This study aimed to evaluate and select varieties of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) for tolerance to salt stress and to identify, using bean varieties with different degrees of tolerance, variables to aid in the screening of salt-tolerant varieties, regardless of the mechanism used by the plant. The experiments were conducted in a greenhouse. Initially, 48 P. vulgaris varieties were evaluated (allocated in subplots) at two salinity levels (distributed in the plots): normal nutrient solution (NNS) at 0.81 dS m-1 and test solution (TNS) at 5.6 dS m-1, which was obtained by adding NaCl in a randomized block design with four replications. The dry weight of aerial part was used to calculate the percentage of growth of the varieties achieved in TNS in relation to NNS, which ranged from 138.7 to 54.1%, discriminating them according to the Scott-Knott criterium in two populations: one with 14 more "tolerant" varieties and another with 34 varieties, which grouped "moderately tolerant" and "sensitive" varieties. To identify growth variables that allow selection of tolerant plants to salt stress, two tolerant (Vermelho and CNF 5574), a moderately tolerant (FT 83-86) and a sensitive (LM 30074) varieties, which were classified in a previous experiment, were grown in nutrient solutions with five levels of salinity (0.81, 2.7, 4.6, 6.5, and 8.4 dS m-1). Results of dry mass of root, stem, petiole, leaves and aerial part, leaf area and specific leaf area showed that the specific leaf area was the index that most effectively contributed to the discrimination of bean varieties for tolerance to salinity.
Salt tolerance; bean; NaCl; salinity