**1. Introduction**

50 Soybean Physiology and Biochemistry

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2777.

Soybean is considered as one very important grain grown commercially in more than 35 countries of the world and the leading producer is the USA (41%) followed by Brazil (23%), Argentina (16%) and China (9%), (F A O 1988).

Soybean contains 40% protein, 35% total carbohydrate and 20% cholesterol-free oil (Deshpande et al., 1993). Mineral content of whole soybean is about 1.7% for potassium, 0.3% for Magnesium, 110 ppm iron, 50 ppm zinc and 20 ppm copper (Smith and Circle, 1972). Soybean is the world leading vegetable oil and accounts for about 20 to 24% of all fats and oil in the world. Soybean is becoming increasingly important in agriculture because it is a food source in human and animal nutrition

So many varieties have been developed around the world considering desired traits. The properties of the developed cultivars could be considered to vary from one cultivar to the other. Sometimes, such variations in properties (especially physical properties) are easily observable, especially in the size and shape of such cultivars. Other properties would have to be measured to know them or to see how they vary from one cultivar to another. By extension, the properties (physical, mechanical and chemical) of a cultivar affect the post harvest options to which a cultivar may be subjected. The challenge of post harvest processing of soybean into animal and human food is increasing by the day. This is so because, the world's population is increasing and the challenge of eradicating hunger and producing quality food on the surface of the earth is staring.

Manuwa (2000, 2007), Manuwa et al.( 2004, 2005) reported on similar improved varieties of Soybean that were developed in Nigeria. The major improvements made on soybean varieties from 1987 through 1992 at IITA were to increase grain yield by about 20%, improve resistance to pod shattering and to maintain the level of all other traits constant. In order to design equipment for threshing, winnowing, separation, grading, sorting, size reduction, storage, and other secondary processing of soybean, especially the new improved cultivars, the physical properties should be determined.

### **2. Varieties of soybeans**

So many varieties of soybean have been developed around the world so that it is a major task to know all of them. The main aim of developing varieties (cultivars) was to improve desired traits such as:


A number of varieties have been reported in literature (Tables 1, 2, 3).

#### **3. Harvesting and utilisation of soybean**

Needless to say that before soybean can be utilised as food for either man or animal, it must first of all be harvested from the field. However, harvest management is a crucial skill for the specialty soybean producer, simply because the physical appearance of the beans is so important to the buyer. Small-seeded soybeans tend to thresh well, but air adjustments may have to be fine-tuned to remove chaff without blowing the small seeds out the back of the combine. Large-seeded soybeans are extremely prone to mechanical damage during threshing operations, which can knock off the seed coat and/or split the embryo into its cotyledonal halves. The combine's cylinder speeds will have to be slowed considerably to avoid this, and the crop may require harvesting at somewhat higher moisture content.

Prompt harvesting will always be a must, as field deterioration of the seed affecting appearance can commence soon after the moisture content of the physiologically mature seed drops to 14%.. If storage is necessary, the producer will have to ensure that storage facilities are clean, dry, and free from any materials that may be toxic to humans. The conditions under which beans are stored greatly influence the quality of the processed product. Moisture content of 13% or less will prevent mold growth. However, very dry beans tend to split when being transferred, and the splitting lowers the quality.

Soybeans can be used for oil, livestock feeds and for preparing various dishes. A number of traditional foods have been produced from soybeans: *Tofu. Miso, Natto, Tempeh, Soymilk, Soyflour, Soyoil, soy milk* (Bschmann, 2001). According to the report, the size of the seed is often crucial, and may be either smaller or larger than average soybean cultivars. For example, small seeds are sought out for *natto*, while large seeds are preferred for *tofu*. Perfectly round seeds are generally prized, while oblong or kidney-shaped soybeans are usually avoided

### **4. Post harvest options**

Post harvest options are generally all the activities that can be carried out after the harvesting of crops in order to convert it to use by man and animal. It can be classified into primary and secondary processing.

**Primary processing**: This includes threshing, winnowing, cleaning, separation, grading, sorting, packaging, transportation, marketing, storage and so on.

Grains or seeds from harvesters are not directly suitable for its final use such as re-sowing, animal feed or human consumption. The standards of seeds in the three categories have risen in the last few decades to date. Reasons, especially for re-sowing seeds include the need to achieve international marketing standard, and secondly the uniform, high germination product required in precision drilling.

