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Phaseolus lunatus
Also called Sieva bean, Butter Bean, Sugar Bean, Rat Weed, Green Bean, Sivvy Bean
Lima bean is a climbing or trailing legume grown for its edible seeds; it is warm-season and frost-tender, and needs support and sun to produce well.
A lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus), also commonly known as butter bean, sieva bean, double bean or Madagascar bean, is a legume grown for its edible seeds or beans.
Although lima beans and butter beans are the same species, they are sometimes considered distinct in culinary use, the former being small and green, the latter large and yellow. In areas where both are considered to be lima beans, the green variety may be labeled as "baby" (and less commonly "junior") limas.
Like many beans, raw lima beans are toxic (containing e.g. phytohaemagglutinin) if not boiled for at least ten minutes. Canned beans can be eaten without having to be boiled first, as they are pre-cooked.
The lima bean can contain anti-nutrients like phytic acids, saponin, oxalate, tannin and trypsin inhibitors. These inhibit the absorption of nutrients in animals and can cause damage to some organs. In addition to boiling, methods of roasting, pressure cooking, soaking, and germination can also reduce the antinutrients significantly.
The most abundant mineral in the raw lima bean is potassium, followed by calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, and iron. When lima beans germinate, there is increased bioavailability of calcium and phosphorus. Additionally, it is a good source of vitamin B6.
Tepary bean · Slimleaf bean · Scarlet runner · Year Bean · Slimjim bean · Phaseolus glabellus · Gray's Bean · Bean · Spotted bean · Few Flowered Bean · Thicket bean · Santa Rita Mountain bean
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lima bean by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
