Assessment of the Physical, Chemical, Yield and Nutritional Quality Traits of Tropical, Temperate and Wild Dry Bean Species in Vietnam

Abstract

Background: Assessing agronomic and nutritional characteristics is one of the primary goals for assisting plant scientists in selecting promising grain legume crops for future food and nutritional security and increasing the income of smallholder farmers. Methods: The experiment was conducted from September 2021 to February 2022 at the greenhouse of GRIS, Ton Duc Thang University, Vietnam. Yield components, agronomic characteristics and biochemical and nutritional parameters of two varieties of tropical beans (Velvet White Bean and Red Cowpea), two varieties of temperate beans (Dwarf Stick Bean and Soybean) and two varieties of wild beans when grown in Vietnam were evaluated in the present study. Result: The results revealed the presence of a wide range of phenotypic variations in dry bean germplasm. The biochemical and nutritional properties of the bean types investigated revealed that the Velvet White Bean had a higher phenol content (0.42 mg GAE g-1) and a lower phytic acid concentration (2.87 µg mL-1) than the other species. The Dwarf stick vean had the highest flavonoid concentration among the types (0.017 mg RE g-1) while the crude protein content of soybean (38.2 mg g-1) was the highest. These findings serve as a foundation for breeders in selecting promising legumes to breed for Vietnam.