Fava Bean

The fava plant is an upright annual legume growing 0.5 to 1.8 meters tall, with square stems, gray-green leaves and fragrant white flowers marked with a black spot. Its thick pods can reach 15 to 30 cm and are lined with soft white down inside, holding three to eight large seeds. Fresh beans are bright green and need peeling of their waxy outer skin, while dried beans are tan, brown or greenish and flat, about 1.5 to 2.5 cm long. The flavor is creamy, earthy and slightly sweet when young, becoming starchy and robust when dried. Smaller-seeded forms are called field or horse beans and are grown mainly for animal feed.

The fava bean is one of the oldest cultivated legumes, with remains from the Near East dating back roughly 10,000 years, including finds from the Galilee region. The wild ancestor is unknown. It spread early through the Mediterranean, North Africa, and into Europe, and from there to Asia and later the Americas. The English word broad bean refers to the large seed. Fava is Italian, derived from Latin faba, which is also the root of the species name. The Spanish habas and the French fève share this root.

Fava beans were a food of early Mediterranean civilizations. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans grew them, and the Romans used them in funerals, festivals and as ballot tokens. Some ancient traditions saw them as having a link to the souls of the dead, and writers such as Pythagoras are said to have warned against eating them, a story linked to the condition now called favism.

In medieval and early modern Europe, the fava was the main bean and a key protein for common people until New World beans such as the common bean arrived and largely replaced it. Even so, fava remained a heartland crop in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Ethiopia, and China. Egypt developed ful medames, slow-cooked beans eaten at breakfast, which is called a national dish. In Sicily, fava soup and pastes are tied to the feast of Saint Joseph and to legends about surviving famine.

Today China, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, Australia and several Mediterranean countries grow large crops. The plant is also valued in farming because it fixes nitrogen in the soil and can be used as a winter cover crop.

Young fava beans are shelled, blanched, and peeled for salads, pastas, risotto and purees, often with mint, lemon, and olive oil. Dried beans are soaked and simmered for ful medames, stews, soups, and dips. They are ground into flour and used to make falafel, especially in Egypt, and ta'amiya. In China, fermented fava beans are the basis of doubanjiang chili paste. Fava sprouts and young leaves are also eaten. As a crop, favas improve soil and feed livestock.

Dried fava beans are a rich source of plant protein, fiber, folate, iron, potassium, and manganese, with little fat. Like other pulses, regular intake is associated with better cholesterol and blood sugar control as part of a balanced diet. The beans also contain levodopa, a compound that the body converts to dopamine; this has drawn research interest in Parkinson's disease, but eating beans is not a substitute for medical treatment. Cooking improves digestibility and removes anti-nutrients.