Wax beans, yellow, raw, (organic?)

Yellow wax beans are a variety of common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris). In the kitchen they are used like green beans, mainly cooked, not raw. They can occasionally be found in organic quality.

Use in the kitchen

Wax beans are also called yellow beans or butter beans. They are a light, slightly milder and more delicate tasting variant of the green garden beans.

Can you eat yellow beans raw? Because yellow beans contain the lectin phasin, you should cook them for at least 10 minutes and not eat them raw. You should throw away the cooking water, especially if you suffer from severe bloating or flatulence after eating beans. However, valuable nutrients are lost during cooking. It is better to steam the wax beans in a steamer. You can also buy yellow beans frozen or pre-cooked in cans or jars. The latter are often salted and can contain acidifiers.

Cooked yellow beans can be eaten alone or mixed with other vegetables, such as carrots, broccoli or cauliflower. They can also be used in stews, casseroles or soups. They taste delicious cold as a bean salad.

Vegan recipe for wax bean salad

Ingredients (for 4 people): 800 g wax beans, 1-2 red onions (raw, organic), 1 clove of garlic (raw, organic), 2 spring onions (raw, organic), 250 g cherry tomatoes (raw, organic), 1 green bell pepper (raw, organic), 5-10 black olives (pitted, organic).

Preparation: Wash the wax beans and cook until al dente. Peel the garlic and onions. Finely chop the garlic. Wash the spring onions and cut into rings or cubes like the onions. Wash the cherry tomatoes and cut in half. Wash the green bell peppers, remove the seeds and cut into small cubes. Mix the ingredients in a large bowl with the salad dressing of your choice. An oil-free vinaigrette goes well with this, for example.

Vegan recipes with yellow wax beans can be found under the note: " Recipes that have the most of this ingredient ".

Purchasing - Storage

You can buy yellow beans (wax snap beans) from major retailers such as Rewe, Edeka and Spar. Usually not fresh, however, but in jars or cans. Coop, Migros, Denner, Volg, Aldi, Lidl, Hofer and Billa do not have yellow beans in their standard range. Often you only find green, raw beans there. You can occasionally buy yellow beans (raw) in organic supermarkets such as Denn's Biomarkt or Alnatura, as well as seasonally at the weekly market.

The harvest of field beans takes place between May and October. ¹⁸ Due to imports and canning, they are often available all year round.

The availability of yellow wax beans (raw) varies depending on the size of the store, catchment area, etc. You can find our recorded food prices for the DA-CH countries above under the ingredient image - and by clicking you can see their development at various suppliers.

Storage tips

Fresh yellow wax beans are best wrapped in a damp cloth and stored in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. Ideally, the beans are eaten within 2 to 3 days, but they can also be kept for up to a week. ^2,3 If stored for a longer period, their crispness and nutritional content decrease.

Ingredients - Nutritional values - Calories

Raw yellow beans (organic) contain only 31 kcal per 100 g. They are very low in fat at 0.12 g. 100 g of yellow beans contain 1.8 g of protein and 7.1 g of carbohydrates. The fiber content is 3.4 g/100g. ¹

Wax beans are rich in vitamin K, which is contained in 43 µg/100g. This corresponds to 58% of the daily requirement. Chinese cabbage (43 µg/100g), asparagus (42 µg/100g) and celeriac (41 µg/100g) have similar values. Swiss chard (830 µg/100g) and kale (705 µg/100g) have particularly high levels of vitamin K. This corresponds to 1107% and 940% of the daily requirement respectively. ¹ The fat-dissolving vitamin K is heat-stable and only minimal losses occur during cooking.

Yellow beans contain vitamin C (ascorbic acid). 100 g contain 16 mg, which corresponds to 20% of the daily requirement. Sprouted lentils (16 mg/100g), summer squash and parsnips (17 mg/100g) have similar vitamin C contents. Yellow bell peppers (184 mg/100g) and green chili peppers (242 mg/100g) contain particularly high levels of vitamin C. ¹ Since vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, it is lost during cooking and passes into the cooking water. Brief blanching and rapid cooling and freezing can help here.

