On Food and Cooking

legume seed coat is almost entirely cell-wall
carbohydrates, and includes most of the seed’s
indigestible fiber. The coats of colorful
varieties — pinks, reds, black — are rich in
anthocyanin pigments and related phenolic
compounds, and therefore in antioxidant
power.
Most beans and peas are mainly protein
and starch (see box, p. 489). The major
exceptions are soybeans and peanuts, which
are around 25% and 50% oil respectively.
Many legumes are several percent sucrose by
weight, and noticeably sweet.
Some legume seeds are rich in defensive
secondary compounds (p. 258), notably
protease inhibitors, lectins, and in the case of
tropical lima beans, cyanide-generating
compounds (American and European lima
varieties generate little or no cyanide).
Animals fed a diet of raw beans will actually
lose weight. All of these potentially toxic
compounds are disabled or removed by