Recipes
Culinary Dictionary
| Search: | All culinary Terms | ||
| Back to categories | |||
| Category: Vegetables and fungi |
|
|
| Term(s) | ||
Green Beans | ||
 Green beans (American English), French beans or runner beans (British English), also called squeaky beans, are the unripe fruit of any kind of bean, including the yardlong bean, the hyacinth bean, the winged bean, and especially the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), whose pods are also usually called string beans in the northeastern United States, but can also go by snap beans. The scientific name for green beans is Phaseolus vulgaris.Appearance: Green beans range in size, but they usually average four inches in length. They are usually deep emerald green in color and come to a slight point at either end. They contain tiny seeds within their thin pods. Origin: The first stringless bean was bred in 1894 by Calvin Keeney, called the "father of the stringless bean." Keeney worked in Leroy, New York. History: Green beans and other beans, such are kidney beans, navy beans and black beans are all known scientifically as Phaseolus vulgaris. They are all referred to as "common beans," probably owing to the fact that they all derived from a common bean ancestor that originated in Peru. From there, they were spread throughout South and Central America by migrating Indian tribes. They were introduced into Europe around the 16h century by Spanish explorers returning from their voyages to the New World, and subsequently were spread through many other parts of the world by Spanish and Portuguese traders. Today, the largest commercial producers of fresh green beans include the United States, China, Japan, Spain, Italy and France. Nutrition Fact: Green beans are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese. They are also a very good source of vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, foliate and iron. In addition, green beans are a good source of magnesium, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, copper, calcium, phosphorus, protein, and omega-3 fatty acids. |