countries where soybean is grown and used largely are China, Japan and Korea. These countries are the places where overvalue the importance of rice and beans. With a high content of nutrition (especially protein with 36% per 100g), cheap prize and numerous of usages, this species runs an important part in food for human and animal. In America, it’s even called golden bean or miracle bean. The mature soybean seed is hard and has a scar on the seed coat, this scar could be black, yellow, buff, grey or brown color. This bean product is varied, like oil, sauce, milk… and a familiar dish to Asian is tofu.
-
Arachis
This genus includes about 70 species of both annual and perennial plants. Among these, Acharis hypogaea or peanut is the most popular around the world. Peanut has the pod developed and ripen underground. Its bean contains a good source of essential nutrients like Vitamin B, E, protein and other minerals. This species is used widely as food for human, animal and in industrial use.
-
Mucuna
Known with Mucuna pruriens or velvet bean which is native to Africa and Asia and is considered as an important crop as forage, green manure and medicine. The most specification of this bean is that the hair which covers the pod could cause itch to the skin. The seed of this bean is shiny black or brown and also edible after cooked. It is said that velvet bean is one of the strange stories of beans because of feature in its cover.
-
Lens culinaris
Or called lentil species or well known with lentil which is one of the most popular beans in the world. Lentil appeared in the ancient time. It was mentioned in the Old Testament when Jacob brought his birthright from his older brother named Esau by a plate of lentil stew and some bread. This is one of the very interesting evident of lentil origin that all people who can remember. Lentil is still used widely today in the world. It is cultivated popularly in the subtropical and tropical regions.
Besides, there are genera which include thousand species of beans that are less popular, such as Lablab genus with lablab purpureus or hyacinth bean, Cyamopsis with cyamopsis tetragonoloba species or guar, Canavalia genus with canavalia ensuformis (jack bean) and canavalia gladiate (sword bean), Macrotyloma genus with Macrotyloma uniflorum species or hores gram, Lupinus lupin genus with lupines mutabilis (tarwi) and lupines albus (lupine bean).
Most of bean species need to be cooked before eating, and some of them could cause the allergy. However, bean commonly runs a very important part in our life. Its variety diversifies our food source and our food industry to both human and animal. And through some details related, you may know a little bit about the interesting of beans in our life. They are simple and complicated truly.
Related to the next part of bean types please go to:
Type of beans (part 4): pea group
Return to Type of beans – bean group (part 1): Vicia and Phaseolus species
Return to Type of beans – bean group (part 2): Vigna, Cicer and Psophocarpus species.
