Breeding for nutritional quality

Abstract

Besides being the major source of plant protein and oil in the world, soybean is an important functional food. Human soybean consumption is increasing in the last years, due to more availability of industrial food and cultivars with the best flavor and other seed coat colors. To further increase its consumption, breeding efforts have been targeting traits related to seed quality, cooking time, soft flavor and mild taste, and nutritional composition, such as protein and oil content, fatty acid composition, fiber content, isoflavones, reduction of antinutritional components, etc. The human population has become aware of the benefits of soybean being in their diet.