Plant atlas Short
Winged Bean: The Four-Cornered Pod in Yam Thua Phu
Winged Bean · ถั่วพู · Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
Winged Bean — ถั่วพู (too-a-poo) — Psophocarpus tetragonolobus.
Slice a young pod crosswise and it falls into little four-cornered stars, each edge frilled like a green ruffle, crisp enough to snap raw into a chili-paste plate. The pod brings plant protein, vitamin C, folate, iron, and calcium, and the same vine gives up leaves, flowers, and starchy tubers. The part on your plate is the young, glossy pod. On the plate, winged bean is a crisp, protein-rich pod — snapped raw into a chili-paste salad, four-cornered stars and all. One kitchen rule: the young pods go in raw, but the mature dried seeds behave like kidney beans, so soak and cook those through first.
Yam Thua Phu — ยำถั่วพู (yam-tua-poo)
Pad Thua Phu — ผัดถั่วพู (pad-tua-poo)
Source: Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of winged bean, in vitro (RAW264.7 cells): Molecules 2021; PMID 34361588; DOI:10.3390/molecules26154435. Seed protein composition: Journal of Food Quality 2019; DOI:10.1155/2019/3075208. Antinutrients and cooking: Legume Science 2023 (Bepary et al.); DOI:10.1002/leg3.187.
Educational content, not medical advice! Consult your doctor before changing diet or medication.
#LongevityBiome #ThaiHerbs #WingedBean
Food and nutrients
Rich in: protein, Vitamin C, folate, iron, calcium
Research context
Winged bean extracts scavenged free radicals and calmed inflammatory markers in lab-dish cells — Molecules, 2021