Do fava beans really have virtually no protein?

luis1936

I never really paid attention, but the other day I happen to look at the nutritional value and it said .5mg of protein per serving!
I was shocked. Beans are usually a good sorce of protein. I then tried looking it up and some sites mention how its such a good source of lean protein, while others concur with the virtually no protein.

anyone know why such a descrepensy and which is right?

bluuu123

uhm a quick google search shows

https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=fava beans

100 grams raw fava beans
8 grams protein

luis1936

right, but i've looked at a couple of bags of frozen fava beans which says 1g/serving (wish I could post a pic). and thats my question is. what is correct.

Maitria

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4322/2

I would go with this. What brand are you looking at?

Anniebotnen

Per the USDA, 100 grams of fava beans (seeds only, no pods)has 26 grams of protein.

ETA this number is for the raw beans.

Maitria

Are the fava beans you bought shelled? The shells aren't digestible, which would impact the protein count.

MinnieInMaine

I like using the USDA nutritional database to double check nutrtitional info - link below. According to this, there's 0.05g protein per 1 gram serving. Seems like 1g would be a very small serving though as a cup of fava beans would be approximately 256g (and would contain 14g protein).

http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

luis1936

goya frozen fava beans

luis1936

Apparently there are different varieties of fava beans. These are from Chile (I know, no l that's not a variety, but that wad the response). There is really no way to tell what variety it is. The only thing you can do you look ay nutritional value. Which is a pretty large difference.

I know most people don't care about all that, but a lesson that even though you think you are using your normal ingredients, yielding the same nutrition,, that may not b the case. , if you are like most people on this site, and the nutritional values are tracked, this emphasizes the important of always reading the label.!!!

Alatariel75

This is why you need to pair them with some liver and a nice Chianti. Protein plus!

luis1936

That's the way I always have them