Physical, nutritional and germination characteristics of native beans under water stress

Abstract

The genus Phaseolus is widely spread in the country, in a variety of edaphoclimatic conditions; this has allowed farmers in the state of Oaxaca given its orography to select materials that suit their particular conditions. This work was performed at the Technological Institute of Oaxaca Valley (ITVO), in order to evaluate collections of native bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris and Phaseolus lunatus) from the Central Valleys of Oaxaca on their physical, nutritional and germination capacity under water stress conditions generated by the addition of osmolytes in the germination media. It was able to observe biological variation in terms of physical characteristics related to size, color and weight. The results indicate that in relation to the nutritional composition of these collections, show content of protein, fat and crude fiber at rates similar to those reported in other studies. Germination capacity varied between collections even in normal conditions (control), the lowest value had it frijolon (big bean) (52.5%), while the collection negro delgado (thin black), blanco delgado (thin white), negro grueso (thick black) and colorado (red) had the highest germination rate under water stress. Polietilenglycol (PEG) was the osmolyte that reduced germination capacity of seeds and in the case of sucrose was found that this favored the germination rate over the other osmolytes used.