Soaking beans for 12 h reduces split percent and cooking time regardless of type of water used for cooking.

Beans are one of the most important cheap source of protein in developing countries. However, their utilisation in the diets of many people remains limited due to long cooking time, among others. Therefore, it is imperative to identify ways to enhance utilisation of beans. The aim of the current study was to assess the effects of soaking and cooking in different types of water (tap, borehole, acidulated- 1.0 percent citric acid and soda- 0.2 percent sodium bicarbonate) on cooking time (CT), split percentage (SP) and total soluble solids (TSS) in broth of different varieties of beans. Results show that soaking significantly reduced CT across eight varieties from an average CT of 109.5-84.6 min in tap water, 109.5-85.2 min in borehole water, 115.9-92.7 min in acidulated water and 82.0-51.2 min in soda water representing 22.7%, 22.1%, 20.0% and 37.6% reduction in CT, respectively. Soaking generally decreased SP and varietal differences were observed suggesting beans are less likely to break when soaking precede cooking. Although cooking in soda water significantly reduced CT, unfortunately, it increased SP. Acidulated water extended CT but reduced SP in almost all varieties. Soaking generally decreased TSS in broth from 7.0 to 6.7% in tap water, 6.1-5.8% in borehole water and 11.3-7.7% in soda water while it increased TSS in acidulated water from 18.2 to 20.6% across all the eight varieties which suggest reduction in leaching out of bean solids into cooking water which is consistent with reduced SP of soaked beans. While use of soda water reduced cooking time and therefore saved time and energy, its effect of increasing split percent may not be appealing to some consumers. This study has demonstrated that bean soaking significantly reduced cooking time and split percent and these can also be affected by type of cooking water.

Acceptability of orange corn-common bean as an alternative to corn-soybean complementary porridge in Malawi.

This study assessed the acceptability of porridge from a corn-common bean flour blend to increase the diversity of complementary foods in Malawi. Porridges prepared using commercial corn-soybean flour (C-CSB), homemade orange corn-soybean flour (H-CSB), and orange corn-common bean flour (CCBB) were evaluated by 101 pairs of mothers and their respective children aged from 6 to 24 months. A home use test (HUT) setup was used in this study, and the flours were given sequentially to participating households following a randomized complete block design. Each sample type was evaluated for 3 days in a row followed by a 1-day break (washout period) between sample types. Based on aggregate mean scores, all the samples were liked by both the children and their mothers. However, clustering results revealed two distinct consumer segments for mothers as well as for children. Most of the mothers (59.4% in cluster 1) liked all the samples, while the minority (cluster 2) were neutral (neither like nor dislike) regarding the H-CSB porridge. Likewise, most children (66.3% in cluster 2) liked all the samples, while the rest in cluster 1 did not like CCBB porridge. Infants (≤12 months) and those from food-insecure households, respectively, were 5.42 and 6.75 times more likely to like the CCBB porridge than their counterparts. The study has demonstrated the potential of introducing CCBB complementary porridge in Malawi and possibly in other countries with similar food preferences and socioeconomic stature. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The study provides a solution to the limited diversity of complementary foods in sub-Saharan Africa and Malawi in particular. The findings can help food scientists, nutritionists, marketers, and policymakers develop strategies for promoting the consumption of orange corn-common bean porridge. Furthermore, the findings can inform decisions on commercializing orange corn-common bean flour by flour processors.

Genome-wide association analysis of bean fly resistance and agro-morphological traits in common bean.

The bean fly (Ophiomyia spp) is a key insect pest causing significant crop damage and yield loss in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L., 2n = 2x = 22). Development and deployment of agronomic superior and bean fly resistant common bean varieties aredependent on genetic variation and the identification of genes and genomic regions controlling economic traits. This study's objective was to determine the population structure of a diverse panel of common bean genotypes and deduce associations between bean fly resistance and agronomic traits based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Ninety-nine common bean genotypes were phenotyped in two seasons at two locations and genotyped with 16 565 SNP markers. The genotypes exhibited significant variation for bean fly damage severity (BDS), plant mortality rate (PMR), and pupa count (PC). Likewise, the genotypes showed significant variation for agro-morphological traits such as days to flowering (DTF), days to maturity (DTM), number of pods per plant (NPP), number of seeds per pod (NSP), and grain yield (GYD). The genotypes were delineated into two populations, which were based on the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools. The genotypes exhibited a minimum membership coefficient of 0.60 to their respective populations. Eighty-three significant (P<0.01) markers were identified with an average linkage disequilibrium of 0.20 at 12Mb across the 11 chromosomes. Three markers were identified, each having pleiotropic effects on two traits: M100049197 (BDS and NPP), M3379537 (DTF and PC), and M13122571 (NPP and GYD). The identified markers are useful for marker-assisted selection in the breeding program to develop common bean genotypes with resistance to bean fly damage.

