Lupini Beans - by Food To Live

What are Lupini Beans?

Lupini beans are the seeds of Lupinus flower. It is actually an excellent alternative to soy, used in vegan sausages, sauces, and tofu. Especially these legume seeds are popular in Egypt and Latin America as a snack. People in Japan and Indonesia use it for cooking their traditional dishes: soy sauce, tofu, and miso.


How Do They Taste?

Black, brown and cream-colored lupin seeds are edible. In general, lupini seeds split into two categories: sweet lupin and the other is bitter. Due to the lesser content of alkaloids, which make lupini beans bitter, one of the varieties is called sweet.


Is Bitterness the Only Problem of Lupini Beans?

It is essential to know that the alkaloids, which spoil the raw beans' taste, are very toxic. The good news is that a simple daily repeated action of soaking and rinsing (for several days) will cause these molecules to leach out in the water, turning lupine beans into a fabulous healthy snack.


The Other Content of Lupini Beans

Their composition justifies the interest in lupini beans. First of all, they have a lot of protein - up to 50%. Secondly, there are also many vitamins: PP, A, B1, B2, B3, B6, and C. Moreover, lupini beans contain a rich spectrum of minerals: potassium, iron, zinc, copper, calcium, selenium, and manganese. Furthermore, polyunsaturated fatty acids are abundant (5-20%). In raw beans, the mass of protein is 2.7%, but when they are dried, it reaches 40-50%.


How to Cook Dried Lupini Beans

Due to the bitter taste, it is impossible to eat lupini beans fresh. Heat eliminates this drawback in 10 minutes. However, it would be helpful to rinse and soak beans beforehand. Lupini beans used in different ways: cooking soups, making vegetable stews, desserts, and adding them to sauces. Lupine flour is used for the production of confectionery and baking bread.