The bean, whose name in the language Nahuatl is ETL, is a very small legume.In Mexico alone, it's consumed by more than a hundred million people.The population benefits from its proteins, vitamins, minerals and fibers since it provides iron, copper, zinc, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and calcium.
Gabriel Padilla Maya, general coordinator of Promotion and Encouragement of Mexico's Agriculture Department (SEGARPA), explains that "we're doing a specific promotion of the use of traditional Mexican ingredients because we want the country to be the world's headquarters of gastronomy.It's got plenty of potential."Indeed, the bean is, after corn, part of the 50 traditional Mexican products put together on a list by SEGARPA.
The scientifically called Phaselolus Vulgaris (common bean) has been grown for around eight thousand years in Peru, Ecuador, central Mexico and northern Central America.For now, more than 150 bean species are known and in Mexico alone there are more than 50.The most numerous in Mexico are the common one and the ayocote.
Being a food that cannot be replaced with the consumption of any other food, the bean is a fundamental food in the Mexican diet, especially for the lower classes of the country as it constitutes the main source of protein for said sector.
According to SEGARPA, "due to its great economic and social importance, the bean is a strategic product within the rural development of Mexico, as it is second in terms of sown area nationwide and it also represents the second most important agricultural activity in the country for the number of producers dedicated to the cultivation.That's why, as a job provider, it is relevant within the economy of the rural sector."
To conclude that the legume was born in Mexico, scientists analyzed the diversity of the nucleotides in five positions of a gene in a chromosome.There are different forms of a gene (alleles) which can be in the same position in homologue chromosomes."Our study presents clear proof of a Mesoamerican origin of Phaselolus Vulgaris, which, very likely, was located in Mexico," says the article.
The authors also suggest that the common bean, which seems to have originated in Peru and Ecuador, is "a relic which only represents a fraction of the genetic diversity of the ancient population which migrated from central Mexico in past times."So they recognize two genetic ecogeographic groups.One in Mesoamerica and another one in the most occidental hillsides of the Andes.
The hypothesis they are considering is that the legume spread northbound to Colombia, Central America and Mexico, and southbound to Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.The main world dry bean producers are Brazil, India, Birmania, China, the U.S., Mexico, Tanzania, Kenia, Argentina and Uganda.
Whether they're black, yellow, white, purple or pinto beans, the bean returns to its origin to keep on being the most important pillar of Mexico's diet and development.