Page "Bean" Paragraph 3

Bean is sometimes used as a synonym of pulse, an edible legume, though the term pulses is usually reserved for leguminous crops harvested for their dry grain.

The term bean usually excludes crops used mainly for oil extraction ( such as soybeans and peanuts ), as well as those used exclusively for sowing purposes ( such as clover and alfalfa ).

Leguminous crops harvested green for food, such as snap peas, snow peas, and so on, are not considered beans, and are classified as vegetable crops.

According to United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization the term bean should include only species of Phaseolus ; however, a strict consensus definition has proven difficult because in the past, several species such as Vigna ( angularis ( azuki bean ), mungo ( black gram ), radiata ( mung bean ), aconitifolia ( moth bean )) were classified as Phaseolus and later reclassified.

The use of term bean to refer to species other than Phaseolus thus remains.

In some countries, the term bean can mean a host of different species.