Immediate impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on bean value chain in selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa's agriculture and food systems were already grappling with challenges such as climate change and weather variability, pests and disease, and regional conflicts. With rising new cases of COVID 19 propelling various African governments to enforce strict restrictions of varying degrees to curb the spread. Thus, the pandemic posed unprecedented shocks on agriculture and food supply chains in Sub Saharan Africa. In this study, we use survey data collected from nine countries in Central, Eastern, and Southern, Africa to understand the immediate impact of COVID-19 on production, distribution, and consumption of common beans, and possible food security implications. Descriptive analysis of data collected from bean farmers, aggregators, processors, bean regional coordinators, and mechanization dealers reveal that COVID-19 and government restrictions had impacted the availability and cost of farm inputs and labour, distribution, and consumption of beans in Eastern and Southern Africa. The immediate impacts were dire in Southern Africa with Central Africa slightly impacted. The production and distribution challenges negatively impacted on frequency and patterns of food consumption in households in Africa. Thus, the pandemic poses a greater risk to food security and poverty in the region. Governments could play a significant role in supporting the needs of smallholder farmers, traders and other actors through provision of subsidized agricultural inputs.

Population structure and genetic diversity analyses of common bean germplasm collections of East and Southern Africa using morphological traits and high-density SNP markers.

Knowledge of genetic diversity in plant germplasm and the relationship between genetic factors and phenotypic expression is vital for crop improvement. This study's objectives were to understand the extent of genetic diversity and population structure in 60 common bean genotypes from East and Southern Africa. The common bean genotypes exhibited significant (p<0.05) levels of variability for traits such as days to flowering (DTF), days to maturity (DTM), number of pods per plant (NPP), number of seeds per pod (NSP), and grain yield per hectare in kilograms (GYD). About 47.82 per cent of the variation among the genotypes was explained by seven principal components (PC) associated with the following agronomic traits: NPP, NFF (nodes to first flower), DTF, GH (growth habit) and GYD. The SNP markers revealed mean gene diversity and polymorphic information content values of 0.38 and 0.25, respectively, which suggested the presence of considerable genetic variation among the assessed genotypes. Analysis of molecular variance showed that 51% of the genetic variation were between the gene pools, while 49% of the variation were within the gene pools. The genotypes were delineated into two distinct groups through the population structure, cluster and phylogenetic analyses. Genetically divergent genotypes such as DRK57, MW3915, NUA59, and VTTT924/4-4 with high yield and agronomic potential were identified, which may be useful for common bean improvement.

Genomics, genetics and breeding of common bean in Africa: A review of tropical legume project.

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important legume crop worldwide. The International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and its national partners in Africa aim to overcome production constraints of common bean and address the food, nutrition needs and market demands through development of multitrait bean varieties. Breeding is guided by principles of market-driven approaches to develop client-demanded varieties. Germplasm accessions from especially two sister species, P. coccineus and P. acutifolius, have been utilized as sources of resistance to major production constraints and interspecific lines deployed. Elucidation of plant mechanisms governing pest and disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance and grain nutritional quality guides the selection methods used by the breeders. Molecular markers are used to select for resistance to key diseases and insect pests. Efforts have been made to utilize modern genomic tools to increase scale, efficiency, accuracy and speed of breeding. Through gender-responsive participatory variety selection, market-demanded varieties have been released in several African countries. These new bean varieties are a key component of sustainable food systems in the tropics.

Analyses of African common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) germplasm using a SNP fingerprinting platform: diversity, quality control and molecular breeding.

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important staple crop for smallholder farmers, particularly in Eastern and Southern Africa. To support common bean breeding and seed dissemination, a high throughput SNP genotyping platform with 1500 established SNP assays has been developed at a genotyping service provider which allows breeders without their own genotyping infrastructure to outsource such service. A set of 708 genotypes mainly composed of germplasm from African breeders and CIAT breeding program were assembled and genotyped with over 800 SNPs. Diversity analysis revealed that both Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools are in use, with an emphasis on large seeded Andean genotypes, which represents the known regional preferences. The analysis of genetic similarities among germplasm entries revealed duplicated lines with different names as well as distinct SNP patterns in identically named samples. Overall, a worrying number of inconsistencies was identified in this data set of very diverse origins. This exemplifies the necessity to develop and use a cost-effective fingerprinting platform to ensure germplasm purity for research, sharing and seed dissemination. The genetic data also allows to visualize introgressions, to identify heterozygous regions to evaluate hybridization success and to employ marker-assisted selection. This study presents a new resource for the common bean community, a SNP genotyping platform, a large SNP data set and a number of applications on how to utilize this information to improve the efficiency and quality of seed handling activities, breeding, and seed dissemination through molecular tools.

Reduction in nutritional quality and growing area suitability of common bean under climate change induced drought stress in Africa.

Climate change impacts on food security will involve negative impacts on crop yields, and potentially on the nutritional quality of staple crops. Common bean is the most important grain legume staple crop for human diets and nutrition worldwide. We demonstrate by crop modeling that the majority of current common bean growing areas in southeastern Africa will become unsuitable for bean cultivation by the year 2050. We further demonstrate reductions in yields of available common bean varieties in a field trial that is a climate analogue site for future predicted drought conditions. Little is known regarding the impact of climate change induced abiotic stresses on the nutritional quality of common beans. Our analysis of nutritional and antinutritional compounds reveals that iron levels in common bean grains are reduced under future climate-scenario relevant drought stress conditions. In contrast, the levels of protein, zinc, lead and phytic acid increase in the beans under such drought stress conditions. This indicates that under climate-change induced drought scenarios, future bean servings by 2050 will likely have lower nutritional quality, posing challenges for ongoing climate-proofing of bean production for yields, nutritional quality, human health, and food security.