The long tradition of common bean cultivation in Italy has allowed the evolution of many landraces adapted to restricted areas. Nowadays, in response to market demands, old landraces are gradually being replaced by improved cultivars. However, landraces still survive in marginal areas of several Italian regions. Most of them appear severely endangered with risk of extinction due to the advanced age of the farmers and the socio-cultural context where they are cultivated. The present contribution is an overview of the state of the art about the knowledge of Italian common bean germplasm, describing the most important and recent progresses made in its characterization, including genetic diversity and nutritional aspects.

Grains of ten emmer and ten spelt accessions were evaluated for their mineral composition and compared to common (cvs Autonomia and Manital) and durum (cvs Norba, Simeto and Venusia) wheats grown in the same experimental field in Southern Italy. Calcium, copper, lithium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sulfur and zinc contents of whole flour were determined. All tested minerals varied broadly within both hulled wheat species. K, Mg, P and S were the major mineral components. No significant correlations were found among the tested minerals in both species. Emmer and spelt accessions mainly differed from wheat cultivars for higher contents of Li, Mg, P, Se and Zn. The highest levels for all tested minerals were detected in spelt accessions, which suggests a different uptake in grains between the hulled what species.