Folate (folic acid) is contained at 37 µg/100g. This corresponds to 19% of the daily requirement. Celery (36 µg/100g) and chicory (37 µg/100g) have similar folate contents. Raw mung beans (625 µg/100g) have a significantly higher content. Since folate is one of the heat-sensitive vitamins and is lost even when heated slightly, the actual amount of folate (folic acid) after preparation is lower than when raw. However, various pulses have even more folic acid when cooked than when raw, e.g. cooked kidney beans (130 µg),cooked black beans (149 µg) and cooked lentils (181 µg). Raw broad beans contain 423 µg/100g, which corresponds to 212% of the daily requirement. ¹ Unlike green beans, small amounts of broad beans can be eaten raw.

Wax beans also contain manganese and potassium, as well as riboflavin (vitamin B₂). ¹

The complete ingredients of yellow wax beans, the coverage of the daily requirement and comparison values with other ingredients can be found in our nutrient tables. In the article Nutrients explained you will get a detailed insight into the topic.

Health effects

Are wax beans (yellow beans) healthy? Studies on health effects refer almost exclusively to dried beans. Beans, like other legumes, contribute to general health and can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. ¹⁹

Yellow wax beans have a similar nutritional profile to green beans. Wax beans contain few calories (31 kcal/100 g ¹), but are high in fiber.Fiber contributes to a longer feeling of satiety after eating. ¹⁶ Wax beans are therefore suitable for a low-calorie diet and can help you lose weight. Yellow beans (raw) are rich in vitamin K. The body needs this vitamin for blood clotting. It also prevents calcium deposits in soft tissues and supports the regulation of cell processes (e.g. cell division). Vitamin K also inhibits bone loss because the enzyme osteocalcin, which regulates bone mineralization, is dependent on vitamin K. ¹⁷

Wax beans should not be confused with dried yellow beans. These are beans that are eaten half-ripe and still in the pod. The protein content of yellow wax beans is lower than that of dried beans. Yellow beans contain only 1.8 g/100g of protein. In contrast, cooked kidney beans have 8.7 g, cooked white beans 8.3 g andcooked black beans 8.9 g of protein per 100 g of beans. ¹

Dangers - Intolerances - Side effects

Like all varieties of garden beans, yellow beans are harmful when eaten raw because they contain several substances that are incompatible with humans, including the lectin phasin (phytohemagglutinin), phytic acid and protease inhibitors. These so-called anti-nutrients can be reduced by cooking so that the beans can be eaten. The polysaccharides (oligosaccharides) contained in the beans are difficult for humans to digest. It is only in the large intestine that intestinal bacteria can break down the raffinose and stachyose through bacterial fermentation, producing gas as a byproduct. This can lead to bloating and flatulence. People who eat small amounts of fiber usually react more sensitively and it is therefore better to increase the amount gradually. It has also been shown that people do not react in the same way to every type of bean, which is why it is worth trying out different varieties for sensitive people. ¹⁵

There is also some evidence that adding baking soda makes the beans more digestible. Spices such as savory, fennel seeds, anise, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and caraway seeds aid digestion and relax the intestinal muscles, which is why they can reduce flatulence. If you have a gastrointestinal intolerance to oligosaccharides, it is possible to take the enzyme α-galactosidase, which breaks down raffinose into sucrose and galactose, orally. However, this should not be done without medical advice. There are studies that confirm the effect of tablets containing this enzyme ²⁰ and studies that show no relief of current gastrointestinal symptoms. ²¹

Ecological footprint - animal welfare

Pulses such as garden beans (especially bush bean varieties) are an important part of crop rotation in organic farming. Through the symbiosis with the nodule bacteria in the soil, pulses can enrich the soil with between 50 and 100 kg of nitrogen per hectare per year. This is then available to subsequent plants. They are therefore an important pre-crop, especially for cereals. In conventional farming, the cultivation of pulses in northern areas of Europe is of little importance, as they sometimes require high temperatures. Beans and fresh peas together make up less than 10% of the area of outdoor vegetables in Germany. ¹⁰

