Sigarilyas

Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC.

WING BEAN

Si leng dou

Common names

Common names

Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC.

Dolichos tetragonolobus Linn.
Botor tetragonolobus (L.) Kuntze.

Kalamismis (Tag.)
Kabey (Bis.)
Segidilla (Tag.)
Sigarilyas (Tag.)
Asparagus bean (Engl.)
Four-angled bean (Engl.)
Goa bean (Engl.)
Princess pea (Engl.)
Short-day asparagus pea (Engl.)
Winged bean (Engl.)

Other vernacular names

BURMESE: e saung ya, Hto pong, Ku bemya.
CHINESE: Si leng dou, Si jiao dou.
DANISH: Goabnne, Goaboenne.
DUTCH: Ketjipir.
FINNISH: Goanpapu.
FRENCH: Pois asperge, Pois carr, Haricot ail, Pois ail.
GERMAN: Flgelbohne.
HINDI: Chaukoni sem.
ITALIAN: Fagiolo quadrato.
JAPANESE: Shikaku mame, Tousai, Urizun.
KHMER: Prpiy.
LAOTIAN: Thwx ph'uu.
MALAY: Kecipir, Kethipir, Ketjeepir, Kachang botol, Kacang kelisa, Kachang botor, Kacang sirek, Kechang
bolon, Kachang belimbing.
PORTUGUESE: Fava de cavalo.
RUSSIAN: Psofokarpus chetyrekhkylyi.
SINHALESE: Dara dambala, Darambulla.
SPANISH: Dlico de Goa, Frijol alado, Judia careta, Calamismis.
SWEDISH: Vingbna.

THAI: Thua phuu.

VIETNAMESE Dau rong.

Botany
Sigarilyas is a vine with climbing stems and leaves, to a height of 3-4 meters. Leaves are
pinnate or palmate to trifoliate. Bean pod is about 6 to 8 inches long, four-angled. Flowers
are large and pale to bright blue.

Distribution
- Seasonal cultivation.

Constituents
- Rich in oil (up to 17%), protein, vitamin E and calcium.
- Proximate analysis showed P. tetragonolobus to be rich in proteins (33.83%), with considerably high
amount of carbohydrate (22.30%). Fat content was 17.51%; crude fiber, 12.23%; water content,
P>0.05. (see study below) (6)
- Mineral composition (mg/kg) of winged beans yielded magnesium, 2238.18 0.04; zinc,
364.76 0.64; copper, 90.79 0.72; calcium, 889.86 0.63, sodium, 1972.34 0.69;
potassium, 4219.30 0.81. (6)
- Study showed that fatty oil from fully mature seeds had a higher proportion of unsaturated
fatty acids (75.5%); immature seeds yielded a higher percentage of saturated FA (61.3%).
Unsaponification of fatty oil yielded stigmasterol (66.4%) and -sitosterol (25.1%). Total
lipids of fully mature seeds yielded neutral, glyco- and phospholipids. Fatty oil of fully mature
seeds yielded mono-saturated FA (38.6%) and polyunsaturated FA (36.9%) without trans-

fatty acids, thereby meeting the edible oil standard. (10)

Properties
- Studies have suggested antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive, antioxidant
properties.

Uses
Culinary
- Whole plant is edible, the beans used as vegetable; but the other parts leaves, flowers
and rootsare also edible.
- Flowers used as rice and pastry colorant.
- Young leaves can be pickled or prepared as vegetable, like spinach.
- Good source of vitamins A and C, calcium and iron.
- Roasted seed used as coffee substitute.
Folkloric
No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.

Studies
Antimicrobial: Results of study of extract of PT pods showed activity against B. subtilis
and B. cereus, P mirabilis, E coli, S typhi, K pneumonia and C albicans and suggested a
potential source for antimicrobial compounds. (1) Methanol extract of Psophocarpus
tetragonologus leaves exhibited bactericidal effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa.(3)
Fungicidal: Study of methanol extract of PT root showed no toxicity and a favorable
antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans. (2)
Aluminum Content of Edible Portion: Study was done to evaluate the accumulation of
aluminum in the edible parts of the plant: leaves, pods, seeds and tubers. Results showed
all edible portions of the plant accumulate aluminum from high to very high levels compared
to an average of less than 300 ppm in other crop plants; the accumulation was highest in the
youngest tissues, especially the roots, recording as high as 25,000 ppm. (4)
Phytohemagglutinins / Seeds: One of the drawbacks in the utilisation of winged bean
protein is the presence of anti-nutritional factors typical of legumes. Study evaluated the
seeds from eleven cultivars of Psophocarpus tetragonolobus for phytohemagglutinin activity.
Levels ranges from 3,200 to 25,600 hemagglutinating units/g sample, on a fresh weight
basis. Seeds showed greater activity than tubers and leaves. Phytohemagglutinins were
found to be thermolabile. (5)
Proximate Analysis: Winged beans is unique among leguminous crops in that many plant
partsleaves, pods, seeds, and tubersare edible and rich in protein. Based on findings on
proximate analysis, winged beans could be useful in the formulation of infant formula. (see
constituents above) (6)
Isolectins / Leaves: Study isolated two isolectins from the leaves of winged bean, differing
from each other in immunological properties, hemagglutinating activities, sugar inhibition
patterns, and amino aid compositions. (7)
Anti-Candidal / Pod Extract: Study evaluated a pod extract of Psophocarpus

