:Green bean

As common food in many countries, green beans are sold fresh, canned, and frozen. They can be eaten raw or steamed, boiled, stir-fried, or baked. They are commonly cooked in other dishes, such as soups, stews, and casseroles. Green beans can be pickled, similarly to cucumbers.

A dish with green beans common throughout the northern US, particularly at Thanksgiving, is green bean casserole, a dish of green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and French-fried onions.{{cite book |author=Cook's Illustrated |title=The New Best Recipe |publisher=America's Test Kitchen |year=2004}}

{{nutritionalvalue | name=Raw green beans

| kJ=131

| protein=1.83 g

| fat=0.22 g

| carbs=6.97 g

| fiber=2.7 g

| calcium_mg=37

| iron_mg=1.03

| magnesium_mg=25

| phosphorus_mg=38

| potassium_mg=211

| zinc_mg=0.24

| manganese_mg=0.216

| vitC_mg=12.2

| thiamin_mg=0.082

| riboflavin_mg=0.104

| niacin_mg=0.734

| pantothenic_mg=0.225

| vitB6_mg=0.141

| folate_ug=33

| vitA_ug=35

| vitK_ug=14.4

| opt1n=Water

| opt1v=90 g

| source_usda=1

| note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/1103337/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry]

}}

Raw green beans are 90% water, 7% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and contain negligible fat (table). In a {{convert|100|g|oz|abbr=off|adj=on|frac=2}} reference amount, raw green beans supply {{convert|131|kJ|kcal|abbr=off}} of food energy and are a moderate source (range 10–19% of the Daily Value) of vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B₆, and manganese, while other micronutrients are in low supply (table).

The green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) originated in Central and South America, where there is evidence that it has been cultivated in Mexico and Peru for thousands of years.{{Cite web |url=https://cals.arizona.edu/fps/sites/cals.arizona.edu.fps/files/cotw/Green_Beans.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=November 30, 2019 |archive-date=January 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112082048/https://cals.arizona.edu/fps/sites/cals.arizona.edu.fps/files/cotw/Green_Beans.pdf |url-status=dead }}

The first "stringless" bean was bred in 1894 by Calvin Keeney, called the "father of the stringless bean," while working in Le Roy, New York.{{cite book |title=Taylor's guide to heirloom vegetables |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1996 |isbn=0-395-70818-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/taylorsguidetohe00benj }} Most modern green bean varieties do not have strings.{{R|UMN}}

Green beans are classified by growth habit into two major groups, "bush" (or "dwarf") beans and "pole" (or "climbing") beans.{{cite book |last=McGee |first=Rose Marie Nichols |author2=Stuckey, Maggie |title=The Bountiful Container |publisher=Workman Publishing |year=2002}}{{cite book |last1=Garrelts |first1=C. |last2=Garrelts |first2=Megan |last3=Lee |first3=Bonjwing |title=Bluestem: The Cookbook |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4494-0061-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLqRMBK_wyQC&pg=PA71 |page=71}}[https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/french-beans How to Grow French Beans] – Royal Horticultural Society, RHS Gardening

Bush beans are short plants, growing to not more than {{convert|2|ft|cm}} in height, often without requiring supports. They generally reach maturity and produce all of their fruit in a relatively short period, then cease to produce. Owing to this concentrated production and ease of mechanized harvesting, bush-type beans are those most often grown on commercial farms. Bush green beans are usually cultivars of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris).

Pole beans have a climbing habit and produce a twisting vine, which must be supported by "poles," trellises, or other means. Pole beans may be common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus) or yardlong beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis).{{cite book |last=Capomolla |first=F. |title=Growing Food the Italian Way |publisher=Pan Macmillan Australia |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-76055-490-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J5MtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA143 |access-date=February 26, 2018 |page=143}}{{cite book |last=Watson |first=B. |title=Taylor's Guide to Heirloom Vegetables |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |series=TAYLOR'S WEEKEND GARDENING GUIDES |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-395-70818-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/taylorsguidetohe00benj |url-access=registration |access-date=February 26, 2018 |page=[https://archive.org/details/taylorsguidetohe00benj/page/238 238]}}

Half-runner beans have both bush and pole characteristics, and are sometimes classified separately from bush and pole varieties.{{cite web|url=http://homeguides.sfgate.com/planting-directions-white-halfrunner-beans-45691.html|title=Planting Directions for White Half-Runner Beans|website=sfgate.com|date=September 30, 2012 |access-date=May 24, 2018}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AFnVCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT58|title=Blue Ribbon Vegetable Gardening: The Secrets to Growing the Biggest and Best Prizewinning Produce|first=Jodi|last=Torpey|date=January 9, 2016|publisher=Storey Publishing|isbn=978-1-61212-395-0|access-date=May 24, 2018|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmrkBwAAQBAJ&q=half-runner&pg=PP1|title=Gardeners' Guide to Growing Green Beans in the Vegetable Garden: The Green Bean Book – Growing Bush, Pole Beans For Beginning Gardeners|first=Paul R.|last=Wonning|publisher=Mossy Feet Books|isbn=978-1-311-55978-4|access-date=May 24, 2018|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fVq0CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA58|title=Beans and Field Peas: a Savor the South® cookbook|first=Sandra A.|last=Gutierrez|date=October 15, 2015|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=978-1-4696-2396-2|access-date=May 24, 2018|via=Google Books}} Their runners can be about {{convert|3|to(-)|10|ft|m|0|order=flip|spell=in|abbr=off}} long.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wOWkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT332|title=Appalachian Appetite: Recipes from the Heart of America|first=Susi Gott|last=Séguret|date=January 24, 2017|publisher=Hatherleigh Press|isbn=978-1-57826-705-7|access-date=May 24, 2018|via=Google Books}}{{Irrelevant citation|reason=Never mentions stringless, even after expanding all the collapsed sections.|date=November 2023}}

