Phaseolus Vulgaris - Varieties - White Beans

White Beans

Haricot beans

The small, white navy bean, also called pea bean or haricot bean, is particularly popular in the United Kingdom and the United States, featured in such dishes as baked beans and even pies, as well as in various soups such as Senate bean soup. Consumption of baked beans has been shown to lower total cholesterol levels and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. This might be at least partly explained by high saponin content of navy bean. Saponins also exhibit antibacterial and anti-fungal activity, and have been found to inhibit cancer cell growth. Furthermore, navy bean is the richest source of ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid among the common bean varieties.

In Costa Rican cuisine, white beans are exclusively used in dishes containing pork.

Navy bean varieties include:

• Great Northern
• Rainy River
• Robust
• Michelite
• Sanilac

Other white beans include cannellini, a popular variety in central and southern Italy, which is related to the kidney bean and, like the kidney bean, has higher levels of the toxin lectin (phytohaemagglutinin). Two notable Greek types of giant white beans exist, the gígantes (Greek: γίγαντες, giants) and the eléfantes (ελέφαντες, elephants), which are more than twice as big as regular beans, taste slightly sweeter, and are favored for baking. These beans are white types of the Phaseolus coccineus runner bean. They are produced in a specific part of northern Greece (protected label), but can be found throughout the country. This kind of bean is considered as one of the main dishes that is used in Iraqi cuisine.

White beans are the most abundant plant-based source of phosphatidylserine (PS) yet known.