tetragonolobus for antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans. Results showed alteration
in morphology and complete collapse of yeast cells after 36 hours of exposure. Study
confirms the possible antimicrobial potential of the pod extract. (8)
Anti-Inflammatory / Antioxidant / Anti-Nociceptive: Study evaluated the antiinflammatory, antioxidant and anti-nociceptive properties of six Malaysian medicinal plants,
including Psophocarpus tetragonolobus. All plants showed significant nitric oxide inhibitory
activity without causing cytotoxicity to RAW 264.7 cells. All plants showed different degrees
of antioxidant activities, attributed to phenolic compounds. All plant species suppressed
writhing response of mice at different degrees of inhibition.(9)

Availability
Cultivated.

Last Update February 2015

Photos Godofredo Stuart / StuartXchange

SOURCES

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings

(1)
ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES AND TOXICITY OF CRUDE EXTRACT OF THE PSOPHOCARPUS
TETRAGONOLOBUS PODS / ISSN 0189-60162007 / L. Yoga Latha, S. Sasidharan et al / Afr. J. Trad.
CAM (2007) 4 (1): 59 - 63
(2)
Fungicidal Effect and Oral Acute Toxicity of Psophocarpus tetragonolobus Root Extract / S Sasidharan et
al / Pharmaceutical Biology, Volume 46, Issue 4 April 2008 , pages 261 - 265 / DOI:
10.1080/13880200701740858
(3)
Antibacterial Activity and Toxicity of Psophocarpus tetragonolobus. / Pharmaceutical Biology / 2007, Vol.

45, No. 1, Pages 31-36

(4)
Aluminum contents of the edible portions of the winged bean, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC.
(Fabaceae): field study and caveat / Harder D K / Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 1994 Feb;45(2):127-37.
(5)
Phytohemagglutinins in the Winded Bean Psophocarpus tetragonolobus L. DC / S S Sri Kantha and N S
Hettiarachchy / J. Natn. Sci. Coun. Sri Lanka 1981 9(2): 223-228
(6)
CHEMICAL EVALUATION OF WINGED BEANS (PSOPHOCARPUS TETRAGONOLOBUS), PITANGA
CHERRIES (EUGENIA UNIFLORA) AND ORCHID FRUIT (ORCHID FRUIT MYRISTICA) / Amoo, I.A.,
Adebayo, O.T *, and Oyeleye, A.O / AJFAND, Vol 6, No 2, 2006.
(7)
Two isolectins from leaves of winged bean, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC. / Yagi F, Sawada R,
Imada T, Toyonaga S, Tadera K, Ishihata K / Plant & cell physiology 35:7 1994 Oct pg 1087-95
(8)
Effect of Psophocarpus tetragonolobus pod extract on Candida albicans / S. Sasidharan*, Z. Zuraini, L. Yoga Latha,
S. Suryani, and S. Sangetha / Journal of Tropical Medicinal Plants, Vol 9, No 1.
(9)
Evaluation of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-nociceptive activities of six Malaysian medicinal plants / K.
H. Lee, A. M. Padzil, A. Syahida*, N. Abdullah, S. W. Zuhainis, M. Maziah, M. R. Sulaiman, D. A. Israf, K. Shaari
and N. H. Lajis / Journal of Medicinal Plants Research, Vol.5(23), pp. 5555-5563 , October 2011
(10)
Physicochemical analysis of Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC seeds with fatty acids and total lipids
compositions / Chandra Sekhar Mohanty & Rama Chandra Pradhan & Vinayak Singh & Neha Singh &
Rojalin Pattanayak & Om Prakash & Chandan Singh Chanotiya & Prasant Kumar Rout / J Food Sci
Technol DOI 10.1007/s13197-014-1436-1
(11)
Sorting Psophocarpus names / /Maintained by: Michel H. Porcher / MULTILINGUAL MULTISCRIPT
PLANT NAME DATABASE / Copyright 1995 - 2020 / A Work in Progress. School of Agriculture and
Food Systems. Faculty of Land & Food Resources. The University of Melbourne. Australia.