Characteristics of a common bean landrace (Phaseolus vulgaris L) of great culinary value and selection of a commercial inbred line

The Ganxet bean is a landrace that is greatly appreciated in northeast Spain. For commercial purposes a pure line selection process was undertaken in this landrace. Simultaneously, the Ganxet bean was compared with standard controls for nutritional traits. Seven inbred lines, representative of the variability within the Ganxet germplasm, were studied per se and compared with bean varieties White Kidney, Navy, Faba Asturiana and Tolosa. The Ganxet germplasm was found to contain more protein, less total dietary fibre, more digestible dietary fibre, a higher proportion of seedcoat, more glucose and less starch than the controls. Study of the agronomic, commercial, nutritional and gastronomic aspects of the Ganxet inbred lines showed sufficient variability to allow two inbred lines representative of Ganxet germplasm to be chosen for commercialisation. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry