📊 Full nutrition facts — per 100g (raw)
| Nutrient | Amount | % Daily value | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 341 kcal | 17% | |
| Carbohydrates | 58.3g | 19% | |
| Dietary fibre | 25.0g | 89% | |
| Protein | 26.1g | 52% | |
| GI | ~40 — Low | — | |
| Folate | 423µg | 106% | |
| Iron | 6.7mg | 37% | |
| Zinc | 3.1mg | 26% | |
| Potassium | 1062mg | 23% | |
| Magnesium | 192mg | 48% | |
| Phosphorus | 421mg | 42% | |
| Thiamine B1 | 0.56mg | 37% |
Based on Australian NRV. Source: FSANZ and USDA Food Composition Databases.
📈 Glycaemic index (GI)
💊 Key vitamins & minerals
✅ Health benefits
Dried broad beans provide 25g of dietary fibre per 100g — the highest fibre content of any common legume, exceeding lentils (10.7g), chickpeas (12.2g) and black-eyed peas (10.6g). This extraordinary fibre density provides comprehensive gut health benefits: soluble fibre (prebiotic, cholesterol-lowering), insoluble fibre (bowel regularity, cancer protection) and resistant starch (colon fermentation producing butyrate — the preferred energy source of colonocytes and a key anti-colorectal cancer compound). Regular broad bean consumption is associated with the lowest colorectal cancer risk of any legume in population studies.
Broad beans provide 26.1g of protein per 100g of dried beans — among the highest of any legume. The protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) of broad bean protein is moderate to high, particularly after cooking which reduces anti-nutritional factors. Broad beans are rich in lysine (the limiting amino acid in most grains) and therefore combine excellently with grain proteins. The foul medames tradition — broad beans with bread — is a nutritionally complete combination that has sustained populations across North Africa and the Middle East for millennia.
Broad beans provide 106% of the daily folate requirement per 100g — exceptional for neurological health, pregnancy and cardiovascular homocysteine management. More remarkably, broad beans are one of the richest dietary sources of L-DOPA (levodopa) — the dopamine precursor used as a pharmaceutical treatment for Parkinson's disease. People with Parkinson's disease on levodopa medications should be aware that broad beans can significantly affect medication levels. For healthy adults, the L-DOPA content is below therapeutic doses but may contribute to mood and motivation via dopaminergic pathways.
Broad beans deliver a comprehensive cardiovascular nutritional package: 1062mg of potassium per 100g (blood pressure regulation — more than 2× a banana), 106% daily folate (homocysteine reduction), 25g fibre (LDL reduction via bile acid binding) and 48% magnesium (cardiac rhythm regulation). Multiple population studies show regular legume consumption — particularly high-fibre legumes like broad beans — associated with 20–25% reduced cardiovascular disease risk.
⚠️ Who should limit or avoid
Broad beans (fava beans) are the classic trigger of favism — a serious haemolytic anaemia reaction in people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. G6PD deficiency affects approximately 400 million people globally, predominantly those of Mediterranean, African, Middle Eastern and South Asian ancestry — populations where broad beans are dietary staples. Even small amounts of broad beans (including broad bean flour) can trigger acute haemolytic episodes in G6PD-deficient individuals, requiring hospitalisation. If you have G6PD deficiency or are of high-prevalence ancestry and unsure of your status, consult a doctor before consuming broad beans. This is the reason fava beans are sometimes called favism beans.
Broad beans contain both tyramine and L-DOPA, which have serious interactions with monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) antidepressants. Consuming broad beans while on MAOIs can trigger hypertensive crisis — a sudden, dangerous spike in blood pressure. People on MAOI antidepressants (phenelzine, tranylcypromine) must avoid broad beans entirely. This interaction is well-documented and clinically serious.
Dried broad beans are high in oligosaccharides and resistant starch, making them a high-FODMAP food that can cause significant bloating and gas, particularly in people with IBS. Soaking, discarding water and thorough cooking reduces but does not eliminate FODMAP content. Fresh broad beans are better tolerated than dried. Gradually increasing consumption allows gut bacteria adaptation over 3–4 weeks.
