Isoflavones are nutraceuticals with many different medical benefits found abundantly in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) seeds. The prerequisite of utilising this valuable source of bioactive compounds and creating quality stock for the pharmaceutical and functional food industries is the screening of available soybean germplasm for isoflavone content. The objectives of this research were to determine the isoflavone concentrations (total isoflavones, daidzein, genistein, glycitein) in 22 high-yielding soybean genotypes, to investigate their variability and explore the effect of different weather conditions on isoflavone phenotypes. Field trials were set up as a randomised complete block design with two replicates in three consecutive years (2010-2012) at the Agricultural Institute Osijek (Osijek, Croatia). Chosen genotypes belonged to 00-II maturity groups (MGs) suitable for growing in almost all European regions. Results showed the existence of genetic diversity among the tested plant material. The influence of genotype and year were both statistically significant. The divergence determined by the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and confirmed by the pair-wise similarity based on the Euclidean distance, confirmed that this set of genotypes was suitable for the use in future crossing 48

Results of the studied photosynthetic efficiency parameters of wheat cultivars were also the good predictor for important agronomic traits, especially, when they were detected in the early stage of growth.

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) has high needs for water but can tolerate drought very well because, under stress conditions, its well developed root system can supply water and mineral nutrients from deeper soil layers. Reduced water content in soil affects plant growth and development, photosynthetic rate and causes rapid leaf senescence. In this study, we measured maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), photosynthetic performance index (PIABS) and leaf temperature (LT) on 13 sunflower genotypes at different soil water contents. By calculating stress tolerance indices (STI) of Fv/Fm and PIABS parameters we evaluated drought tolerance for every tested sunflower genotype at given soil water contents. The experiment was set up in vegetation pots in two treatments with different soil water contents (60% and 80% of field water capacity) in three replications. Based on the obtained results for Fv/Fm and PIABS and STI values of Fv/Fm and PIABS parameters, we concluded that genotypes 5 and 12 had higher tolerance at both treatments, as opposed to genotypes 2 and 13 which were less tolerant. These analyses will help breeders to select genotypes adapted to different farming areas which is, along with the use of recommended production practices, the background for profitable sunflower production.

The objective of this study was to determine the progress in grain yield and grain quality accomplished with conventional breeding methods, as well as to identify stable, widely or specifically adapted genotypes under central European growing conditions. Recently developed soybean elite lines of maturity groups (MGs) 00, 0 and I were compared with commercial cultivars (standards) in comparative field tests during three consecutive years (2018-2020) in Osijek, Croatia. The ANOVA results showed significant genotype, environment, and genotype-by-environment interaction effects. There was a significant improvement in productivity and quality in comparison to standards, while stability parameters for tested traits indicated there are stable and mostly specifically adaptable elite lines. Improvement of the domestic gene pool and high agronomic performances of elite lines stable in most important economic traits will considerably contribute to increasing and improving soybean production in central Europe.

Multi-year studies are crucial for the evaluation of sunflower hybrids and quantifying the environmental effect in the expression of genetic potential. In order to assess the adaptation of eight hybrids and test the impact of water availability on plant height (PH), head diameter (HD), 1000-grain weight (TWG), hectolitre mass (HM), seed yield (SY), oil content (OC) and oil yield (OY), a two-year study was conducted with irrigation as treatment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed the year influence on all tested agronomic traits. According to the three-way ANOVA, irrigation significantly affected all tested traits except HD, OC and OY. All agronomic traits had lower values in both rainfed and irrigated treatment in 2014, confirming the influence of the environment. The hybrid was a significant source of variation for all traits. ANOVA and PCA grouped hybrids 1, 7, and 8 in one group and 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in another. The first group had lower PH, HD, TGW and SY values and higher HM, OC and OY values, and the second group had reversed traits values. Furthermore, the PCA biplot indicates SY was positively correlated with PH, HD, TGW and OY and HM was positively correlated with OC. This facilitates the breeding process because it enables indirect breeding for economically important traits such as seed yield, oil content and oil yield. As treatments were significant sources of variation for PH, HM, TWG and SY, sunflower irrigating is considered justified and can be used as an additional agrotechnical measure to target the agronomic traits. Understanding the expression of traits under rainfed and irrigation conditions will greatly help design effective breeding programs by creating hybrids suitable for cultivation in semi-arid environments.