Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various
cultivars of the common bean (''
Phaseolus vulgaris
''Phaseolus vulgaris'', the common bean, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, alo ...
''),
although immature or young pods of the runner bean (''
Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean (
''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedalis''), and hyacinth bean (''
Lablab purpureus
''Lablab purpureus'' is a species of bean in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa and it is cultivated throughout the tropics for food. '') are used in a similar way.
Green beans are known by many common names, including French beans (),
string beans (although most modern varieties are "stringless"), and snap beans or simply "snaps". In the Philippines, they are also known as "Baguio beans" or "" to distinguish them from
yardlong beans.
They are distinguished from the many other varieties of beans in that green beans are harvested and consumed with their enclosing pods, before the bean seeds inside have fully matured. An analogous practice is the harvest and consumption of unripened
pea pods, as is done with
snow peas or
sugar snap pea
The snap pea, also known as the sugar snap pea, is an edible-pod pea with rounded pods and thick pod walls, in contrast to snow pea pods, which are flat with thin walls. The name mangetout ( French for "eat all") can apply to snap peas and snow p ...
s.
Culinary use
As common food in many countries, green beans are sold fresh, canned, and frozen. They can be eaten raw or steamed, boiled, stir-fried, or baked. They are commonly cooked in other dishes, such as
soups,
stews
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and m ...
, and
casserole
A casserole ( French: diminutive of , from Provençal 'pan') is a normally large deep pan or bowl a casserole is anything in a casserole pan. Hot or cold
History
Baked dishes have existed for thousands of years. Early casserole recipes ...
s. Green beans can be pickled, similarly to
cucumber
Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables. s.
A dish with green beans common throughout the northern US, particularly at
Thanksgiving, is
green bean casserole
Green bean casserole is an American baked dish consisting primarily of green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and Fried_onion#Crisp_fried_onions, french fried onions.
It is a popular side dish for Thanksgiving dinners in the United States and has ...
, a dish of green beans,
cream of mushroom soup, and
French-fried onions.
Nutrition
Raw green beans are 90% water, 7%
carbohydrates, 2%
protein, and contain negligible
fat (table). In a 100 gram (3.5 oz) reference amount, raw green beans supply 31
calorie
The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...
s and are a moderate source (range 10–19% of the
Daily Value) of
vitamin C,
vitamin K,
vitamin B6, and
manganese (table). Other
micronutrient
Micronutrients are nutrient, essential dietary elements required by organisms in varying quantities throughout life to orchestrate a range of physiological functions to maintain health. Micronutrient requirements differ between organisms; for exam ...
s are in low supply.
Domestication
The green bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris'') originated in Central and South America where there is evidence that it has been cultivated in Mexico and Peru for thousands of years.
Production
In 2020, world production of green beans was 23 million
tonnes, with
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
accounting for 77% of the total (table).
Characteristics
The first "stringless" bean was bred in 1894 by Calvin Keeney, called the "father of the stringless bean", while working in
Le Roy, New York
Le Roy, or more commonly LeRoy, is a town in Monroe County, New York or Genesee County, New York, United States. The population was 7,641 at the time of the 2010 census. The town is named after one of the original land owners, Herman Le Roy. The ...
.
Most modern green bean varieties do not have strings.
Plant
Green beans are classified by growth habit into two major groups, "bush" (or "dwarf") beans and "pole" (or "climbing") beans.
[How to Grow French Beans](_blank)
– Royal Horticultural Society, RHS Gardening
Bush beans are short plants, growing to not more than in height, often without requiring supports. They generally reach maturity and produce all of their fruit in a relatively short period of time, then cease to produce. Owing to this concentrated production and ease of mechanized harvesting, bush-type beans are those most often grown on commercial farms. Bush green beans are usually cultivars of the common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris'').
Pole beans have a climbing habit and produce a twisting vine, which must be supported by "poles",
trellises, or other means. Pole beans may be common beans (''Phaseolus vulgaris''), runner beans (''Phaseolus coccineus'') or yardlong beans (''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedalis'').
Half-runner beans have both bush and pole characteristics, and are sometimes classified separately from bush and pole varieties. Their runners can be about 3–10 feet long.
Varieties
Over 130 varieties (cultivars) of edible pod beans are known. Varieties specialized for use as green beans, selected for the succulence and flavor of their green pods, are the ones usually grown in the home vegetable garden, and many varieties exist. Beans with various pod colors (green, purple, red, or streaked.
[Singh B K, Pathak K A, Ramakrishna Y, Verma V K and Deka B C. 2011. "Purple-podded French bean with high antioxidant content". ''ICAR News: A Science and Technology Newsletter'' 17 (3): 9.]) are collectively known as snap beans, while green beans are exclusively green. Shapes range from thin "fillet" types to wide "romano" types and more common types in between.
The three most commonly known types of green beans belonging to the species ''
Phaseolus vulgaris
''Phaseolus vulgaris'', the common bean, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, alo ...
'' are string or snap beans, which may be round or have a flat pod; stringless or French beans, which lack a tough, fibrous string running along the length of the pod; and runner beans, which belong to a separate species, ''
Phaseolus coccineus''. Green beans may have a purple rather than green pod, which changes to green when cooked.
Yellow-podded green beans are also known as wax beans.
Wax bean cultivars are commonly of the bush or dwarf form.
All of the following varieties have green pods and are ''Phaseolus vulgaris'', unless otherwise specified:
Bush (dwarf) types
Pole (climbing) types
Gallery
File:A green bean.jpg, Green common beans on the plant
File:CDC greenbean.jpg, Whole raw green beans packed in a punnet for sale
File:Green beans with green bean slicer.jpg, Green beans with bean slicer
File:Cut Green Beans.jpg, Cut and cooked green beans
File:Four Different Varieties of Green Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris).jpg, Four varieties of the common green bean presenting variation in color, size, shape, and texture
File:Pickled Beans (3920862383).jpg, Pickled beans
References
External links
Green beansat
United States Department of Agriculture
{{Authority control
Edible legumes
Pod vegetables
Phaseolus
Thanksgiving food