🛒 How to source & use broad beans
Fresh broad beans (in the pod, available spring–early summer): plump, firm pods with no brown spots or wilting. The beans inside should be bright green, firm and tightly fill the pod. Fresh broad beans are eaten young (before the inner skin toughens) by blanching 2 minutes and removing the greyish-white outer skin to reveal the vivid green inner bean. Double-podded fresh broad beans are one of spring's finest vegetables. Dried broad beans: cream-beige flat oval dried seeds — use for foul medames, dal and slow-cooked dishes. Dried require soaking 12–24 hours.
Fresh broad beans have two skins: the outer pod (removed by shelling) and a greyish-white inner skin around each bean. Young beans (smaller than thumbnail): the inner skin is tender and can be eaten. Larger beans: the inner skin becomes thick and bitter — ALWAYS remove it. Method: blanch shelled beans 2 minutes, immediately cool in ice water, then pinch the skin open at the pale scar end and squeeze out the vivid bright green inner bean. The difference in flavour between double-podded and single-podded broad beans is enormous.
Foul medames (Egyptian slow-cooked broad beans with lemon, olive oil, garlic and cumin) may be the oldest continuously prepared dish in human culinary history — with archaeological evidence of its consumption in ancient Egypt and first written documentation in a 9th-century CE Egyptian text. The recipe is almost unchanged from its ancient form. Modern preparation: soak dried broad beans 12–24h, simmer 2–3 hours until completely tender, dress generously with olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt and garlic. Serve with flatbread, hard-boiled eggs, tahini and fresh herbs.
🧊 Storage tips & shelf life
Fresh broad beans in their pods keep 3–5 days in the crisper. Once shelled, use within 2 days — the beans begin to toughen rapidly. Double-podded (inner skin removed) fresh beans: use immediately or store in water in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Do not freeze fresh uncooked broad beans — blanch first (2 minutes) then freeze.
Blanched and double-podded broad beans freeze beautifully — the best way to preserve the spring harvest. Blanch 2 minutes, immediately cool in ice water, double-pod (remove inner skin), dry and freeze in a single layer on a tray first, then bag. Use directly from frozen in pasta, risotto and soups.
Dried broad beans store excellently — the dried form is shelf-stable for 1–2 years in a sealed container. After 2 years, beans become very hard and take much longer to cook. Soak 12–24 hours before cooking, discard soaking water, cook in fresh water 2–3 hours until completely tender. Canned: use within best-before date.
📖 About broad beans — complete guide
The broad bean (Vicia faba) is among the earliest domesticated food plants — archaeological evidence from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site of Yiftahel in northern Israel dates cultivation to approximately 10,000 BCE, making it one of humanity's first intentionally grown crops. It spread rapidly across the ancient Near East and Mediterranean, becoming a dietary staple across ancient Egypt (foul medames — a preparation largely unchanged from its ancient form — may be the world's oldest continuously prepared dish), ancient Greece and Rome, and then across Europe and Asia. The bean arrived in Britain with Neolithic farmers over 5,000 years ago. Its names across languages reflect millennia of cultural embedding: faba (Latin/Italian), fève (French), haba (Spanish), ful (Arabic), bakla (Tagalog), baakla (Armenian).
The G6PD deficiency–broad bean interaction (favism) represents one of the most historically and clinically significant food-disease interactions known. G6PD deficiency is the world's most common genetic enzyme deficiency, affecting an estimated 400 million people globally and conferring partial malaria resistance — which explains why it has remained in the population at high frequency in malaria-endemic regions of Africa, the Mediterranean, Middle East and South Asia. Ironically, these are precisely the regions where broad beans are dietary staples, creating a nutritional paradox that has caused favism crises throughout history. The condition was documented in ancient Egypt and Greece (Pythagoras's famous prohibition against eating beans is believed to relate to his Mediterranean heritage and G6PD knowledge), and was formally described medically in the 1950s. Modern genetic screening for G6PD status before prescribing several common medications (including the antimalarial primaquine and some antibiotics) is now standard in many countries — the same screening would identify individuals for whom broad beans should be avoided.