Location: Bio-oils Research
2016 Annual Report
Objectives
Develop cutting-edge analytical standards to provide a platform for essential activities to support soybean composition improvement in the U.S., including amino acids, fatty acids, protein, oil, and other important constituents.
Approach
Using new wet chemical methods, improved near infrared calibrations will be performed and compared to calibrations by other NIR users. A wider range of soybean composition will be worked into the calibration. Soxhlet and nitrogen analyses from newly obtained equipment will be used in the calibration. Carbohydrate analyses will be performed on a large number of soybean samples and added to the current calibration.
Progress Report
This is the first report for Project 5010-43000-008-00D, which replaced the old Project 5010-43000-007-D. For additional information, see the old project report.
ARS scientists in Peoria, Illinois, conducted 6,883 near-infrared (NIR) analyses for protein, oil, and moisture content. In addition, ARS scientists performed 600 NIR analyses for an individual ARS soybean breeding program.
Accomplishments
1. Compositional analysis of soybeans. ARS soybean breeders are developing soybean varieties with improved traits for disease resistance and improved oil and protein quality. During these breeding efforts, chemical confirmation of trait improvements or preservation of desired chemical profiles is necessary. In this effort to confirm chemical trait improvement, 7,483 ARS samples submitted by soybean breeders have been analyzed by ARS scientists in Peoria, Illinois, and the results reported to the respective breeders. As a result of this research, we have improved the quality of soybeans for disease resistance and oil/protein content.
