Seed Iron and Zinc concentrations in cultivated and biofortified common bean accessions from the core collection measured by X-Ray Fluorescence
Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the world’s most important legume crop and a vital staple food for millions of people in Latin America and Africa. Given the rising demand for beans and their central role in nutrition and food security, especially in these regions, enhancing the nutritional quality of common bean seeds through breeding is becoming increasingly urgent. García et al. (2025) demonstrated that Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) can non-destructively estimate seed nitrogen content while providing valuable nutritional information that improves the use of large genebank collections in breeding programs. Building on this work, additional nutritional traits—including micronutrient content—are also being explored to guide selection and accelerate nutritional improvement. This dataset includes laboratory-estimated iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) concentrations for 300 cultivated accessions from the common bean core collection and one biofortified variety, all quantified using an energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, as described in García et al. (2025) (S-Table 3). These data were generated with the purpose of training and testing prediction models for micronutrient content. While N-prediction models achieved a concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) of 0.84, comparable models for Fe and Zn reached only ~0.4 CCC, indicating lower predictive performance for these elements. Nevertheless, this dataset remains valuable for identifying accessions with high Fe or Zn concentrations. For each accession, three independent measurements were generated, and the dataset reports mean values, standard deviation (SD), and coefficient of variation (CV).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fochms.2025.100316
Intact seeds of common bean accessions were manually cleaned to remove impurities, damaged grains, broken grains, and any signs of deterioration. For each accession, 25 g of seeds were washed with deionized water, followed by ultrapure 18 MΩ-cm water to remove possible contaminants from the harvest. The washed seeds were then sieved in a plastic strainer, and excess water was removed using sterile gauze. The seeds were dried at 60 °C for 3 days in a convection oven. Once dried, seeds were ground using a batch mill and then stored at 4 °C in polyethylene containers until further analysis. To determine each accession's Fe and Zn concentrations, we used an energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, applying three replicates per accession. All equipment and utensils used were previously washed with a solution of nitric acid (5 %) and then rinsed with 18 MΩ-cm water.
Intact seeds of common bean accessions were manually cleaned to remove impurities, damaged grains, broken grains, and any signs of deterioration. For each accession, 25 g of seeds were washed with deionized water, followed by ultrapure 18 MΩ-cm water to remove possible contaminants from the harvest. The washed seeds were then sieved in a plastic strainer, and excess water was removed using sterile gauze. The seeds were dried at 60 °C for 3 days in a convection oven. Once dried, seeds were ground using a batch mill and then stored at 4 °C in polyethylene containers until further analysis. To determine each accession's Fe and Zn concentrations, we used an energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, applying three replicates per accession. All equipment and utensils used were previously washed with a solution of nitric acid (5 %) and then rinsed with 18 MΩ-cm water.
List of accessions included in the dataset