On Oct 22, 9:15*am, wrote:
In article ,

Martin wrote:

We have tried a similar experiment. Virtually tasteless. *Never
realised they were poisonous raw.

Most ripe beans are best used as the starchy component of a dish,
with other ingredients to add flavour.

They can't be very poisonous. I've eaten uncooked broad beans without
any ill effects.

Firstly, the toxin is in the skins and increases significantly as
they ripen; young ones have virtually none.

Secondly, broad beans (Vicia) have very little of the toxin; it
is the New World Beans (Phaseolus) that are the real problem.
Well, except for things like Calabar beans, which aren't Vicia,
either :-)

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Just tried an experiment. Gave my wife's parrot a raw runner bean.
(It deserves to die anyway). It dropped it instantly. (They taste
with their tongues). It was perfectly happy to shred a complete pod.
But never ate a bean.
However they do eat toxic seeds in the wild. Maybe only when
nothing else is available.