GENETIC VARIABILITY FOR GRAIN TECHNOLOGICAL TRAITS IN ANDEAN COMMON BEAN GENOTYPES

INTRODUCTION Andean common bean group presents tegument coloration and grain size variability. In this group, Dark Red kidney, Cranberry, Great Northern, Light Red kidney, Pinto, among others are the main commercial bean classes (Blair et al., 2010). High hydration rates, grain integrity and low cooking time are grain technological traits demanded by consumers and processors. These traits favor the fast prepare and also grain freezing and canning (Della Corte et al., 2003). Since there is genetic variability for grain technological traits among the Andean genotypes, the development of promising lines is possible by bean breeding programs to reach market demands. The aim of this study was to evaluate grain technological traits of Andean common bean genotypes in order to use them as variability source in the development of new cultivars. MATERIAL AND METHODS Fourteen bean genotypes belonging to the Andean origin center (Table 1, Figure 1) were grown in the experimental field of the Agronomic Institute of Paraná, Santa Tereza do Oeste, PR, Brazil (lat 25° 23’, long 53° 38’, 749 m asl), from August to November 2016, corresponding to the rainy season. The experimental design used was randomized blocks with two replications. After the harvest, a sample of 300 grams of the grains of each experimental plot was taken to evaluate the following grain technological traits: water retention capacity before cooking (WRCbc), water retention capacity after cooking (WRCac), solids content in the sauce after cooking (SC) and cooking time (CT) according to the methodology used by Della Corte et al. (2002). All determinations were performed in duplicate. The data were submitted to hierarchical grouping analysis (HGA) using XLSTAT software