Bean or Legume plants have been the feature of nursery rhymes, and fairy tales, and magic beans, and magic bean plants are not stories foreign to our ears. Do we understand beans and seeds and completely how these bean plants have been or can be used?

Every Vegan and Vegetarian, health freak, and fitness enthusiast is in search of the high protein leaf. What if I told you that most of these bean plants feature high protein leaves, that can be eaten fresh and cooked.

Most of the beans we eat must be cooked and certain ones will kill you if not cooked, such as a kidney bean. Seeds are for planting.

We fail to take complete advantage of these incredible givers of nutrition completely or realize how nutritious they actually are. Right out of the pack throw some dried beans down and see how they grow in comparison to other things growing there. It is likely much quicker and with a more progressive growth cycle in its plant, vine, or tree form.

Following the understanding of the’ Fiber Key’, or fiber ratios (5g of carefully selected plant matter for every 1 gram of body weight), while setting up a Nutritional Diversity diet, naturally inspires the interest in using beans as a plant-based fiber and protein source, especially when considering the ease of growing them and the leaves for nitrogen balance to other loves in the garden/farm. So there has been a good amount of bean plant leaf study going on here.

To Native Americans beans are one of the ‘Three Sisters’ of the northeastern tribes, so-called because corn, squash, and beans were traditionally planted together by Native American farmers. Beans are also used as a clan or group symbol in some Native American cultures. Hopi of the Southwest and other North American Tribes hold festivals in honor of the bean.

It is important to note that most recipes back then involving beans or corn, required the seed to be completely ground into a powder that would later bake into bread or tortilla. This tradition and use have survived until today throughout the American Continent in many different cultures. [MR1]

Lesser-known stories such as the ancient deity Cyamites or Kyamites (Greek Κυαμίτης from κύαμος “bean”) was a hero in ancient Greek religion, worshiped in Athens. He had a sanctuary Heroon on the sacred road to Eleusis. His name has been translated as “the god of the beans and patron of the bean market”. A bean market (κυαμῖτις) was reported by Plutarch to have been situated on the same road not far from the sanctuary. Beans were obviously valued than for their heavy nutrition then too – or were they?

The United Nations Food Conference of 1974 identified beans and legume crops as a key nutritional dependency, in Latin America, providing sufficient nutrition, whereas grain cereals, a dominant staple food of two-thirds of the world’s undernourished/malnourished populous of 460 million (1974), in other regions did not. These populations subsequently also did struggle more severely with overall health. Additionally, there are many strong bacteria and infectious health risks living in Latin American tropical regions versus dryer or colder regions that host less living pathogens and organisms and have less humidity – further testifying about the nutritional strength in those who are consuming beans.

Here is an important question regarding all these species of beans; “is the seed or the leaf that holds the super nutrients? Is there an aspect of the seed that prevents digestion to promote procreation of the plant (lectin)? Seeds are for planting and leaves are for consumption right, so have we been simply educated wrongly about this food altogether?”

It would seem even if so, the nutritional value remains effective.

The Bean – “The Meat” of the Poor

The bean plant is a very productive, plant that gives very hearty nutrition in both the bean and in the less-utilized,  leaf. The bean food group is commonly classified as a meat group substitute in traditional American dietary information. Beans are known as the more economical legume, meat group food.

The largest deficiency in the modern diet that people do not get enough of today is protein. Something that beans and bean leaves have been the study for some time and detailed in Robert P. Barrett’s 1990 publication Legume Species as Leaf Vegetables.

Beans are very meaty nutrition and so much so they are the one fiber ingredient that should be restricted and measured. While too much plant fiber is fine, too much legume species,  seed fiber can weigh heavily on the digestive system. Meats can behave this way when over-consumed, and anything for this matter too much of anything is not good, even too much water will cause damage or death. In a diet that calls for lots of material consumption, I am careful to mention there are real limits to everything, definitely.

Entire villages survive on primarily rice and beans, and theoretically, with the Nutritional Diversity diet concept, they can do more than survive, but thrive and add real multipliers to their productivity.

In much appreciation for the work of Dr. Grundy and a few others who “happened to come across bits of information,” we have stopped consuming beans and been fully consumed with the leaves. If anything we have consumed a large quantity of beans and rice throughout our lives, these two seed groups we can do without for a while now.

The Winged Bean

The winged bean has grown to be an incredibly popular permaculture crop. The plant has been thoroughly investigated and used in entirety by many groups, and for this reason, I use it as the main bean for
Nutritional Diversity diet and permaculture inclusion, discussion, and learning reference.

