Compositional study of different soybean (Glycine max L.) varieties by 1H NMR spectroscopy, chromatographic and spectrometric techniques

Compositional study of different soybean varieties was performed by use of 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, chromatographic and spectrometric technique. Compositions of amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, elements, and isoflavones in two glyphosate-tolerant soybean varieties and three Chinese conventional soybean varieties were studied by 1H NMR spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, high performance liquid chromatography and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry, respectively. Principal component analysis suggested that glyphosate-tolerant and conventional soybeans had different compositional profile characteristics of amino acids and fatty acids. Then, the contents of some typical soybean components involving main nutrients and antinutrients were compared. As key nutrients of glyphosate-tolerant soybeans, the content of crude protein increased at 8.9–40%, while the contents of α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol decreased at 12–64%. As antinutrients of glyphosate-tolerant soybeans, the content of tannin decreased at 32–51%, while the content of raffinose increased at 63–197%, compared with conventional soybeans. Systematical study of compositional profile characteristics provided an effective method for discriminating different soybean varieties and useful reference values for soybean consumption.