Seed compositional characters in photo-thermo insensitive genotypes of soybean

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of varying environment on seed compositional characters in photo-thermo insensitive genotypes of soybean. Twenty-one photo and thermo insensitive genotypes of soybean were planted under three sowing dates viz. spring/summer (mid March), main season (mid June) and late season (mid August) in order to expose the crop to entirely different weather conditions during different growth stages of crop. The study showed that both temperature and photoperiod influence protein content and fatty acid composition. The concentration of saturated fatty acid i.e. palmitic acid gets reduced when the crop matures in cool environment. Among the unsaturated fatty acids, oleic acid substantially reduced when seed filling stage occurred at low temperature and reduced photoperiod conditions, while linoleic and linolenic acids showed reverse trend i.e. their concentration increased when seed filling stage coincided with low temperature and photoperiod.