Fava beans (Broad bean) Nutrition facts

Fava beans (Broad bean)

Fava beans (broad beans in the UK) are large, flat, light green pods usually eaten shelled for their delicious beans. Fava is one of the ancient cultivated crops that probably originated in the fertile valleys of Asia Minor or the Mediterranean region. Unlike in green beans, where whole immature pods can be eaten, broad beans possess thick indigestible peel that generally shelled to extract their broad, thick, and flat seeds (beans) inside.
Binomially, fava pods belong to the Fabaceae family, in the genus: Vicia. Scientific name: Vicia faba. Commonly used as vegetables, they are one of the popular bean varieties that can be grown easily in the home gardens.
Fava bean is one of the ancient cultivated cool-season vegetables. The plant is a small annual, glabrous herb with an erect stem, growing to the height of up to 6 feet. Pink-white flowers appear in clusters after about three months after seedling. Honeybees play a role as pollinators. Light green, beaded fruit pods that develop out of these flowers, hold about 6-10, flat, broad, irregularly oval-shaped beans inside.