The navy bean, haricot bean, Jigna bean, pearl haricot bean, Boston bean, white pea bean, or pea bean is a variety of the

common bean ''Phaseolus vulgaris'', the common bean,, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green bean, green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a Leaf vegetable, vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its Pla ...

(''

Phaseolus vulgaris ''Phaseolus vulgaris'', the common bean,, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, alo ...

'') native to the Americas, where it was first domesticated. It is a dry white bean that is smaller than many other types of white beans, and has an oval, slightly flattened shape. It features in such dishes as

baked beans Baked beans is a Dish (food), dish traditionally containing white Phaseolus vulgaris, common beans that are parboiling, parboiled and then baking, baked in sauce at low temperature for a lengthy period. Canned baked beans are not baked, but ar ...

, various soups such as

Senate bean soup United States Senate Bean Soup or simply Senate bean soup is a soup made with navy beans, ham hocks, and onion. It is served in the dining room of the United States Senate every day, in a tradition that dates back to the early 20th century in the ...

, and

bean pie A bean pie is a sweet custard pie whose filling consists of mashed beans, usually navy bean, sugar, eggs, milk, butter and spices. Common spices and flavorings include vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Variations can include cloves, ginger, pumpkin ...

s. The plants that produce navy beans may be either of the bush type or vining type, depending on the

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

History

US Navy 050409-N-9693M-436 White House Chef Culinary Specialist 1st Class Ernesto Alvarez serves Navy Bean soup to visitors at the Navy Memorial

The name "Navy bean" is an American term coined because the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

has served the beans as a staple to its sailors since the mid-1800s. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, navy bean production began during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when it became necessary to find an economical way of supplying a nutritious food to the many troops—especially American troops—based in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The United States military maintained a large base in

Kingaroy Kingaroy () is a rural town and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is situated on the Road Junction, junction of the D'Aguilar Highway, D'Aguilar and the Bunya Highway, Buny ...

and had many bases and camps throughout south-east Queensland. It actively encouraged the widespread planting of the beans. Kingaroy is known as the Baked Bean Capital of Australia. Another popular name for the bean during this time was "the Yankee bean".

Cultivars

Navy bean cultivars include: * Rainy River * Robust, resistant to the

bean common mosaic virus A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are tradition ...

(BCMV), which is transmitted through seeds * Michelite, descended from Robust, but with higher yields and better seed quality * Sanilac, the first bush navy bean cultivar

Nutritional value

White beans are the most abundant plant-based source of

phosphatidylserine Phosphatidylserine (abbreviated Ptd-L-Ser or PS) is a phospholipid and is a component of the cell membrane. It plays a key role in cell cycle signaling, specifically in relation to apoptosis. It is a key pathway for viruses to enter cells via a ...

(PS) currently known. It contains notably high levels of

apigenin Apigenin (4′,5,7-trihydroxyflavone), found in many plants, is a flavone compound that is the aglycone of several naturally occurring glycosides. It is a yellow crystalline solid that has been used to dye wool. Apigenin is abundant in parsl ...

, , which vary widely among

legumes Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consu ...

. Consumption of baked beans has been shown to lower total cholesterol levels and

low-density lipoprotein cholesterol Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is one of the five major groups of lipoprotein that transport all fat molecules around the body in extracellular water. These groups, from least dense to most dense, are chylomicrons (aka ULDL by the overall densit ...

. This might be at least partly explained by the high

saponin Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high molecular weight. They are present ...

content of navy beans. Saponins also exhibit antibacterial and anti-fungal activity, and have been found to inhibit cancer cell growth. Furthermore, navy beans are the richest source of

ferulic acid Ferulic acid is a hydroxycinnamic acid derivative and a phenolic compound. It is an organic compound with the formula (CH3O)HOC6H3CH=CHCO2H. The name is derived from the genus '' Ferula'', referring to the giant fennel ('' Ferula communis''). Cl ...

and ''p''-coumaric acid among the common bean varieties.

Storage and safety

Dried and canned beans stay fresh longer by storing them in a pantry or other cool, dark place under . With normal seed storage, seeds should last from one to four years for replanting. Seeds stored under good conditions can be stored almost indefinitely before cooking. Beans that are discolored from the pure white color should be avoided, as they may have been poorly handled while they dried.

References

{{Phaseolus Phaseolus