The common bean is a nutrient-dense food empirically known to have beneficial effects on human health. Many studies have looked at the effects of “pulses” on different health issues, providing general overviews of the importance of each pulse in health studies. This study systematically reviews and provides meta-analyses of the effect of bean extract as a supplement or whole bean on four health issues (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and cancers) from a dissection of clinical and randomized controlled trials using human subjects. A digital search in PubMed and Google ScholarTM resulted in 340 articles, with only 23 peer-reviewed articles matching our inclusion criteria. Findings indicated that common beans reduced LDL cholesterol by 19 percent, risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 11 percent, and coronary heart disease (CHD) by 22 percent. Besides this, we noted variances in the literature on cancer findings, with some authors stating it reduced the proliferation of some kinds of tumor cells and reduced the growth of polyps, while others did not specifically examine cancers but the predisposing factors alone. However, diabetes studies indicated that the postprandial glucose level at the peak of 60 min for common bean consumers was low (mean difference = −2.01; 95% CI [−4.6, −0.63]), but the difference between the treated and control was not significant, and there was a high level of heterogeneity among studies (I2 = 98%). Only obesity studies indicated a significantly high level of weight gain among control groups (mean difference = 1.62; 95% CI [0.37, 2.86]). There is a need for additional clinical trials using a standardized measure to indicate the real effect of the common bean on health.
Participatory variety selection (PVS) is the selection of new varieties among fixed lines by farmers under different target environments. It is increasingly being used to select and promote new crop breeding materials in most African countries. A gender-responsive PVS tool was piloted in Embu and Nakuru in the first and second cropping seasons of 2019 to understand similarities and differences between men’s and women’s varietal and trait preferences for biofortified released varieties and local bean varieties (landraces). Pooled results indicate that varietal and trait preferences between men and women farmers were slightly different but followed gendered roles and division of labor. Women farmers have a higher preference for landraces compared to men due to their availability, affordability and accessibility. Preferences for bean varieties differed between men and women across the two counties. High yielding was the most prioritized trait by both men and women for Mwitemania, Nyota, and Angaza. The findings support the long-held assumption that men prefer market-oriented traits, but women have a greater range of concerns thus less market oriented than men. For Nyota, men’s preferences were shaped by market traits, while women’s preferences were based on the variety being early maturing, resistant to pests and diseases, marketable, and fast cooking. For other varieties, men preferred Mwitemania because it is high yielding, early maturing, resistant to pests and diseases, and marketable. In contrast, women preferred Mwitemania because of seed availability, fast cooking, and early maturing. However, men’s and women’s varietal preferences for Angaza were similar, with them reporting early maturing, resistance to pests and diseases, and marketability as attractive traits. Sociodemographic characteristics such as education, age, marital status, and land ownership underlined the differences in trait preferences. Despite having attractive traits for both men and women, Nyota increased drudgery, displaced women from their usual activities, and required additional inputs by women, signaling possible adoption tradeoffs. However, Nyota, Angaza, and Mwitemania can provide the opportunity to increase employment for women. This study calls for gender integration at the design stage of any breeding system to ensure men and women farmers have access to varieties they prefer for food and income generation.
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