Sucrose content in soybean seeds is desired to be high because as a sweetness-imparting component, it helps in wider acceptance of soy-derived food products. Conversely, galactosyl derivatives of sucrose, that is, raffinose and stachyose, which are flatulence-inducing components, need to be in low concentration in soybean seeds not only for augmenting utilization of the crop in food uses but also for delivering soy meal with improved metabolizable energy for monogastric animals. In the present study, analysis of 148 soybean genotypes for sucrose and total raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) contents revealed a higher variation (4.80-fold) for sucrose than for RFOs content (2.63-fold). High-performance liquid chromatography analyses revealed ranges of 0.64-2.53 and 2.09-7.1 mmol/100 g for raffinose and stachyose contents, respectively. As information concerning the environmental effects on the sucrose and RFOs content in soybean seeds is not available, we also investigated a set of seven genotypes raised at widely different geographical locations for these quality traits. Sucrose content was found to be significantly higher at cooler location (Palampur); however, differences observed for raffinose and stachyose contents across the growing locations were genotype-dependent. The results suggest that soybean genotypes grown at cooler locations may be better suited for processing soy food products with improved taste and flavor.

Three Indian soybean genotypes, namely, Kalitur, Hara soya and NRC37 with black, green and yellow colored seed coat respectively were gamma irradiated at a dose of 0.5, 2.0, and 5.0 kGy. The total isoflavones and total phenol content (TPC) in all the genotypes increased significantly at a dose of 0.5 and 2 kGy respectively. The anthocyanin content was high in Kalitur, while other genotypes showed no detectable amounts of it. The hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (HRSA), DPPH free radical scavenging activity (FRSA) and total antioxidant power (TAP) were highest in Kalitur with black seed coat color. However, maximum enhancement in antioxidant properties was found in NRC37 with yellow followed by Hara soya with green seed coat color at a dose of 0.5 and 2.0 kGy. It was also observed that the 3 soybean genotypes showed an increase in antioxidant constituents and antioxidative properties at lower doses of 0.5 and 2.0 kGy while, the antioxidant effects of soy seeds were either decreased or remained constant at a higher dose of 5.0 kGy. It is suggested that mild gamma irradiation enhanced the antioxidant constituents and, hence, antioxidant potential of soybean seeds.

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BackgroundSoybean (Glycine max L. Merril) crop is major source of edible oil and protein for human and animals besides its various industrial uses including biofuels. Phytoplasma induced floral bud distortion syndrome (FBD), also known as witches’ broom syndrome (WBS) has been one of the major biotic stresses adversely affecting its productivity. Transcriptomic approach can be used for knowledge discovery of this disease manifestation by morpho-physiological key pathways.ResultsWe report transcriptomic study using Illumina HiSeq NGS data of FBD in soybean, revealing 17,454 differentially expressed genes, 5561 transcription factors, 139 pathways and 176,029 genic region putative markers single sequence repeats, single nucleotide polymorphism and Insertion Deletion. Roles of PmbA, Zn-dependent protease, SAP family and auxin responsive system are described revealing mechanism of flower bud distortion having abnormalities in pollen, stigma development. Validation of 10 randomly selected genes was done by qPCR. Our findings describe the basic mechanism of FBD disease, right from sensing of phytoplasma infection by host plant triggering molecular signalling leading to mobilization of carbohydrate and protein, phyllody, abnormal pollen development, improved colonization of insect in host plants to spread the disease. Study reveals how phytoplasma hijacks metabolic machinery of soybean manifesting FBD.ConclusionsThis is the first report of transcriptomic signature of FBD or WBS disease of soybean revealing morphological and metabolic changes which attracts insect for spread of disease. All the genic region putative markers may be used as genomic resource for variety improvement and new agro-chemical development for disease control to enhance soybean productivity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-018-1601-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.