ABSTRACT The slow darkening of grains is sought by bean breeders because the consumers consider that darker grains demand more time for cooking. The analysis currently used takes around 90 days to differentiate grain color among genotypes. The objective was to evaluate the color as a function of the value of L* (lightness) of carioca beans, by natural and accelerated methods to verify equivalence between methods, validation of the methodology and identification of genotypes tolerant to the darkening. The grain darkening was compared and evaluated by natural darkening method under shelf conditions, in days storage, and accelerated darkening method under ultraviolet light, in hours. The natural darkening time of 90 days was statistically equal to 24 hours of accelerated darkening, and the difference among the genotypes could be obtained in a shorter time, indicating a correspondence in the methods. The accelerated darkening method can be used to shorten the analysis time in the routine of breeding programs.