Lima bean

Lima Bean

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Lima bean

Phaseolus lunatus is a legume

Legume

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a Fruit#Simple fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually Dehiscence on two sides....
. It is grown for its seed, which is eaten as a vegetable. It is commonly known as the lima bean or butter bean; it is also known as Haba bean, Pallar bean, Burma bean, Guffin bean, Hibbert bean, Sieva bean, Rangoon bean, Madagascar bean, Paiga, Paigya, prolific bean, civet bean, sugar bean or d?u ng? (Vietnamese

Vietnamese language

Vietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national language and official language language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of the Vietnamese people , who constitute 86% of Demographics of Vietnam, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese, most of whom live in the United States....
).

The P.

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Phaseolus lunatus is a legume
Legume

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a Fruit#Simple fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually Dehiscence on two sides....
. It is grown for its seed, which is eaten as a vegetable. It is commonly known as the lima bean or butter bean; it is also known as Haba bean, Pallar bean, Burma bean, Guffin bean, Hibbert bean, Sieva bean, Rangoon bean, Madagascar bean, Paiga, Paigya, prolific bean, civet bean, sugar bean or d?u ng? (Vietnamese
Vietnamese language

Vietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national language and official language language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of the Vietnamese people , who constitute 86% of Demographics of Vietnam, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese, most of whom live in the United States....
).

The P. lunatus is of Andean
Andes

The Andes form the world's longest exposed mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. The range is over 7,000 km long, 200-700 km wide , and of an average height of about 4,000 m ....
and Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian society flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries....
n origin. Two separate domestication
Domestication

Domestication or taming refers to the process whereby a population of living things becomes accustomed to a controlled environment by other plants or animals through a process of Selective breeding....
events are believed to have occurred. The first, taking place in the Andes around 2000 BC, produced a large-seeded variety (Lima type), while the second, taking place most likely in Mesoamerica around AD 800, produced a small-seeded variety (Sieva type). By 1301, cultivation had spread to North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, and in the sixteenth century the plant arrived and began to be cultivated in the Eastern Hemisphere
Eastern Hemisphere

The Eastern Hemisphere, also Eastern hemisphere or eastern hemisphere, is a geography term for the half of the Earth that is east of the Prime Meridian and west of 180? longitude....
.

The small-seeded wild form (Sieva type) is found distributed from Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
to Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
, generally below 1600 meters above sea level, while the large-seeded wild form (Lima type) is found distributed in the north of Peru
Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, between 320 and 2030 meters above sea level.

The Moche
Moche

The 'Moche' civilization flourished in northern Peru from about 100 C.E. to 800 C.E., during the Cultural periods of Peru. While still the subject of some debate, many scholars contend that the Moche were not politically organized as a monolithic empire or state but rather as a group of autonomous polities that shared a common elite cu...
Culture (1-800 AD) cultivated lima beans and often depicted them in their art. During the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, lima beans were exported to the rest of the Americas and Europe, since the boxes of such goods had their place of origin labeled "Lima - Peru", the beans got named as such.

Both bush and pole (vine
Vine

A vine is any plant of genus Grape or, by extension, any similar climbing or trailing plant. The word, derived from Latin vinea, referred to the grape-bearing variety....
) varieties exist, the latter from one to four meters in height. The bush varieties mature earlier than the pole varieties. The pods are up to 15 cm long. The mature seeds are 1 to 3 cm long and oval to kidney shaped. In most varieties the seeds are quite flat, but in the "potato" varieties the shape approaches spherical. White seeds are common, but black, red, orange and variously mottled seeds are also known. The immature seeds are uniformly green.

The term butter bean is widely used for a large, flat, and white variety of lima bean (P. lunatus var. macrocarpus, or P. limensis), however, in the Southern United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
the Sieva type are traditionally called butter beans, also otherwise known as the Dixie or Henderson type. In that area, lima beans and butter beans are seen as two distinct types of beans. However, in highland areas of the southern Appalachians where Lima beans will not mature, certain traditional varieties of runner bean
Runner bean

The runner bean is often called the scarlet runner bean since most varieties have red flowers and multicolored seeds, though some have white flowers and white seeds....
s are known as butter beans, causing some confusion. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, "butter beans" refer to either dried beans which can be purchased to re-hydrate (in the same manner as dried peas) or the canned (tinned) variety which are ready to use. In culinary use, lima beans and butter beans are distinctly different, 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" limas.

Lima beans typically yield 2900 to 5000 kilograms of seed and 3000 to 8000 kilograms of biomass
Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production....
per hectare.

Lima beans and butter beans contain linamarin
Linamarin

Linamarin is a cyanide glucoside found in the leaves and roots of plants such as cassava, lima beans, and flax. Upon exposure to enzymes and gut flora in the human intestine, linamarin and its methylated relative lotaustralin can decompose to the toxic chemical hydrogen cyanide; hence food uses of plants that contain significant quantities of...
, a cyanogenic glucoside
Glucoside

A glucoside is a glycoside that is derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is Hydrolysis by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes....
, although the beans are rendered safe when cooked, and low-linamarin varieties are typically used for culinary purposes.

Despite the lima bean being named after the city of Lima, Peru, the two have distinctly different pronunciations in most dialects of the English language (and possibly other languages). The city's name is adapted from the Quechua
Quechua

Quechua is a Native American language of South America. It was already widely spoken across the Central Andes long before the time of the Inca Empire, who established it as the official language of administration for their Empire, and is still spoken today in various regional forms by some 10 million people through much of South America, in...
language and is properly and popularly pronounced ['lim?], while the name of the bean (and also the city with the same name in Ohio
Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region , Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads in North America....
) is usually pronounced ['la?m?].

In Hu?
Hu?

is the capital city of Thua Thien-Hue Province, Vietnam. Between 1802 and 1945, it was the imperial capital of the Nguy?n Dynasty. As such, it is well known for its monuments and architecture....
, Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
, it is the main ingredient of the dish chè d?u ng?.