An experiment was conducted by removing the cotyledons on the day of emergence (VE i.e., 4 Day after sowing) to study the their role on growth and development of soybean. The removal of one cotyledon (1C) did not affect the growth and development of soybean significantly over control but the removal of both cotyledons (0C) resulted in stunted growth and decreased the total dry weight. The removal of the cotyledons (0C and lC) increased the chlorophyll fractions, carotenoid and the activity of nitrate reductase (NR) enzyme but decreased the activities ofpo1yphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (PO) enzymes. Further, the removal of cotyledons decreased the riumber of nodules/plants compared to control. The spectral scanning of root exudates showed inherent differences between plants without cotyledons [Absorbance 0.5 (0C) with flat peak] and plants with 1 cotyledon (1C) having distinct peak (inflection) at 400nm IAbsorbance 0.2) and the plants with two cotyledons (2C) 0.15 with a sharp peak. Though. relatively higher seed yield was recorded in the plants with 0C and 1C over control (2C), the difference was not significant.
