Tryphone, George Muhamba2026-05-262026-05-262008https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/20.500.14820/7610Masters ThesesTwo experiments were conducted to determine the diversity of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) varieties in Fe and Zn contents. In total, 90 varieties were collected from major bean growing Regions of Tanzania. Twenty varieties were randomly selected for field experiment, while all 90 varieties were used for screen house experiment at SUA. In the screen house experiment, a Completely Randomized Design with three replications was used. The field experiment was conducted at SUA-Morogoro and Madiira-Arusha. A randomized complete block design with 20 varieties replicated three times. Seeds and leaves from both experiments were collected, dried, ground and the powder was used for Fe and Zn determination. Variation in Fe and Zn contents was observed among varieties in both seeds and leaves, and the best varieties were identified. Results have shown a positive and highly significant (P<0.001) correlation between leaves and seeds Fe and Zn, suggesting that genetic factors for increasing Fe are co-segregating with genetic factors for increasing Zn. Levels of Fe and Zn concentration among varieties at two sites was very different emphasizing the effect of both the environment and genotype. However, Leaves of the studied varieties have shown to have above average Fe and Zn contents thus forming a good source of the micronutrients in areas where bean leaves are consumed as vegetables. From this study, it is recommended that varieties that were found having high amount of Fe and Zn be used as a gene source in future breeding work, meanwhile, farmers should use those varieties for consumption and production.enDiversity-common bean{phaseolus vulgaris l.)Zinc-iron varietiesBean growingMicronutrients TanzaniaThesis