Fatty acid profile of advanced breeding lines of soybean under All India Coordinated Research Project

Abstract

The worth of a promising soybean breeding line submitted in All India Coordinated Research Project on Soybean (AICRPS) is normally judged from its yield performance or resistance against important pest for the release of an entry as a variety. However, lately, it is being felt that soybean varieties should be developed with output traits better suited for oil quality traits. Oil industries are raising requirements of soybean varieties that yield oil with better natural shelf life as partial hydrogenation done to increase oxidative stability is not only cost ineffective but leads to formation of trans fatty acids that implicate serious health concerns [1]. The shelf life of soybean oil depends upon the oxidative stability of soybean oil as determined by its fatty acid composition. Linolenic acid is the most vulnerable while oleic acid is the least susceptible to oxidation among unsaturated fatty acids as the rate of oxidation of linolenic (C18:3), linoleic (C18:2) and oleic acid (C18:1) are in the ratio of 21.6:10.3:1 [2]. Hence, globally, soybean cultivars with low linolenic and high oleic acid content are being searched and developed to obviate the need of partial hydrogenation [3]. Variability for different fatty acids has been recently reported in Indian soybean varieties [4,5]. it was felt pertinent to screen all the advanced breeding lines being tested under AICRPS for fatty acid composition.