Article
Article
Bean
Article By:
Adams, Maurice W. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
Gepts, Paul Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis, California.
Hagedorn, D. J. Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
Last reviewed:January 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.075900
Any of several leguminous plants, or their seeds, long utilized as food by humans or livestock. There are more than 40,000 varieties of beans, with only a small number of these being mass-produced for human or animal consumption. In particular, there are about 17 genera in the legume family that produce seeds (termed beans) that are useful to humans; approximately 30 species of beans contained in these genera are commercially important (Fig. 1). See also: Agricultural science (plant); Agriculture; Agronomy; Legume
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