Preface

Plants are important for a permanent ecosystem, because in the ecological pyramid plants support all the other living organisms at the base. Very important organization is thought to be the integral process of resource, transport, partitioning, metabolism, and production, which involves yield, biomass, and productivity in plants. Accordingly, it is important to obtain more information about the knowledge concerning yield, biomass, and productivity in plants.

Soybean is one of the main crops largely contributing to our life, which is thought to be connected to our ecosystem through the above-mentioned integral process. This book focuses on the soybean, and reviews and research concerning the yield, biomass, and productivity of soybean are presented herein. This text updates the book published in 2017.

Although there are many difficulties, the main aim of this book is to present a basis for the above-mentioned integral processes of resource, transport, partitioning, metabolism, and production, which involves yield, biomass, and productivity in plants (soybean), and to understand what supports this basis and the integral process.

It is hoped that this and the preceding book will be essential reads.

**II**

**Chapter 9 161**

*Alma Delia Román-Gutiérrez, Javier Castro-Rosas, Ciro Baruchs Muñoz-Llandes* 

Peptides and Microorganisms Isolated from Soybean Sources with

*by Rosalva Mora-Escobedo, María Del Carmen Robles-Ramírez,* 

Antimicrobial Activity

*and Fabiola Araceli Guzmán-Ortiz*

**Minobu Kasai, PhD** Professor, Department of Biology, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Japan

**1**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

SBO biofungicide is discussed.

microscopy, soybean oil, wheat

ture to improve plant health.

**1. Introduction**

Fungicidal Activity of Soybean Oil

against Powdery Mildew on Wheat

Products derived from soybean crops are not only global food staples, but are also used in pharmaceuticals, industry, and agriculture. Soybean oil (SBO) and other oils are often used as adjuvants in agricultural sprays to facilitate spread of the active ingredient (a.i.) across the plant surface. This chapter describes original research in which a natural fungicide (biofungicide) was formulated using SBO as the a.i. Antimicrobial activity of SBO against a powdery mildew (PM) pathogen, *Blumeria graminis* f. sp*. tritici*, was measured, as well as effects on plant health and yield of wheat plants. Results were compared with a conventional fungicide and another lipid biofungicide. The mode of action was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that SBO provided PM control equal to the conventional fungicide when plants were adequately spaced and caused collapse of fungal structures and extrusion of cell contents. Commercialisation potential of

**Keywords:** biofungicide, horticultural oils, powdery mildew, scanning electron

Soybean (*Glycine max*), a species of legume native to East Asia, is economically the most important bean in the world, providing vegetable protein for millions of people and animals and ingredients for hundreds of chemical products including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and biofuels [1]. Soybeans have a myriad of health benefits for humans including their ability to stimulate metabolism, promote heart health and osteotropic activity, protect against cancer, prevent birth defects, aid digestion, increase circulation and decrease the risk of diabetes [2], but in this chapter we focus on the use of soybean oil (SBO) in agricul-

Soybean oil is a vegetable oil that is solvent-extracted from pressed seeds of soybean, followed by refinement, blending and optional hydrogenation, and is one of the world's most widely consumed edible plant oils [3, 4]. While plant-derived oils, such as SBO, are predominantly used in agriculture as an adjuvant to aid the spread of pesticides over plant surfaces and also to help the pesticide to stick to the plant surface [5, 6], SBO is also directly antimicrobial against a range of powdery mildew fungi [7–10], *Botrytis cinerea* [11] and bacteria such as *Staphylococcus aureus* and *Escherichia coli* [12]. In addition, SBO has insecticidal activity against mites [13], whitefly and aphids [14, 15] and insects associated with stored grain products [16] . However, there are few commercial products in horticulture that

*Kirstin V. Wurms, Annette Ah Chee and Paul Sutherland*

## **Chapter 1**