File:BBC Gardeners World - 2017-06-15 - Andy Mabbett - 02.jpg

Over 130 varieties (cultivars) of edible pod beans are known.{{cite book |title=Cornucopia II : a source book of edible plants |isbn=0-9628087-2-5 |last=Facciola |first=Stephen |publisher=Kampong Publications |year=1998}} Varieties specialized for use as green beans, selected for the succulence and flavor of their green pods, are the ones usually grown in the home vegetable garden, and many varieties exist. Beans with various pod colors (green, purple, red, or streaked.Singh B K, Pathak K A, Ramakrishna Y, Verma V K and Deka B C. 2011. "Purple-podded French bean with high antioxidant content." ICAR News: A Science and Technology Newsletter 17 (3): 9.) are collectively known as snap beans, while green beans are exclusively green. Pod shapes range from thin and circular ("fillet" types) to wide and flat ("romano" types) and more common types in between.

The three most commonly known types of green beans belonging to the species Phaseolus vulgaris are string or snap beans, which may be round or have a flat pod; stringless or French beans, which lack a tough, fibrous string running along the length of the pod; and runner beans, which belong to a separate species, Phaseolus coccineus. Green beans may have a purple rather than green pod, which changes to green when cooked.{{cite book |author=Press, L. |year=2002 |title=The Bean Book: Over Seventy Incredible Recipes |publisher=Globe Pequot Press |location=Guilford, Conn. |isbn=978-1-58574-473-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/beanbookover70re0000unse_s1h8/page/n6/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration}}{{Page needed|date=December 2022}}

Yellow-podded green beans are also known as wax beans.{{r|UMN}}

Wax bean cultivars are commonly of the bush or dwarf form.{{cite book |author1=Phillips, R. |author2=Rix, M. |year=1993 |title=Vegetables |publisher=Random House |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/vegetables0000phil_j5e7/page/n4/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-679-75024-6}}{{Page needed|date=December 2022}}

All of the following varieties have green pods and are Phaseolus vulgaris unless otherwise specified:

{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• Blue Lake 274{{r|UIL}}
• Contender{{cite web|url = https://harvesttotable.com/bean_varieties_best_bets_and_e/ | title = Bean Varieties: Best Bets and Easy-to-Grow | date = May 10, 2009 | access-date = December 23, 2018}}
• Derby (1990 AAS winner){{r|UIL}}
• Golden Wax Improved (yellow/wax), 60 days
• Greencrop, 53 days
• Heavyweight II, 53 days
• Improved Tendergreen{{cite web|title = Improved Tendergreen Bush Green Bean | url = https://www.victoryseeds.com/bean_tendergreen-improved.html | access-date = December 23, 2018}}
• Provider
• Rocquencourt (yellow/wax), 50 days, heirloom{{cite web | url=https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/heirloom-beans-zmaz06amzraw | title = Three Heirloom Beans | date = April 2006 | access-date = May 17, 2020}}
• Royal Burgundy (purple pod), 55 days
• Stringless Green Pod, heirloom{{cite web | url = http://www.saveseeds.org/biography/keeney/index.html | title = Seedsmen Hall of Fame

| access-date = December 23, 2018}}

• Triomphe de Farcy, 48 days, heirloom

}}

{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• Algarve{{R|RHS}}
• Blue Lake{{r|UIL}}
• Golden Gate (yellow/wax){{R|RHS}}
• Gold Marie, 75 days, Common Mosaic virus (BCMV) resistant
• Kentucky Blue (AAS Winner){{r|UIL}}
• Kentucky Wonder{{r|UIL}}, 65 days, heirloom
• Rattlesnake bean, 65 days, heirloom
• Scarlet Runner (Phaseolus coccineus)[http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/runner-beans-are-beautiful-and-edible Runner beans are edible] – Oregon State University Agricultural Extension
• Trionfo Violetto (purple pod), 60 days

}}

In 2020, world production of green beans was 23 million tonnes, with China accounting for 77% of the total (table).

File:A green bean.jpg|Green common beans on the plant

File:CDC greenbean.jpg|Whole raw green beans packed in a punnet for sale

File:Green beans with green bean slicer.jpg|Green beans with bean slicer

File:Cut Green Beans.jpg|Cut and cooked green beans

File:Four Different Varieties of Green Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris).jpg|Four varieties of the common green bean presenting variations in color, size, shape, and texture

File:Pickled Beans (3920862383).jpg|Pickled beans

File:GreenbeanFrance.jpg|Green beans on a bush plant

File:Signal-2023-08-05-204959 003.jpg|Mature green beans, freshly picked in France

File:Green beans, strung up to dry on the porch, known as leather britches or shucky beans.jpg|Dried green beans (known as leather britches or shucky beans)

{{Reflist}}

{{Cookbook|Green bean}}

{{Commons category|Green beans}}

• [https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/seasonal-produce-guide/green-beans Green beans] at United States Department of Agriculture

{{Phaseolus}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Edible legumes

Category:Pod vegetables

Category:Phaseolus

Category:Thanksgiving food