Food Safety
fava bean causes hemolysis in G6PD deficiency
📅 Last reviewed: 2026-08-11 ⓘ
Evidence ladder
How far up the ladder this claim has climbed. A high consensus on a low rung means "consistent so far," not "proven in people."
Top evidence so far: Population patterns (Observational)
How the studies fall
What the evidence shows
Food-safety gate on any fava-containing formulation. The fava pyrimidine glycosides vicine and convicine yield divicine and isouramil, which deplete glutathione and lyse G6PD-deficient red cells. Clinical series in high-prevalence populations attribute the majority of acute haemolytic episodes to fava ingestion.
The evidence (5)
| Source | Grade | Stance | Quality | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prashanth GP, et al. 2025 · Pediatric blood & cancer | observational | supports | high | Prospective comparative cohort, 236 children hospitalised for acute haemolytic episodes with G6PD deficiency in Oman over 3 years: 51.6% of episodes attributed to fava bean ingestion; fava-induced cases were younger and had greater severity. |
| McMillan DC, et al. 1999 · Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology | animal | supports | moderate | Synthetic divicine given intraperitoneally to G6PD-NORMAL rats caused severe dose-dependent erythrocyte destruction (TD50 ~0.5 mmol/kg) within 24h, establishing direct haemotoxicity of the aglycone. |
| Tarhani F, et al. 2021 · Endocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets | observational | supports | moderate | Cross-sectional series of 308 children with G6PD-deficiency haemolysis (Iran): fava bean intake was the most common precipitant at 85.7%; 36.4% required transfusion (mean 18.9 cc/kg). |
| Kitayaporn D, et al. 1991 · The Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health | observational | contradicts | moderate | Cross-sectional study in Thailand found G6PD deficiency plus fava consumption produced only a ~1% haematocrit difference, too small to be clinically significant after adjustment. Disconfirms a universal hazard and points to G6PD variant dependence rather than to no effect. |
| Getachew F, et al. 2018 · Journal of the science of food and agriculture | in-vitro | supports | moderate | Ex vivo bioassay: fava aglycones divicine and isouramil caused dose-dependent glutathione depletion without regeneration and accumulation of denatured haemoglobin in sensitised red cells, reproducing the favism lesion. Mechanistic, not an outcome study. |
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