Wang Wei has a poem that everyone must be familiar with: "When those red berries come in spring, they bloom in your southern branches. Take them home for me as a symbol of our love." The red bean in the poem is what we want to say. This song "Red Bean" uses red beans as a metaphor for acacia, giving red beans the reputation of "acacia bean", which makes people feel good about red beans, a plant with beautiful appearance and profound meaning.

There is a saying on the Internet that red beans are poisonous, three micrograms can kill people, and even the roots and leaves are highly toxic, which makes people feel afraid of this beautiful and symbolic plant. This is wrong, because the poison is not the red bean in Wang Wei's poems, but another kind of red bean-red bean called Jimuzhu, which originated in Indonesia and is now widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. This kind of red bean is highly toxic, so it can't be eaten or even contacted with human body.

Is red bean poisonous?

In Wang Wei's poems, there is also a kind of red bean, which refers to the seeds of arbor red bean trees. This kind of red bean is nontoxic, bright red and edible.

Is red bean poisonous?

Whether red beans are poisonous or not actually depends on how to understand the concept of "red beans".

If it is the red bean that everyone says in life, it is definitely harmless, because it is actually adzuki bean. As a kind of bean food, it can be used to cook porridge and make bean paste, which has a wide range of uses and rich nutrition. If it is the "red bean" in ancient Chinese, it actually refers to acacia. Acacia is a poisonous plant, because the food contains acacia venom protein, which will be poisoned or even died if you are not careful.