• Seed quality that meets culinary market standards, for example a light hila culinary

Needless to say that before soybean can be utilised as food for either man or animal, it must first of all be harvested from the field. However, harvest management is a crucial skill for the specialty soybean producer, simply because the physical appearance of the beans is so important to the buyer. Small-seeded soybeans tend to thresh well, but air adjustments may have to be fine-tuned to remove chaff without blowing the small seeds out the back of the combine. Large-seeded soybeans are extremely prone to mechanical damage during threshing operations, which can knock off the seed coat and/or split the embryo into its cotyledonal halves. The combine's cylinder speeds will have to be slowed considerably to avoid this, and the crop may require harvesting at somewhat higher moisture content. Prompt harvesting will always be a must, as field deterioration of the seed affecting appearance can commence soon after the moisture content of the physiologically mature seed drops to 14%.. If storage is necessary, the producer will have to ensure that storage facilities are clean, dry, and free from any materials that may be toxic to humans. The conditions under which beans are stored greatly influence the quality of the processed product. Moisture content of 13% or less will prevent mold growth. However, very dry

beans tend to split when being transferred, and the splitting lowers the quality.

Soybeans can be used for oil, livestock feeds and for preparing various dishes. A number of traditional foods have been produced from soybeans: *Tofu. Miso, Natto, Tempeh, Soymilk, Soyflour, Soyoil, soy milk* (Bschmann, 2001). According to the report, the size of the seed is often crucial, and may be either smaller or larger than average soybean cultivars. For example, small seeds are sought out for *natto*, while large seeds are preferred for *tofu*. Perfectly round seeds are generally prized, while oblong or kidney-shaped soybeans are

Post harvest options are generally all the activities that can be carried out after the harvesting of crops in order to convert it to use by man and animal. It can be classified into

**Primary processing**: This includes threshing, winnowing, cleaning, separation, grading,

Grains or seeds from harvesters are not directly suitable for its final use such as re-sowing, animal feed or human consumption. The standards of seeds in the three categories have risen in the last few decades to date. Reasons, especially for re-sowing seeds include the need to achieve international marketing standard, and secondly the uniform, high

sorting, packaging, transportation, marketing, storage and so on.

germination product required in precision drilling.

• Disease resistance e.g phytophthora root rot resistant

A number of varieties have been reported in literature (Tables 1, 2, 3).

• Intact seed coat and some weathering tolerance,

**3. Harvesting and utilisation of soybean** 

• Early maturity,

• High grain yield,

type.

usually avoided

**4. Post harvest options** 

primary and secondary processing.

• Shattering and lodging resistant,


Table 1. Some Soybean cultivars from USA, Australia, Slovenia & Nigeria


Source: http://agmarknet.nic.in/soybean-profile.pdf

Table 2. Some Soybean cultivars from India

**COUNTRY VARIETY YIELD (Kg/ha) OIL CONTENT** 

MAUS-47 (Parbhani ona) 2500-3000 20

 MS-335 2800 - NRC-12(Ahilya-2) 2800 - NRC-2(Ahilya-1) 3500-4000 21 NRC-7(Ahilya-3) 3200 - PK-472 3300 - PUSA-16 2800 - PUSA-22 2600 - PUSA-37 2800 - TYPE-49 2200 - MACS-57 2800 - MACS-450 2500 20 MAUS-2 2450 - MAUS-1 2800 - MAUS-32(Prasad) 3000-3500 19 KB-79(Sneha) 1700 - MACS-124 2500-3200 - PUSA-40 2600 -

Source: http://agmarknet.nic.in/soybean-profile.pdf

Table 2. Some Soybean cultivars from India

INDIA Alankar 2200 - Ankur 2300 - Clark - 63 1800 - PK-1042 3300 - PK-262 2800 - PK-308 2600 20-23 PK-327 2300 - PK-416 3200-3800 41-56 PK-564 3000 - Shilajeeth 2200 - Bragg 1800 - Calitur 1800 - Durga 2100 - Gaurav 2200 - Indira Soya -9 2300 - JS-2 1800 - JS-71-05 2000-2400 41 JS-75-46 1600-3100 - JS-76-205 1600-2000 - JS-79-81 2800 - JS-80-21 2500-3000 - JS-90-41 2500-3000 - JS-335 2500-3000 17-19 MACS-13 2700 15-22 MACS-58 2000-2500 -

**(%)** 


Adapted from: Glass et al.( 2006)

Table 3. Some Soybean cultivars from Alabama, USA

#### **Requirements for seed cleaning:**

