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ARS Home » Midwest Area » East Lansing, Michigan » Sugarbeet and Bean Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #120314

Title: VARIABILITY FOR COOKING TIME IN DRY BEANS

Author
item Hosfield, George
item BEAVER, JAMES - UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.) require more time than most staple foods to cook to a point to where the seeds are palatable and the protein and starch can be digested. Cooking time is a major criterion for dry bean utilization in many countries of Central American and the Caribbean where this crop is a dietary staple and firewood is the main fuel source for cooking. We conducted an experiment to develop baseline data on an array o genotypes that have gained the interest of growers in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and several Central American countries. Thirty-seven accessions consisting of cultivars and breeding lines were screened for their cooking time using a 25-well Mattson pindrop cooker. The genotypes were representative of pinto, black, red-mottled, white, kidney, pink, and small-red market classes. Beans were soaked and blanched and positioned into each of the 25 cylindrical holes of the cooker. The piecing tip of the e105g rod was placed in contact with the surface of each bean. Cooking time was calculated as the elapsed time from initiation of cooking until 19 of the 25 pins of the instrument had dropped and penetrated seeds in the cooker. The experiment was replicated 4 times. Significant differences were detected among genotypes which individually ranged from 1.7 min for MUS-N-8 (black seeded) to 124.6 min for Tio Canela 75(small-red). As a group, pinto beans were the fastest cooking (5.8 min) and the small-red market class genotypes the slowest (80.3 min).Sufficient genetic variation exists in this material to shorten cooking time through intermating and selection. Breeders in national programs where beans are a staple food would find it worthwhile to include cooking time reduction as a selection criterion in addition to yield and pest resistance.