The winged bean species belongs to the genus Psophocarpus, which is part of the legume family, Fabaceae.

The winged bean has 3 times the energy and almost 4 times the protein that the popular ‘rich pea,’ the pigeon pea does.

The New York Times reported almost four decades ago now, the headline;

WINGED BEAN HAILED AS A POTENT WEAPON AGAINST MALNUTRITION

Article By JANE E. BRODY, Published: February 23, 1982

Theodore Hymowitz, an agronomist at the University of Illinois who is a member of the Academy’s panel on the winged bean, said, ”it’s like an ice cream cone – you eat the whole thing.”

Its various parts are rich sources of protein, vitamins, minerals, and calories so often in short supply in tropical countries. It is an especially good source of vitamin A, deficiencies of which cause blindness in many children in tropical countries. The winged bean seed rivals the soybean in quantity and quality of its protein. Studies have shown that like many other legumes when combined with corn it has the protein value of milk and can adequately nourish a protein-starved infant.

Mr. Hymowitz may have addressed a possibility in many bean plants not considered by modern diets, the leaves, and the rest of the bean plant. Jack beans, green beans, lima beans, lentils, chickpeas, and pigeon peas -a high protein leaf, are also well known for having edible leaves.

Now let’s make sure we don’t go out and mono-crop it!

The Green Bean

The green bean according to Dr. Axe and several other popular nutritionists out there, is the number three cancer-fighting food in existence. This is likely not a solid claim, or at least is one inside of a narrow spectrum of foods- I would be sure that the jungle nutrition has plenty more powerful anti-cancer elements than that of the domesticated green bean. Also, it would be fairly difficult to find good permaculture-grown green beans specifically, but not impossible.

Several internet sources claim the green bean to be an ultimate source of nutritional elements, also that the plant is medically advantageous for a wide range of ailments and that the entire plant is useful.

The Pigeon Pea

The cultivation of the pigeon pea goes back at least 3,500 years, and the pea is part of many traditional dishes now around the world. Known as Guandu or the Rico Pea, it sells for a lot more than the lentil bean. Canadas Cajan is not known for leaf use in records except for an Argentinian skin problem topical and then tea uses have been mentioned for everything from flu, to asthma to sickle cell enema treatment. I use around 5 leaves fresh in one green nutrition shake, in my highly rotational Nutritional Diversity diet.

Edible Bean Plant Leaves, Roots

The leaves of legumes and of euphorbiaceous plants are among the richest in protein. Dark green leaves are said to be rich in vitamin A as well as protein. Bean sprouting, and eating the sprouts has been a popular practice of the late organic food community. Many believe that a youthful essence is captured at this stage.

The nutrient-rich, tuberous roots of the winged pea, have a nutty flavor. They are about 20% protein; winged bean roots have more protein than many other root vegetables. The leaves and flowers are also high in protein (10–15%)

Most legume leaves are eaten in tropical Asia and Attica, while far fewer species are consumed elsewhere. Of the 290 species reported, two are allegedly eaten “worldwide” and 13 are listed only from the tropics in general. Asia contains 157 species, with 41 in Indonesia and New Guinea, and 39 in India. Africa has 95 known species. Future reports can be expected to add many more overlooked species from the tropics. Few legumes are consumed as greens by Europeans. Even by including in Europe all species known from Eurasia and the Mediterranean region, the total reaches only 23.

Witrock and Witrock (1942) in an article entitled “Food plants of the Indians” explain that, “Species of clover, Trifolium, were foraged by California Native American tribes. Natives, observed in the fields eating the plants raw, would have a pouch of salt from which they would occasionally take a pinch to give a bit of favor. It likely aids in digestion and also probably helped with mineral retention. This idea has been paraphrased in many edible wild plant guides for various parts of North America, which are similarly vague as to which species were eaten. Many of these “wild” legumes are really forage crops escaped from cultivation, such as alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), clovers, vetches (Vicia), and sweet clovers (Melilotus).

We can look at some known legume and other known vegetable plant parts that are edible in Dr. Danello’s chart:

Bean Leaf consumption has been a thorough mention in food crisis solution studies.  The thoroughness of actual bean leaf diet exploration is not so thoroughly described.

