Cooking time, flavor, and texture of dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are valued by consumers but are not major considerations of dry bean breeding programs. The aim of this research is 1) to investigate mechanisms underlying fast cooking times of select genotypes, 2) to characterize the genetic control of cooking time, flavor, and texture of cooked beans in a diversity panel and a recombinant inbred line population, and 3) to evaluate how fast-cooking bean genotypes process into canned products. The genetic mechanism of fast cooking time was assessed via the physical and compositional seed characteristics in a set of 8 genotypes. Faster cooking beans had thinner cotyledon cell walls and seed coat layers and lower seed coat percentage, seed weight, and total and insoluble fiber. To identify genomic loci underlying cooking time, flavor, and texture, genome-wide association (GWA) and quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping approaches were used with 430 lines of the Andean Diversity Panel and 242 yellow recombinant inbred lines. Sensory attributes included total flavor, beany, vegetative, earthy, starchy, sweet, and bitter intensity as well as seed coat perception and cotyledon texture. SNPs and QTL were identified for most of the attributes, with QTL for earthy intensity having the most phenotypic variation explained. In both populations, sweet and starchy intensity were positively correlated and associated via PCA, but other trait associations were minimal. A subset of lines from the RIL population were evaluated for canning quality following different retort processing durations. For fast-cooking lines, canning quality improved with reduced retort processing time, revealing a potential cost-saving benefit to the canning industry. This information lays a foundation for targeting fast cooking times and specific sensory profiles in breeding programs.
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