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Family • Leguminosae
Sitaw
Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpers subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdc.
LONG BEAN
 Fan dou

Scientific name  Common names 
Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. subsp. sesquipedalis Sitaw (Tag.)
Vigna sinensis (L.) Hassk. subsp. sesquipedalis Sitao (Tag.)
Vigna sesquipedalis (L.) Agcaoili Asparagus bean (Engl.)
Dolichos sesquipedalis Linn. Long-podded cowpea (Engl)
Jiang dou (Chin.) Yardlong bean (Engl.)
  Yardlong cowpea (Engl.)
  Snake bean (Engl)
  String bean (Engl.)
  Dou jiao (Chin.)


Other vernacular names
ARABIC: Lubya baladi.
CHINESE: Dou jou, Hong dou, Chang jiang dou, Dau gok.
DANISH: Aspargesbonne, Kaempeaspargesbonne, Meterbonne.
FRENCH: Dolique asperge, Dolique géante, Haricot kilomètre, Haricot asperge.
GERMAN: Spargelbohne, Langbohne.
INDIA: Eeril
ITALIAN: Fagiolo asparago, Fagiolo gigante.
JAPANESE: Juuroku sasage.
KHMER: Sandaek troeung.
MALAY: Kacang belut, Kacang panjang, Kacang tolo.
PORTUGUESE: Feijao-chicote, Feijao-espargo, Dolico gigante.
RUSSIAN: Boby sparzhevye, Metrovye boby, Sparzhevaia fasol', Vigna v'jushchaiasia.
SPANISH: Dolico esparrago, Judía espárrago, Poroto esparrago, Dólico gigante.
THAI: Tuk fak yaow, Tua phnom.
VIETNAMESE: Dau dua, Dau giai ao.


Botany
Sitaw is an herbaceous climbing plant grown for it strikingly long edible pods. Leaves are trifoliate, green, oval and smooth-edged. Flowers are purplish, about 1.5 centimeters long, giving out green and slender yardlong pods.


Distribution
Cultivated.

Uses
Culinary / Nutrition
• Pods are eaten fresh or cooked, best when young and slender.
• Good source of protein, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, phosphorus and potassium. A very good source of vitamin C, folate, magnesium and manganese.
• 100 gm give 47 calories, 0 fat, 0 cholesterol, 8 gms of carbohydrates and 3 gm of protein.
Folkloric
• No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.

Studies
• Antiproliferative / HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitory Activity: A lectin with a unique hemagglutinating activity was isolated from Vigna sesquipedalis cv ground bean. The ground bean lectin exhibited mitogenic activity on murine splenocytes. The viability of hepatoma (HepG2), leukemia (L1210 and M1) cells was reduced in the presence of ground bean lectin while also exerting an inhibitory activity toward HIV-1 reverse transcriptase IC50.
• Lipids / Phytoconstituents: Dried edible seeds of six varieties of V unguiculata and two of P vulgaris were analyzed for chemical constituents. The paper highlights safety and nutritive values. Some composition values for VU were: protein 20.5-31%, fat 1.14-3.03%, fiber 1.70 -4.5%, carbohydrate 56-65.7%. Potassium was the most abundant element inn the seeds

 Availability
Seasonal produce.

Last Update December 2012
Photos © Godofredo Stuart / StuartXchange
OTHER IMAGE SOURCE: / Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. ssp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdc. - yardlong bean / Tracey Slotta @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Not Copyrighted / USDA

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Vigna unguiculata / Wikipedia
(2)
Purification of a trypsin-stable lectin with antiproliferative and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory activity / Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications • Volume 301, Issue 2, 7 February 2003, Pages 545-550 / doi:10.1016/S0006-291X(02)03080-2
(3)
Lipids and other constituents of Vigna unguiculata and Phaseolus vulgaris grown in northern Nigeria /A Onwuliri and J A Obu / Food Chemistry • Volume 78, Issue 1, July 2002, Pages 1-7 • doi:10.1016/S0308-8146(00)00293-4
(4)
Vigna unguiculata subsp. (L.) Walp. subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdc. / Chinese name / Catalogue of Life, China
(5)
Sorting Vigna names / Maintained by: Michel H. Porcher, / MULTILINGUAL MULTISCRIPT PLANT NAME DATABASE / Copyright © 1997 - 2000 The University of Melbourne.

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