Lupin Bean

Lupin beans are the yellow seeds of legume plants in the genus Lupinus, traditionally eaten as a pickled snack across the Mediterranean, Latin America and North Africa; the three main varieties eaten are Lupinus albus, the Mediterranean white lupin, Lupinus mutabilis, an Andean variety, and Lupinus angustifolius, the narrow-leafed lupin. The earliest evidence of their use comes from ancient Egypt, where seeds have been found in Twelfth Dynasty tombs dated to the twenty-second century BC, and both the ancient Greeks and Romans used them, while pre-Inca Peruvians domesticated the Andean species around the sixth or seventh century BC. Bitter varieties contain high levels of alkaloids and must be soaked at length in salt water before they are safe to eat, though modern sweet lupin cultivars have been bred with much lower alkaloid content and need little preparation; raw lupin beans are roughly 36 percent protein and 40 percent carbohydrate, providing about 370 calories per 100 grams, a nutrient density comparable to soy that can be grown in cooler climates.