Cowpeas, immature seeds, prepared, cooked, drained

The cowpea or black-eyed bean got its name from the characteristic, differently colored and often black spot around its white navel, which looks like an eye. Other common names are snake bean or cow bean . The seeds of this crop can be eaten both when young and when fully ripe. The young beans can be eaten raw or cooked.

Use in the kitchen:

Since black-eyed peas are extremely high in protein and calories, but at the same time contain less fat than soybeans, they are considered a very valuable source of protein (see the table of ingredients at the end of the text). ³ In the USA, the seeds are usually eaten dried and cooked. In Africa, India and South America, people prefer to eat the vegetable raw.

In addition to the raw version, there is also the option of cooking the young seeds and serving them as a warm vegetable or in a salad. As a main dish, the young black-eyed peas also combine very well with pumpkin and corn. According to vegetarian cook Deborah Madison , a southerner whom she quotes in her cookbook swears by fresh cowpeas cooked in coconut milk. ² The approximate cooking time for the cowpeas is 35 minutes. Then they are still nice and tender to the bite. ⁴

Purchasing:

Raw cowpeas are relatively difficult to obtain, unlike dried ones. The same applies to young, cooked cowpeas. Alternatively, you can buy seeds or young plants and grow them yourself.

Storage:

Fresh black-eyed pea seeds can be stored in the refrigerator for about 1 to 2 weeks. The seeds can also be blanched and frozen. Dried seeds can be stored for up to a year, or longer under ideal conditions.

Ingredients:

The most important ingredient is the crude protein content: during ripening, it increases in the seeds from around 4% (unripe) to 19 to 27% (ripe). The crude fat content, on the other hand, is low. ⁵ Main content of vitamins: thiamine , riboflavin and niacin . The protein is relatively rich in the amino acids lysine and tryptophan , but poor in methionine and cysteine. The seeds are also rich in folic acid , which can prevent children from being born with a neural tube defect (NVD, e.g. spina bifida aperta). ⁶

Health aspects:

Eating young, cooked cowpeas can have health benefits because the bean (like all Fabaceae ) is said to have antidiabetic, blood-purifying, emollient, diuretic, stimulant and tonic properties. ⁷ The seeds of the cowpea are said to improve digestion, strengthen heart health, help with detoxification, regulate diabetes and support blood circulation.

However, the seeds of cowpeas (like other legumes) contain phytic acid and protease inhibitors, which means that the body has a harder time breaking down and absorbing the minerals or proteins they contain. ⁶ However, it is assumed that young black-eyed beans contain fewer of these anti-nutritional substances than mature, dried beans. ⁸

In contrast to beans that originally come from America, cowpeas, which originally come from Africa, are not poisonous when eaten raw!
Raw beans of the tribe Phaseoleae, i.e. garden beans or green beans (Fisole), are highly poisonous. The main active ingredient is the toxalbumin phasin, which belongs to the lectins. Phasin causes erythrocytes to agglutinate and stimulates the mitosis of lymphocytes.

Folk medicine

Various West African tribes (Hausa and Yoruba) use the plant for spiritual and medicinal purposes. ⁴

Occurrence:

The origin of the black-eyed bean is located in Africa. It has obviously adapted particularly well to the local climate with periodic dry periods and no frost. ⁹ People have long cultivated it in India, Southeast Asia, Egypt and the Mediterranean region. From there, after the discovery of America, it is said to have reached America and the Caribbean via slave transports on Spanish ships. ⁹ Today, the bean can be found in the Mediterranean region as far as Hungary, in sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa, in India and Australia, in South America (primarily in Brazil) and as a vegetable crop in the southern states of the USA. The cowpea has recently also been cultivated in Europe, for example in Albania and Hungary. ⁵

Cultivation, harvest:

The cowpea is considered an annual plant. The black-eyed bean is particularly well-accustomed to heat and dryness. However, good soil moisture increases the yield. Gardeners recommend pre-cultivation indoors with a germination temperature of around 22 degrees, with a germination period of 7 to 10 days. It is better not to plant out before the Ice Saints and protect the young plants from snails. ¹⁰ When fully grown, the cowpea reaches a height of 30 to 80 cm.

The plants need about 60 to 90 frost-free days before they can be harvested. In general, they get along well with other beans, carrots, grains, cucumbers, radishes and turnips. However, they are best avoided next to garlic, onions or potatoes. For cooked young beans, harvest when the young pods are plump but still tender. This is approximately 60 to 70 days. ¹¹

General information:

The cowpea is a legume (Fabaceae). The plant belongs to the Faboideae family and is part of the genus Vigna . The scientific name is Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata or Vigna sinensis . It is related to three other subspecies or groups of varieties: Vigna unguiculata subsp. dekindtiana (the wild form related to the cultivated plants), Vigna unguiculata subsp. cylindrica (catjang bean) and Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (asparagus bean). ¹²

Cowpeas thrive even in very dry conditions and in soils with a high sand content. ⁶ All types of this subspecies have a strong, deep taproot that can draw water from deep soil layers. ⁵ This makes them important crops in dry regions or in semi-deserts where few other crops survive.

The plants serve as food for humans as well as feed for livestock. ¹³ This is probably where the name cowpea comes from. The cowpea has a pronounced ability to fix nitrogen. This means that it grows in monocultures, but can also be productive in mixed cultures (with millet, corn, cassava and cotton). ¹⁴

The use of the plant varies greatly depending on the region and tradition. In Africa, India and South America, young leaves, green pods and green beans are eaten as vegetables. The ripe beans can be boiled, steamed and roasted in oil or made into flour. In the south of the USA, a special vegetable industry has been established that offers green and ripe beans in cans. Annual production reaches around 20,000 tons. ⁵

Breeding has been taking place in many places for a long time. India, South America, Australia and especially the USA are worth mentioning here. The aim of such breeding programs is, among other things, to improve the protein supply of the rural African population, which suffers from protein deficiency.

Other common names are cowpea or cowpea. The most common name in world literature is cowpea. ^5.15

Literature / Sources:

1. heimbiotop.de vigna
2. Madison D. Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, with Over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press; 2013: 343
3. hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/cowpea
4. www.charlotteobserver.com/living/food-drink/article87717307
5. bibd.uni-giessen.de cow bean
6. English Wikipedia Cowpea
7. Delaveau P. et al. Secrets and healing powers of plants. Stuttgart: Das Beste GmbH; 1978: 311.
8. spektrum.de/lexikon/ernaehrung antinutritive substances
9. Brücher H. Tropical crops. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer; 1977: 208.
10. chilifee.de Black-eyed bean
11. harvesttotable.com how_to_grow_southern_peas
12. Richard L. Fery. New Opportunities in Vigna. In: Janick J., Whipkey A. Trends in new crops and new uses. Alexandria, VA: ASHS Press; 2002: 424–428.
13. Quin FM Introduction. In Singh BB et al. Advances in Cowpea Research. Ibadan, Nigeria: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences; 1997
14. Blade SF, Shetty SVR, Terao T., Singh, BB Recent developments in cowpea cropping systems research. In Singh, BB et al. Advances in Cowpea Research. Ibadan, Nigeria: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences; 1997
15. German Wikipedia, Egg bean