Broad beans are the exemplary plants of the Legume family, giving the broad bean one of the first vegetables to arrive at the market and greengrocers as a harbinger of spring. The homeland of broad beans is Europe and Asia, and it is seen in old texts that they were grown in China about 5,000 years ago. Broad beans, which are also grown and consumed abundantly in our country, are annual herbaceous plants that can grow to 60-100 cm. They have a strong root structure that can go as deep as 1 m in the soil and a hollow trunk with a four-sided section.
Under suitable conditions, the plant increases its yield by forming several trunks at once and tillering. The broad bean plant has two types of leaves: The main leaves are green, oval-shaped and arranged opposite each other on a compound stem. The secondary whitish leaves are oval or spear-shaped and have toothed edges. They have black nectar glands on them.
The flowers of the plant, which have hermaphroditic characteristics, are white. However, reddish lines and purplish or black spots are seen on them. From these self-pollinating flowers, the fruits of the plant called pods or pods are formed. The pods are in various shades of green. A black cone is formed in the part close to the stem. This cone is different according to the pod varieties. The grains inside the pod (the seeds called pod kernels or the seeds of the plant) also vary in size, shape and number according to the pod varieties.
The grains are green when fresh. They turn brown when dry. Stale grains are very dark brown. They are consumed by making a dish with olive oil. Fresh broad beans are cooked with artichokes. A special dish called fava is made with dried or frozen broad beans, also cooked with olive oil.
NUTRITIONAL VALUES
The nutritional values of 100 g of broad beans are as follows: 45 calories; 5 g protein; 6 g carbohydrates: 0 cholesterol; 3 g fat; 1.5 g fiber: 22 mg phosphorus; 20 mg calcium; 0.4 mg iron; 85 mg sodium; 110 mg potassium; 150 IU vitamin A: 0.04 mg vitamin B1; 0.03 mg vitamin B2 and 4 mg vitamin C.
In 100 grams of dried broad beans, protein increases to 23 grams and carbohydrates to 42 grams. In addition, there are increases in carbohydrates and important substances such as lecithin and pectin.
BENEFITS TO OUR HEALTH
In addition to some important nutritional values seen above;
Like all legumes, it reduces the body's risk of developing cancer.
It reduces the bad cholesterol level in the body.
It regulates blood sugar with the insulin it contains.
It is good for those suffering from constipation due to the high amount of fiber it contains.
It also provides beneficial effects on hemorrhoids and other colon problems.
In order to benefit from all these beneficial effects on our health, it will be enough to include fresh broad beans or kidney beans in our diet and eat a cup of broad beans daily.
Caution: It can cause fava bean poisoning (favism) in people who are sensitive to this food. This sensitivity is hereditary and such people should not eat fava bean. Also, it would be appropriate not to feed fava bean to very young children.