Cautions

There is a lot of cautionary text out there regarding leaf and legume plant leaf consumption. With peanuts another legume plant, for example, that is very popular has been toxic only to people with developed allergies to the plant. Reading these cautions can be unnerving at times especially when entire disorders like Kosco have been attributed to leaf toxins (cassava).

Many of the legumes (beans) that have edible leaves are known to contain toxins and supposedly have poisoned livestock. While animals may eat a single species for days at a time, humans rarely make an entire meal of one leafy vegetable, especially if they are on the proper Nutritional Diversity diet.

Unlike livestock, people learn about safe and unsafe plants from the experience of others, intelligent food testing, and can cook their food. Very few legume leaves are recorded anywhere as being eaten raw or in salads, where the details of preparation are not known, the leaves should be boiled, and the cooking water is thrown out. This will either deactivate the toxins or dilute them to safe levels.

This is recommended with the cassava plant that hosts known toxins, effects of which have only been observed during famine times in Africa where the cassava plant was exclusively used for diet over long periods of time. Nutritional Diversity consumption also has several supporting official studies suggesting that a diverse nutritional diet, can eliminate, make more beneficial, or neutralize these types of recognized isolated toxic properties.

The Legume Food States, Cooking & Processing

A 5 – 6-day soak or the cooking of leaves removes all toxicity. Please see Food States, and  The New York Times piece on Winged Beans also had this today on perpetration and food states:

The winged bean plant is a legume that resembles the pole bean. It is a mass of twining, leafy stems that climb as high as 13 feet or more and produce long, heavily seeded four-cornered pods with winglike projections at each corner. Its scientific name, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, is based in part on the four-sided pod. The leaves are like spinach in taste and nutritive value; the flowers, sweetened by nectar, can be sauteed to produce a food that resembles mushrooms; the immature pods are like green beans; the immature seeds are like green peas; the mature dry seeds are like soybeans, and the roots of many varieties produce tubers like potatoes, but are much richer in protein than the potato, yam or cassava.

Winged bean tubers can be boiled, steamed, baked, fried, roasted and even made into chips. The immature pod, the plant’s most popular part, can be eaten raw, pickled or cooked in water, coconut milk or oil.

One Indonesian researcher has produced a coffee substitute by roasting and grinding the seeds and has made a tobacco substitute from the dried leaves. Even the dried pod left after the seeds are removed can be used. It contains about 10 percent protein and has been found suitable for animal feed and as a medium for growing mushrooms, the Academy report states.

Like the soybean, winged bean seeds, or beans, can be pressed to extract an edible, mostly unsaturated oil that is rich in vitamin E, leaving behind a protein-rich flour suitable for making bread or cereal. Also, like the soybean, the winged bean can be sprouted, made into curd (tofu) and tempeh (an Indonesian fermented bean cake), or made into a nutritious milk-like drink. No new technology is needed to process the winged bean seed since it is suited to the processing techniques already developed for the soybean.

To its advantage, the winged bean seed lacks the beany, painty flavor characteristic of soybeans and it contains less of the flatulence-inducing sugars found in soybeans, a temperate zone plant that cannot survive the high rainfall of the tropics. As with soybeans, antinutritional substances in the winged bean seed that may interfere with the digestion of essential nutrients are removed by soaking or by treating the beans with moist heat. Dr. Grundy says “if your going to eat the bean, cook it in a pressure cooker.”

Furthermore, the winged bean can be grown in poor, sandy, or clay soils without added fertilizer because bacteria that grow on its roots are capable of capturing large amounts of atmospheric nitrogen and converting it to a form usable by the plant. In fact, if the winged beanstalk is plowed back after all edible portions of the plant have been harvested, it will add nitrogen to the soil.

Researchers have shown that the winged bean can be grown as a cover crop on plantations, protecting the soil beneath coconut, banana, palm, rubber, and cacao trees. It can also be grown together with corn, which matures first, and leaves behind a stalk up which the winged bean plant can twine.

The article goes on to point out that in Thailand in 1979 the worst drought in the country’s history destroyed the corn crop, but winged bean fields survived and some plants even produced good seed yields. Also that it is most productive in the tropics.

Potential Legume Story

I like to think the Native American’s knew what they were doing, and that the third sister, so important to humans everywhere may hold weight we are yet to know of well. Looking at possibilities opened by the consumption of the rest of the legume plant, in the case of the winged bean and the protein available in the green parts of the plant as an example – Wittrock and Wittrock’s observation is huge! We have only been utilizing the bean portion of the plant and missing on the whole essence of the plant and the green protein it offers.

