Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been widely used to determine food chemical composition and to a lesser extent to evaluate sensory properties. Because sample preparation is relatively simple, NIRS is especially useful in situations where many samples must be analysed, such as gene-bank characterization or breeding. We aimed to assess the feasibility of using NIRS to predict aroma, flavour, mealiness, seed-coat perception, seed-coat brightness, and seed-coat roughness in common beans