Disclosing the nutritional quality diversity of portuguese common beans—the missing link for their effective use in protein quality breeding programs

Elsa Mecha, Sofia Natalello, Bruna Carbas, Andreia Bento da Silva, Susana T. Leitão, Carla Brites, Maria Manuela Veloso, Diego Rubiales, Judite Costa, Maria de Fátima Cabral, Maria E. Figueira, Maria C. Vaz Patto, Maria R. Bronze

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) represents a sustainable and affordable source of protein, namely, to populations with vegetarian dietary habits. Despite the national germplasm genetic diversity, little is known about the Portuguese accessions’ nutritional and protein quality, leading to their underuse in breeding programs. To fill this gap, a representative collection (106 ac-cessions) was cropped under two contrasting environments (traditional versus heat stress) and evaluated in terms of nutritional quality by near-infrared spectroscopy. Protein quality was assessed, under the stressful environment, considering the individual amino acid contents and the activity of trypsin inhibitors through mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and spectrophotometry, respectively. On top of strong genotypic control, the nutritional composition (protein, fat, fiber, moisture and ash) was also highly influenced by the environment and by genotype × environment interaction, with a clear nutritional quality ranking change for the accessions in heat stress conditions. Classified into three clusters, the accessions from the cluster with the highest individual amino acid and protein contents also showed higher trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA). Since different levels of TIA had no translation into contrasting protein digestibility, breeders focusing on common beans’ protein quality improvement, especially under challenging warming climate conditions, may take advantage of this group of accessions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number221
JournalAgronomy
Volume11
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2021

Keywords

  • Amino acid
  • Common bean
  • Food sustainability
  • Nutritional value
  • Protein digestibility
  • Protein quality
  • Trypsin inhibitors
  • Variability

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