Green bean

A green bean is the immature, edible pod of a common bean plant, usually harvested before its seeds mature and eaten whole.

Common bean: A legume species, Phaseolus vulgaris, cultivated for edible seeds and immature pods. Green beans are immature pods of this species.
Harvest: The gathering of mature crops or edible plant parts from cultivated plants. Green beans are harvested while their pods remain tender and immature.
Runner bean: A climbing bean species, Phaseolus coccineus, grown for edible pods and seeds. It resembles the common bean but belongs to a different species.
Nitrogen fixation: The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen gas into biologically usable compounds. Common bean roots can host bacteria that fix nitrogen in soil.
Legume: A plant in the family Fabaceae, whose fruits are pods and whose roots often host nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The common bean belongs to this plant family.
Blanching: Briefly heating food in boiling water or steam, then rapidly cooling it. Blanching preserves color and texture before green beans are frozen.
Asparagus bean: A cowpea variety grown for exceptionally long, slender edible pods. Its long pods are used like green beans but come from cowpea.
Rhizobium: A genus of bacteria that forms nitrogen-fixing symbioses with legume roots. These bacteria enable nitrogen fixation in common bean root nodules.
Bean pod: The elongated fruit of a bean plant, containing one or more seeds. The edible portion is the pod harvested before it becomes fibrous.
Freezing: Preserving food by lowering its temperature until its water freezes. Frozen green beans retain quality best after blanching.

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Bean (food)Broader topic: It is a bean eaten as a pod rather than as a mature seed.