The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg ( ifeu) examined almost 200 foods in Germany in 2019 for their environmental impact. The calculation of the ecological footprint is based on average values for agricultural production (including all upstream processes, such as fertilizer production), food processing, packaging (including disposal of the same) and distribution to the supermarket. Different cultivation methods (organic - conventional), domestic production vs. import by truck, ship or plane, etc. were also taken into account. For selected foods, the authors also point out the phosphate, water and land consumption. Beans in general have a CO ₂ footprint of 0.8 kg CO ₂ eq/kg. ¹⁴

The ecological footprint of beans depends heavily on their country of origin. If they come from Morocco or Egypt, they are usually transported to Europe by plane. This generates high levels of greenhouse gas emissions and has a negative impact on the environmental balance. In these countries, the amount of water needed for cultivation must also be viewed critically, as these are naturally dry regions. Accordingly, the water use of beans from Morocco has a greater impact on the environment than that of products from Italy. ¹¹

Beans are sometimes grown in greenhouses. This allows for better control of the growing environment, such as humidity and temperature. However, if cooling is used, the energy consumption is much higher than in open-field cultivation or in greenhouses without such a system. ¹²

Ideally, when shopping, you should look for regional, seasonal products from organic farming. Organic farming does not require the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. These are used to grow green beans, especially in developing countries that rely heavily on exporting their produce. In the past, however, there have been increasing cases of poisoning among farmers due to these pesticides, which has led to stricter regulations. Beans intended for export must therefore meet certain standards, which are monitored by the EU. The stricter regulations have led to an increase in the use of alternative pest control practices and the wearing of protective clothing. ¹³

Worldwide occurrence - cultivation

The common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris) originally comes from Central America and the Andean region of South America. For a long time it was assumed that there were two centers of domestication. However, recent studies show that the common bean was probably first domesticated in Mexico and later cultivated in the Andean regions. ⁶ In the 16th century, common beans were introduced to Europe, with varieties from Central and South America being cultivated. Over the centuries, Europe developed its own varieties through hybridization. ⁷

Found in the wild Wild

forms of the common bean can be found in Central and South America. ⁶ A wild parent form, Phaseolus aborigineus Burk., is still found in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. ^8,9 Wild common beans are rarely found in Europe. There they are mainly found in a cultivated form.

Cultivation -

Harvest Wax beans can be planted in the garden bed. They grow as bush beans and do not need any trellises. When fully grown, they reach a height of 25 to 30 cm. They like a sunny or partially shaded location. The soil should be deep and well-drained. Bush beans are very sensitive to cold. The higher the temperatures, the faster the seeds germinate. Certain bush beans can be planted outdoors from mid-May. Most varieties, however, only between June and August. ^4.5

For direct sowing in the bed, the seeds can be sown in 2-3 cm deep grooves every 40-50 cm in a row with a distance of 4 cm between the rows. Often not all beans germinate, so to be on the safe side you can always plant two beans directly next to each other. Then water well and keep moist during the germination phase. The young plants should be mounded up to increase stability and stimulate root growth. Bush beans need the most water during the period from flowering to fruiting. You should also hoe them regularly and loosen the soil. ⁵

Depending on the variety, bush beans can be harvested after about 6 weeks. ⁴ Wax beans are tastiest after they turn from green to yellow. Yellow beans should be harvested when the seeds have not yet pushed through the shell and the pod breaks cleanly when bent. The younger the pods are, the more tender the beans taste. You can harvest the pod by carefully snapping off the stem with your fingers. You can also cut it off with sharp scissors. Regularly harvesting the bean plants promotes fruit setting and thus the formation of new fruit. ^4.5

Further information

What are wax beans? Wax beans or yellow beans are a variant of the common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris). This belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. The pods of the common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris) can be flat or round in cross-section and can be marbled in various colors such as green, yellow, purple or black. Yellow beans (wax beans) are often eaten with the pods still unripe (but always cooked). The seeds of the common bean have different colors and shapes and are often used to make dried beans.

Alternative names

Yellow beans are also called wax beans, wax snap beans or butter beans. The English name is wax beans or yellow beans.