softens the coat. In Egypt, the popular dish
called ful medames is made by boiling the
mature beans until soft, then flavoring with
salt, lemon juice, oil, and garlic. Mature fava
beans are also sprouted, then boiled to make a
soup.
Favism Eating fava beans is the cause of a
serious disease, favism, in people who have an
inherited deficiency of a particular enzyme.
Most victims are children who live in the
southern Mediterranean and Middle East, or
whose ancestors came from that region. When
they are exposed to two unusual amino-acid
relatives (vicine and convicine) in the beans
and in the flower pollen, their bodies
metabolize these chemicals to forms that
damage their red blood cells and cause
serious, sometimes fatal anemia. The enzyme
deficiency also turns out to suppress the
growth of the malaria parasite in red blood
cells, so it may actually have been an