Location: Bio-oils Research
2023 Annual Report
Objectives
Develop cutting edge analytical standards to provide a platform for essential activities to support soybean composition improvement in the U.S., including amino acids, fatty acids, protein, oil, and other important constituents.
Approach
Using new wet chemical methods, improved near infrared calibrations will be performed and compared to calibrations by other NIR users. A wider range of soybean composition will be worked into the calibration. Soxhlet and nitrogen analyses will be performed on a large number of soybean samples and added to the current calibration.
Progress Report
Breeders throughout the United States are working together to develop new varieties or strains that are more resistant to changing climates, pests, and disease, as well as developing new traits in these materials such as improved protein and/or oil percentages. The Northern and Southern states’ Uniform Soybean Tests (UST) have been in place since the early 1940s. The UST evaluates yield, disease resistance, and quality traits of public breeding lines from the southern and northern states of the United States. The UST program has been directed toward the testing of elite breeding lines that ultimately leads to the release of new varieties. Using high throughput instruments, ARS researchers in Peoria, Illinois, analyzed approximately 6,200 samples for protein, oil, and moisture content for the UST. ARS collated the data into a report to aid breeders in determining what evolving soybean strains to advance. New analytical instruments have been added to procedures as internal checks for protein and oil to fine tune the calibrations of the high throughput instruments.
Accomplishments
1. Compositional analysis of soybeans. The United States produces 4.4 billion bushels of soybeans annually valued at around $61 billion. Because of the finite land area for soybean production in the United States, soybean breeders across the country are working together to develop elite varieties in terms of resistance to pests and diseases, seed yield, protein and oil content, and chemical composition. During these breeding efforts, chemical confirmation of trait improvements or preservation of desired chemical profiles is necessary. ARS researchers in Peoria, Illinois, analyzed approximately 6,200 soybean samples and reported the results to respective breeders collaborating in the Uniform Soybean Test – both Northern and Southern Regions. Results showed new soybean lines with oil percents as high as 25% and where protein values were as high as 43%. As a result of this research, new high-yielding soybean cultivars with broad disease resistance and improved oil/protein content have been developed through collaborative research efforts with both the Northern and Southern Regions Uniform Soybean Test.