Notice in the chart above the pumpkin squash, one of three sisters also has been recorded as an edible leaf plant, vine. The sweet potato and cassava are also known to have an edible leaf and to be a popular cultivar of the Native Americans, both North, South, and Central America.

Once you get good full-spectrum permaculture going on with a good selection of edible leaves, and mustard leaves and potent flavorful stuff, you will find the leaf burrito quite appetizing.

It tastes a lot better than many would thank, and many who have had them would even say it’s better than branded and cooked recipes for burritos elsewhere in the world. Burritos from elsewhere would likely feature beans, and not the bean plant leaves, even though the beans must be cooked and the leaf no. Is this interesting? Could fresh leaf consumption prime the stomach in some way for processed, soaked, or cooked bean consumption? I do not of trials or studies that look at this idea.

We know what the cookbook, our mothers, and our grandmothers taught us to use for food. Horticulturist M.J. Stevens, of the Department of Horticulture at the University of Florida in his paper entitled Secondary Edible Parts of Vegetables, also realizes that even leaf trials and secondary vegetable plant part consumption’s, and culinary uses are very limited to the extreme, and experimental gardeners and items outside the current modern major consumer marketplace produce, are not known as foods, at all.

Legume Permaculture Notes

It takes about  40 productive bean plants to provide a kilo of dried beans or peas. Obviously, some are better than others but here is a general idea. The growth time for most bean plants tends to be around four months, with the basic requirement of temperatures (for production) being between 15°C (60°F) and 27°C (80°F). With well-timed transplantation or crop rotations, this can result in several harvests per year. Where I live in Panama, the temperature is nearly always in that wheelhouse, so I can do even better.

Bush-type bean plants should be planted roughly 8-10 centimeters apart, while pole beans (rarer) require a little more distance, around 10-15 centimeters. Bean plants produce better in full sun and prefer soil that isn’t yet high in nitrogen. Because they require so many plants and so much space to produce relevant harvests, they are not well-suited for container gardens. Beans grow well with several other plants, including corn, cucumbers and pumpkin squashes, celery, strawberries, rosemary, and potatoes. Vines like something to grow up. Beans don’t mesh well with onions or anything from the allium family. Historically in permacultures, beans were paired with corn, and squash as cultivar sisters. Could it be that prayers of thanks to Cyamites, played a role or will play a role in the nutritional effects of the legume plants

Additional Resources;

Species looked at : Arachis hypogaea L. (peanut), Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet (lablab bean)
Phaseolus lunatus L. (lima bean), P. vulgaris L. (common bean), Pisum sativum L. (pea), Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) D.C. (winged bean)
Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (fennugreek), Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. (cowpea)

Minor species : Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.(pigeon pea), Cicer arietinum L. (chick pea), Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L) Taub. (guar)
Glycine max (L.) Merrill (soybean), Kerstingiella geocarpa Harms. (Hausa groundnut), Phaseolus calcaratus Roxb. (rice bean), P. coccineus L. (runner bean),
Sphenostylis stenocarpa (Hochst.) ex A. Rich (African yam bean), Vicia faba L. (fava bean), Vigna radiate (L.) Wilczek (mung bean), Voandzeia subterranea Thouars. (bambara groundnut)

Forage crops and wild herbs :Cassia tora L. (sicklepod), Cassia obtusifolia L. (cassia), Crotalaria longirostrata Hook. et Am. chipilin), Desmodium cinerium D.C. (tick trefoil), Lathyrus sativus L. (grass pea)
, Lespedeza bicolor Turcz. (lespedeza), Medicago sativa L. (alfalfa), Melilotus alba Medic. (white sweet clover), Rothia trifoliata Pers. (rothia)
, Trifolium pretense L. (red clover), Trifolium repens L. (white clover)
, Trigonella suavissima Lindl. (trigonella), Vicia sativa L (vetch), Vigna marina (Burm.) Merr. (vigna)

Additional References

1. Steven Nagy, Lehel Telek, Nancy T. Hall, Robert E. Berry J. Agric. Food Chem., 1978, 26 (5), pp 1016–1028 DOI: 10.1021/jf60219a028 Publication Date: May 1978

Media References

1. The New York Times; WINGED BEAN HAILED AS A POTENT WEAPON AGAINST MALNUTRITION, Article By JANE E. BRODY, Published: February 23, 1982
2. History Channel

Originally Published Jul 29, 2017