Butter beans

Category: Food

Type

Voluntary

Introduction and description

 Phaseolus lunatus is a legume or bean. 

It is commonly known as the butter bean or lima bean.  Butter beans are used throughout the world and are eaten and used by millions of people daily for both their nutritional content and their medicinal value.

carrot and butter bean soup

Description

Phaseolus lunatus can either be an annual or a perennial. Some forms of the species are erect with trailing branches while others are climbing vines up to four and half metres long (occasionally up to 8 metres). 

The roots can extend 2 metres into the soil and are either thin or swollen. 

The leaves are arranged alternately along the main stems and each leaf is composed of three leaflets, with the terminal leaflet held away from the two opposite lateral leaflets. The leaf stalk can be from 1.5 to 19 cm long. The flowers are white, pale green or rose-violet and pea-flowered.

The fruit is an oblong pod, 5-13 cm long and bears up to 5 seeds. The seeds are kidney-shaped to subglobose (almost spherical), up to 11 mm long, white, green, yellow, brown, red, purple, black or variously speckled. 

Background

Lima beans originated in the Neotropics and have two main centres of domestication.

The small-seeded varieties were developed in Central America and the large-seeded types were cultivated in South America (mainly in Peru) as far back as 6,000 BC.

Following Columbus’ 'discovery' of America, humans spread lima beans throughout the continent and they were subsequently introduced into Europe and Asia.

Portuguese 'explorers' brought butter beans to Africa during the slave trade. Today lima beans are cultivated throughout the tropics.

The Millennium Seed Bank and the Global Crop Diversity Trust are engaged in a ten-year project, called 'Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change'. The project aims to protect, collect and prepare the wild relatives of 29 key food crops so that they are available to pre-breeders for the development of new varieties that are more resilient to the effects of climate change.  And one of the key crops chosen for this project is the butter bean.

One of the reasons that the butter bean is part of important initiatives like those above, is because it provides a natural fertiliser for soil, avoiding the use of petroleum based products which require intensive processing and refining. 

The ability of lima bean to fix nitrogen from the air by way of bacteria housed in root nodules makes it a good soil fertiliser. For this reason it is often grown as a cover crop and for green manure.

Pressed and dried specimens of Phaseolus lunatus are held in Kew Garden's Herbarium, where they are available to researchers by appointment.

Details and images of some of these specimens can be seen online in Kew's Herbarium Catalogue.

Medicinal uses and nutrients

The plant has many medicinal uses. In Senegal and the Democratic republic of Congo the juice from the leaves is used in nasal instillations against headache and as eardrops. In Nigeria the seeds are pulverised and rubbed into small cuts or onto tumours and abscesses to encourage the discharge of pus. The seeds and leaves of butter bean are valued in traditional Asian medicine for their astringent properties and they are used as a diet to relieve fever.

Other medicinal uses will be found in the observations.

USDA Nutrients database - Full Report (All Nutrients):  11032, Lima beans, immature seeds, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt

Nutrient	Unit	Value per 100g
Water	g	67.17
Energy	kcal	123
Energy	kJ	515
Protein	g	6.81
Total lipid (fat)	g	0.32
Ash	g	2.06
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	23.64
Fiber, total dietary	g	5.3
Sugars, total	g	1.63
MINERALS
Calcium, Ca	mg	32
Iron, Fe	mg	2.45
Magnesium, Mg	mg	74
Phosphorus, P	mg	130
Potassium, K	mg	570
Sodium, Na	mg	17
Zinc, Zn	mg	0.79
Copper, Cu	mg	0.305
Manganese, Mn	mg	1.252
Selenium, Se	µg	2.0
VITAMINS
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	10.1
Thiamin	mg	0.140
Riboflavin	mg	0.096
Niacin	mg	1.040
Pantothenic acid	mg	0.257
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.193
Folate, total	µg	26
Folic acid	µg	0
Folate, food	µg	26
Folate, DFE	µg	26
Choline, total	mg	44.1
Vitamin B-12	µg	0.00
Vitamin B-12, added	µg	0.00
Vitamin A, RAE	µg	15
Retinol	µg	0
Carotene, beta	µg	182
Carotene, alpha	µg	0
Cryptoxanthin, beta	µg	0
Vitamin A, IU	IU	303
Lycopene	µg	0
Lutein + zeaxanthin	µg	0
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)	mg	0.14
Vitamin E, added	mg	0.00
Vitamin D (D2 + D3)	µg	0.0
Vitamin D	IU	0
Vitamin K (phylloquinone)	µg	6.2
FATTY ACIDS
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	0.073
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	0.019
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	0.154
Alcohol, ethyl	g	0.0
Caffeine	mg	0
Theobromine	mg	0

