Kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is an annual herbaceous plant which produces a major grain legume consumed worldwide for its edible seeds and pods. It is a highly variable species with bush varieties which can get to be 20 - 60 cm (8-20 in) tall. P. vulgaris produces white to purple flowers which once pollinated, give rise to one pod. It's pods appear as thin, green, black, yellow or purple pods which can be cylindrical, flat, straight or curved. Each pod contains 4 to 12 seeds which vary in color.
P. vulgaris are native to Central Mexico and Guatemala. They were taken to Europe by the Spaniards and Portuguese who also took them to Africa and other parts of the Old World. Now they are widely cultivated in the tropics, subtropics and temperate regions.
Toxic components
P. vulgaris contain lectins which are toxic to poultry if ingested without cooking prior.
- appetite loss
- diarrhea
- dehydration
- dilated pupils
- elevated heart rate
- death
- Myer, R. O. Protein utilization and toxic effects of raw beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) in diets for young pigs and evaluation of heat processed cull beans including extruded cull bean-soybean mixtures in diets for y PhD thesis, Texas A&M Univ, Kingsville (Diss Abstr Int 42b, 1826 (1981)
- Desai, I. D. Effect of kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) on plasma tocopherol-level and its relation to nutritional muscular dystrophy in the chick. Nature, 209(5025), 810 (1966)
- Hintz, H. F.; Hogue, D. E. Kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and the effectiveness of vitamin E for prevention of nutritional muscular dystrophy in the chick. J Nutr, 84 283-287 (1964)
