Potential for increasing the zinc content in common bean using genetic improvement

A large proportion of the world’s population is at risk of developing symptoms of zinc deficiency due to its low levels in food. The objective of this research was to estimate the heritability in early hybrid generations for the zinc content character in seeds of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), to investigate possible maternal effects on zinc contents and to evaluate the potential for genetic improvement. Reciprocal F₁, and F₂ generations as well as backcross (RCP₁ and RCP₂) populations were produced by crosses of three cultivars. The seed zinc content was measured by the nitric-perchloric digestion method and using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The range of variation in zinc content among tested progenies was from 21.76 mg kg⁻¹ dry matter to 53.48 mg kg⁻¹ dry matter, and no significant maternal effect was discovered. Narrow sense heritability was of an intermediate 57.5% to high 77.84% value and transgressive segregation was observed. These results suggest that breeding for increased zinc content in the seeds of common bean can be quite successful; an increase of 37.3% was obtained using just the three parents tested in this study.