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Vicia faba
(Fava bean)
Botanical info:
Fava bean is an annual herb with coarse and upright stems, unbranched 0.3-2 m tall, with 1 or more hollow stems from the base. Fava bean has a long tradition of cultivation in Old World agriculture, being among the most ancient plants in cultivation and also among the easiest to grow. The wild progenitor and the exact origin of fava bean remain unknown. Flowering in early spring.
Hippocratic legacy:
a. In Regimen 2:
a. Fava bean is described as a statutory and flatulence promoting food.
b. In Epidemics 2:
a. In the case of gastric disorders are recommended baked fava beans.
c. In Epidemics 7 :
a. An infusion of fava bean in wine is used for the treatment of asthma, and as expectorant.
d. In Regimen in Acute Diseases (Appendix):
a. Are described and compared Egyptian and Greek fava beans.
e. In Diseases 2, Diseases of Women 1, and Diseases of Women 2:
a. Fava beans are used as a measure for the application of remedies.
Other uses:
In ancient Greece and Rome, beans were used in voting. The Pythagoreans were forbidden from ever eating, mentioning, or looking at beans. Pliny claimed they acted as a laxative.
European folklore also claims that planting beans on Good Friday or during the night brings good luck. Fava beans are generally eaten while still young and tender, enabling harvesting to begin as early as the middle of spring but the main crop is harvested from mid to late summer. Fava beans, left to mature fully, are usually harvested in the late autumn, and are then eaten as a pulse. Most of the relatively low toxin concentrations found in fava bean can be destroyed by boiling the beans for 10 minutes. Fava beans are rich in levodopa, and should thus be avoided by those taking irreversible monoamine oxidase inhibitors to prevent a pressor response.