Beans
Currently, the world genebanks hold about 40,000 bean varieties, although only a fraction are mass-produced for regular consumption.
Types
Vicia | Vicia faba (broad bean or fava bean) |
Phaseolus |
Phaseolus acutifolius (tepary bean) Phaseolus coccineus (runner bean) Phaseolus lunatus (lima bean) Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean; includes the pinto bean, kidney bean, black bean, Appaloosa bean as well as green beans, and many others) Phaseolus polyanthus (a.k.a. P. dumosus, recognized as a separate species in 1995) |
Vigna |
Vigna aconitifolia (moth bean) Vigna angularis (adzuki bean) Vigna mungo (urad bean) Vigna radiata (mung bean) Vigna subterranea (Bambara bean or ground-bean) Vigna umbellata (ricebean) Vigna unguiculata (cowpea; also includes the black-eyed pea, yardlong bean and others) |
Cicer | Cicer arietinum (chickpea or garbanzo bean) |
Pisum | Pisum sativum (pea) |
Lathyrus |
Lathyrus sativus (Indian pea) Lathyrus tuberosus (tuberous pea) |
Lens | LentilsLens culinaris (lentil) |
Lablab | Lablab purpureus (hyacinth bean) |
Glycine | Glycine max (soybean) |
Psophocarpus | Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (winged bean) |
Cajanus | Cajanus cajan (pigeon pea) |
Mucuna | Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean) |
Cyamopsis | Cyamopsis tetragonoloba or (guar) |
Canavalia | Canavalia ensiformis (jack bean) Canavalia gladiata (sword bean) |
Macrotyloma | Macrotyloma uniflorum (horse gram) |
Lupinus (lupin) | Lupinus mutabilis (tarwi) Lupinus albus (lupini bean) |
Arachis | Arachis hypogaea (peanut) |
Bean is sometimes used as a synonym of pulse, an edible legume, though the term pulses is more correctly reserved for leguminous crops harvested for their dry grain. |