Comparing Tepary Beans and Chickpeas

Legume plants belong to the family Fabaceae. They are one of the most ubiquitous plant families and have some of the most nutritious fruit too. Most vegetarians will be very familiar with them because their fruit typically is relatively high in protein. Legumes have dehiscent fruit that is kept in pods which open when they dry out. These fruits are commonly known as beans and peas. Legumes are an immensely important source of food across the world given that many of them have been among the first plants cultivated by people for consumption. However, there are differences between species of legumes.

In this blog post I will compare the Tepary Bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) of Southwestern North America and the Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) of the Middle East. Both these plants have a rich history of being essential plants to support ancient human societies. The Chickpea is one of the first plants to ever be cultivated by people (7,500 years ago). It grows very well in the climate of the fertile crescent and quickly became an integral part of society as the first people adopted agrarian lifestyles in the Middle East. Its English name is actually derived from a French translation of what the Romans called the food. The Tepary Bean also has a rich history in that it was consumed by Native Americans living in the Sonoran desert where arid conditions prevented many other crops from growing. It was first named in a language that has now long since become extinct.

Tepary Beans are described to have a similar taste to Pinto Beans except they are slightly sweeter. While they are not often seen in produce markets outside of the Sonoran Desert they have been described as quite tasteful. There is a surprising variety of Tepary Beans. Some are white, some are brown, and some are black.

Tepary Beans are also very useful too for several reasons. They are disease resistant. They possess lectins which are organic compounds that are being studied for cancer treatment research. Tepary Beans are also useful for farms using multi-cropping because they have nitrogen fixing nodules in their roots. Most importantly they are one of the most heat tolerant and drought resistant crops known. Evolving in the Sonoran Desert has made them adapt to thrive in the most arid of conditions. Research is being done to extract genes from the Tepary Bean and transplant them into other plants to increase drought tolerance. Desertification could make this kind of genetic agricultural research essential to humanity.

Chickpeas have also evolved to survive drought, but they are not nearly as drought resistant as Tepary Beans. However, they have been more successful at establishing themselves as good crops around the world. Chickpea pods are rather funny looking. They only contain two peas per pod (insert pun). Chickpeas have a relatively subtle taste yet they are extremely popular. Chickpeas are used in salads and soups to add texture. Mediterranean foods also frequently involve their use in the context of humus and falafel. Entire regions of the world depend on chickpea cultivation for income. Chickpeas are also very high in protein and they have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels.

I am sad to say that I have never tried Tepary Beans. However, I am fairly certain that I would enjoy them given that I am not a picky eater and I also liked pretty much every type of bean that I’ve tried. Also, every review of its taste I read online was very positive. I do know that I love chickpeas. When my college cafeteria serves hummus or falafel I get it every time. Last year before the cafeteria upgrades I would even occasionally fill full plates of just chickpeas from the salad bar.

Text Sources

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/document_mv025

https://shop.nativeseeds.org/collections/tepary-beans

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691502002156

https://arizona.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10150/552184/dp_05_01-057-063.pdf;jsessionid=F1BDC51343D1FD50C91EDEBB76461450?sequence=1

https://www.britannica.com/science/legume

https://www.ranchogordo.com/products/brown-tepary

https://jandonline.org/article/S0002-8223(08)00318-0/fulltext

https://phys.org/news/2014-03-small-mighty-chickpea.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3365634/

Image Sources

https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/products/paiute-mixed-tepary-bean

http://akitchengardeninkiheimaui.blogspot.com/2011/07/growing-high-low-desert-heirloom-beans.html

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/342062534169234552/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N-l_lBSoNk