The objective of this work was to evaluate the genetic diversity through eleven morphological, agronomic and nutritional characteristics, among 45 traditional cultivars of common black beans collected in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Genetic divergence was detected among traditional and commercial test cultivars. The generalized distance of Mahalanobis was the basis for Tocher and UPGMA clusters. By the Tocher method, nine groups were constituted and the greatest divergences were observed among the cultivars of the group 7, specially cultivar CFE 22. To compose breeding program with these groups of genotypes, it is suggested crossings among cultivars of the group 2, mainly with CFE 25, CFE 100, FT Nobre, and those of the group 7, specially cultivar CFE 22. These cultivars were the most divergent and productive ones.
Phaseolus vulgaris; genetic divergence; Mahalanobis distance; cluster techniques