AMINO ACIDS
Tryptophan	g	0.089
Threonine	g	0.289
Isoleucine	g	0.438
Leucine	g	0.535
Lysine	g	0.450
Methionine	g	0.068
Cystine	g	0.083
Phenylalanine	g	0.336
Tyrosine	g	0.219
Valine	g	0.425
Arginine	g	0.456
Histidine	g	0.231
Alanine	g	0.258
Aspartic acid	g	0.731
Glutamic acid	g	0.877
Glycine	g	0.273
Proline	g	0.101
Serine	g	0.425

Method

Butter beans are an extraordinarily versatile vegetable.

They can be added, pre-cooked, to stews.  They can be pureed and used in soups as a thickener.

Again pre-cooked they can be made into salads or in dishes like the one shown to the right.

The Italians, French and Spanish supply bottled butter beans that are cooked in water with no added preservatives, as such the cooking of the beans can be entirely avoided without the worry of toxins, and in the more reputable brands the beans are no different from the way you would have cooked them at home. 

The bottles of beans are better in many ways because you can then see they are 'the pukka thing' as Jamie Oliver might have said.  If you can see white, plump beans in a creamy glutinous looking water base, and the bottle ingredients simply says water and beans with no preservatives added, then you know you are onto a good thing.

In Africa, lima beans are eaten with maize [sweetcorn] rice or yams and may be seasoned with spices – a very filling and staple dish. Some indigenous peoples, such as the Yoruba, process the seeds into porridge, puddings and cakes. The green, immature seeds, pods and leaves are eaten as a vegetable in Ghana and Malawi. In many Asian countries the shoots and young plants are cooked and eaten.

In India, they form the base of some extremely good vegetarian curries using yoghurt for example and coconut milk and flesh. 

Butter beans go well with tomatoes and there are numerous recipes combining butter beans with tomatoes, onions, olives and herbs such as marjoram or oregano.

The following recipe uses onions and tomatoes but also adds in chicken to make a substantial main meal.

Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 6 chicken legs 200g pancetta - cubed 4 red onions, peeled and cut into wedges 2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves finely chopped, plus one extra whole sprig 250g red wine 250g chicken stock 800g cherry tomatoes 1 large bottle of butter beans 2 tbsp honey 1 bay leaf

Method Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Heat the oil in a large roasting tin, then brown the chicken legs in batches. Remove from the tin and set aside. Sizzle the pancetta cubes in the same tin. Remove with slotted spoon when just crisp. Add the onion and  garlic. Fry for a few mins, stirring. Pour in the wine and stock. Simmer for 10 mins until the onion wedges are starting to soften. Add the cherry tomatoes, beans, honey, bay leaf, rosemary and seasoning. Give everything a good stir, then bring back to a simmer. Sit the chicken legs on top of the bean mixture and pour over any extra juices from the chicken. Bake in oven until the chicken is cooked.

Related observations

Healing observations

• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing ARGININE 017958
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing GLYCINE 017955
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing HISTIDINE 019061
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing LYSINE 017957
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing NICKEL 021500
• Dr Duke's list of Plants containing PROLINE 017956
• Dr Duke's list of Plants with Antipolyneuritic activity 022051
• White beans Nutrients from USDA 006998