Broad bean, Faba bean
Vicia faba

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

An upright plant up to 1 m tall. Plants vary in height from 30 cm to 180 cm. It has a well developed taproot. It has square stems which are hollow. They have wings at the angles. There can be 1-7 branches from near the base of the plant. The leaves have leaflets along the leaf stalk and ending in a short point. There are 2-6 leaflets. These are 5-10 cm long. Flowers occur in the axils of leaves and there are 1-6 flowers on a stalk. The flowers are white with black spots. Pods are large and fat and contain several large beans inside. The pods are 5-10 cm long in field varieties and can be 30 cm long in garden varieties. They are fleshy with a white velvety lining. They become tough and hard at maturity. The seeds can vary a lot in shape and size. They can be flat or rounded and white, green, brown, purple or black. They are 1-2.6 cm long. The hilum along the seeds is prominent.

There are about 140 Vicia species. They are mostly temperate.

Where it is found

A temperate plant. It is only suitable for the highlands over about 1200 m. in the tropics. It mainly occurs between 1900 and 2700 m altitude in equatorial zones. It is frost tolerant. It is resistant to drought. It can grow with temperatures down to 4°C. In the lowland hot tropics it often flowers but does not set seed. It requires fertile soils. It does best with adequate lime. It needs a pH of 6.4-7.2. It can tolerate some salinity. In Nepal they grow to 1800 m altitude. It suits hardiness zones 8-10. In Yunnan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Afghanistan, Africa, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Austria, Balkans, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Caucasus, Central Africa, Central America, Central Asia, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Europe, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Himalayas, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Mediterranean, Mexico, Middle East, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Africa, North America, Norway, Pacific, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Scandinavia, SE Asia, Serbia, Sikkim, Slovenia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tasmania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Turkey, Türkiye, Uganda, Uruguay, USA, Vietnam, West Indies, Yemen, Yugoslavia

How it is used for food

It is mostly the young beans that are eaten. The ripe beans and leaves are also edible. The leaves are used for sarma in Turkey. They are rolled around a filling of rice or minced meat. The dried beans can be boiled, ground into flour and added to soups or used for making tofu. Sprouted seeds are cooked and eaten. The tender pods are eaten as a vegetable. CAUTION: Some people, mainly of Mediterranean origin can get a disease called Favism from these beans. The beans should be well cooked. Also they can react with some people using some antidepressant drugs.

It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. Moderately common in some highland areas of Papua New Guinea but does not produce well. It is a major crop in China.

Edible parts

Seeds, leaves, pods, vegetable, flowers

How it is grown

The crop is grown from seed. Seeds are sown at 15 to 40 cm spacing. If the seed pod formation is poor, it can be improved by pinching out the tops of the plants when in flower. Hand pollination also helps. Plants are self pollinated but also cross pollinated by insects.

Time to maturity is 12-16 weeks. Yields in the cool tropics vary between 1 and 2 tons per hectare.

Its other names

Local names

Anhuri, Bakala, Bakla, Bakulaa simi, Bakulla, Balka sem, Bob, Bosa-pe, Can dou, Chas tang, Chastang raiun, Chilow, Dau rang-ngua, Dicke boohne, Fava, Favas, Fave, Faveira, Feve, Field bean, Haba, Hende matar, Horse bean, Kabli bakla, Kadu huralikayee, Kala matar, Katun, Makhon shim, Mattz-rewari, Nakshan, Pe-let-ma, Pervatha, Raj-rawan, San-du-si, San-to-pe, Sau bohne, Sora mame, Tau-ke, Tayok-pe, Thua yang, Tick bean, Tsaam dou, Tsertsvi

Synonyms

Faba bona Medikus; Faba faba (L.) House; Faba major Desf.; Faba minor Roxb.; Faba sativa Bernh.; Faba vulgaris var. major Harz; Vicia faba var. major (Harz) Beck; Vicia esculenta Salisb.; Vicia vulgaris Gray;