Winged Beans (Dried)

Winged Beans (Dried): Nutrition and Complete Guide

The winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) is a remarkable tropical legume native to Papua New Guinea and Southeast Asia, valued for the extraordinary nutritional density of its mature dried seeds. It is sometimes called the "superbean" or the "soya bean of the tropics" because the dried seed has a protein and fat content comparable to soybeans — the highest of any commonly grown tropical legume. The plant produces everything edible: the winged pods (eaten as a vegetable when young), the leaves, the flowers, and the tuberous roots (which are sweet, starchy, and high in protein — unusual among legume roots). Despite its nutritional richness, the winged bean remains largely unknown outside its native Southeast Asia and parts of tropical Africa, where efforts to promote it as a high-protein food crop for food security purposes have had limited success due to cultivation and processing challenges. The dried seeds contain trypsin inhibitors and other anti-nutritional factors that require thorough cooking to eliminate.

Nutritional Value and Cooking

Dried winged beans provide 409 kcal and 29.7 g of protein per 100 g — one of the highest protein values of any pulse — with 41.7 g of carbohydrates, 16.3 g of fat (comparable to soybeans), and 25.9 g of fibre. Fat is predominantly unsaturated with meaningful omega-6 and omega-3 content. Soak overnight, discard soaking water, boil vigorously for ten minutes, then simmer sixty to ninety minutes until tender. Available from Southeast Asian specialty grocers in the UK. Use in curry preparations with coconut milk and aromatics, or in stews.