Dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the most important pulses consumed in the world. Total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, total monomeric anthocyanin content and antioxidant capacity were determined, using ferric reducing antioxidant power and free radical scavenging activity, in 255 lines grown under the same environmental conditions. For all parameters analysed, there was a wide range of variability, with differences always above one order of magnitude. Phenolic compounds in beans with coloured coats were found to be more efficient antioxidants than those with completely white coats, and samples with more strongly coloured coats (red, cream, black, pink and brown) showed the highest antioxidant capacities. Based on the strong correlation detected between the variables, total phenolic content can be considered an appropriate indicator of antioxidant activity. The results provide a robust database for selecting those lines of greater functional and nutritional interest in terms of cultivation for direct consumption, for inclusions in food formulations or for use in future breeding programs.

Bean anthracnose is caused by the fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (Sacc. & Magnus) Lams.- Scrib. Resistance to C. lindemuthianum in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) generally follows a qualitative mode of inheritance. The pathogen shows extensive pathogenic variation and up to 20 anthracnose resistance loci (named Co-), conferring resistance to specific races, have been described. Anthracnose resistance has generally been investigated by analyzing a limited number of isolates or races in segregating populations. In this work, we analyzed the response against eleven C. lindemuthianum races in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) common bean population derived from the cross Xana × Cornell 49242 in which a saturated linkage map was previously developed.

White mold, caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary, is a major disease that limits common bean production and quality worldwide. The host-pathogen interaction is complex, with partial resistance in the host inherited as a quantitative trait with low to moderate heritability. Our objective was to identify meta-QTL conditioning partial resistance to white mold from individual QTL identified across multiple populations and environments. The physical positions for 37 individual QTL were identified across 14 recombinant inbred bi-parental populations (six new, three re-genotyped, and five from the literature). A meta-QTL analysis of the 37 QTL was conducted using the genetic linkage map of Stampede x Red Hawk population as the reference. The 37 QTL condensed into 17 named loci (12 previously named and five new) of which nine were defined as meta-QTL WM1.1, WM2.2, WM3.1, WM5.4, WM6.2, WM7.1, WM7.4, WM7.5, and WM8.3. The nine meta-QTL had confidence intervals ranging from 0.65 to 9.41 Mb. Candidate genes shown to express under S. sclerotiorum infection in other studies, including cell wall receptor kinase, COI1, ethylene responsive transcription factor, peroxidase, and MYB transcription factor, were found within the confidence interval for five of the meta-QTL. The nine meta-QTL are recommended as potential targets for MAS for partial resistance to white mold in common bean.