Isoflavone Content and its Relationship with Other Seed Quality Traits of Soybean Cultivars Collected in South Korea

The 117 soybean cultivars were collected from nine provinces in Korea, and various seed quality traits along with isoflavone contents were evaluated to elucidate their relationship. The 100-seed weight of the black soybean (31.2 g) was significantly higher (p<0.05) than yellow soybeans (28.6 g). The composition of genistein, daidzein, and glycitein accounted for 75.8, 22.8, and 1.4 % of total isoflavone in yellow soybean cultivars, while their compositions in black soybeans were 58.5, 39.7, and 1.8%, respectively. The mean contents of total isoflavone in yellow and black soybean were $l,561.6{\mu}g\;g^{-1}\;and\;l,018.3{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$. The isofalvone content showed significant variation among cultivars when classified by the seed size. In the yellow soybeans, total isoflavone content was higher in small size soybean cultivars $(1,776.0{\mu}g\;g^{-1})$ and medium size soybean cultivars $(1,714.3{\mu}g\;g^{-1})$ compared to large size ones $(1,518.5{\mu}g\;g^{-1})$. Genistein content was proved as the major factor determining the relationship between isoflavone content and 100-seed weights (r =-0.206*). Daidzein and glycitein, however, showed no significant relationship with the 100-seed weights. Isoflavone content was not significantly correlated with color parameters L (lightness) and a (redness) values, but color parameter b (yellowness) was positively correlated with glycitein (r=0.264*) in the yellow soybeans, while its negative correlation between daidzein (r=-0.245*) and total isoflavone (r=-0.256*) were observed in black soybeans. However, these findings suggested that the seed color value may not serve as an effective parameter for estimating the isoflavone intensity of the soybeans. Variation of protein and lipid contents between yellow soybeans (n=58) and black soybeans (n=59) was relatively stable, however, protein and lipid contents have no significant relationship with isoflavone content.