Nutritional constituents of soybean grown in northeast region of China

Abstract

Nutritional constituents of soybeans (Glycine max L. Merr.) grown in the Northeast Region of China were evaluated through measuring amino acid composition, fatty acid profile and mineral content. Results showed that there were eighteen detectable amino acids in soybean samples. The fatty acid profile indicated linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid and linolenic acid as the most abundant fatty acid followed by stearic acid, lauric acid, arachidonic acid, behenic acid and gondoic acid. Mineral content analyses indicated that the most abundant mineral in soybeans was potassium, followed by calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium, zinc and manganese. The soybean cultivar “JinYou” contained higher (P<0.05) values of essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, calcium and iron contents compared to “HeFeng”, “NongKe” and other cultivars previously reported.