Variability in the nutrients, antinutrients and other bioactive compounds in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] genotypes

One hundred forty soybean genotypes were evaluated for their physicochemical properties and biochemical diversity in contents of nutrients (total proteins, oil, total sugars and sucrose), antinutrients (trypsin inhibitor activity and phytic acid) and bioactive compounds (tannins, saponins, phenolics and tocopherols) with the aim to identify the improved genotypes having low antinutrient and high nutrient traits for human/livestock consumption. Physicochemical characterization indicated that exotic genotypes had highest mean values for water absorption, volume expansion, hydration capacity, swelling capacity and their indices. Soybean genotypes exhibited 38.4–46.5% protein, 20.8–23.6% oil, 1.3–13.9% total soluble sugars, 0.24–13.8% sucrose, 2.50–33.5 mg/g to copherol, 8.9–20.5 mg/g tannins and 11–38.3 mg/g phenols. Genotypes SL 1000, SL 716 and SL 990 recorded minimum trypsin inhibitor activity, phytate and tannin content, respectively. Soybean genotypes investigated differed in their nutritional and antinutritional characteristics. Such information will be useful for breeding purposes as well as in selecting soybean varieties to manufacture various soy food preparations.