Determination of Carotene Content in Yellow-seeded Common Bean Varieties

Introduction Yellow-seeded beans are a minor commercial grain type from the Andean gene pool that are eaten in a subset of Latin American bean-producing countries, notably in Peru, Mexico and Brazil. Recently, they have become embroiled in a controversy in the United States where a patent was claimed on the marketing of yellow beans. In the meantime, the scientific basis for the yellow color is not known. In this study we decided to analyze whether the yellow color was derived from carotenoids or not. To do this we selected a group of accessions representing all the major types of yellow beans that are found in primary and secondary centers of diversityfor common beans and analyzed them for seed carotenoid content to determine if there is genetic variability for the trait.