Vegetable soybean, popularly known as edamame in Japan and mao dou in China is a specialty soybean. Green pods with physiologically mature beans are harvested, and whole pods or shelled beans are used as a fresh or frozen vegetable. Vegetable soybeans are prepared in diverse ways, and they are highly nutritious, with excellent taste properties. Unlike grain soybeans, it is perishable. In this review, the chronological progression of area, production, export, import, and expansion of vegetable soybeans and potential for further expansion is discussed. Available information on current ongoing research and development activities in various countries around the world are presented, and their relevance is discussed. At present, the production and consumption of vegetable soybeans are mainly in East and Southeast Asia, with Japan as the largest importing country that dictates the global market. However, interest and trend in cultivation of this crop in other regions has increased significantly. Lack of germplasm or suitable varieties is a major constraint in vegetable soybean production and expansion in countries outside East and Southeast Asia. Most of the vegetable soybean varieties are genetically related and are susceptible to biotic and abiotic stresses. Extensive research and breeding of vegetable soybeans are still restricted in a few countries such as China, Japan, Taiwan and the USA. The need for focused research and development activities with concern for the environment, farmers’ and processors’ profit, consumers’ preference, quality, and nutrition are emphasized.

Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] stands out as a complementary crop to sugarcane Saccharum spp. for the production of ethanol, since it has juicy stems with directly fermentable sugars. Due to this fact, there is a need for the analysis of sweet sorghum properties in order to meet the agro-industry demand. This work aimed to develop and study the maturation curves of seven sweet sorghum cultivars in ten harvest dates. The results showed a significant difference between cultivars and harvest dates for all parameters analysed (p≤0.01). Regarding the sugar content, the cultivars BRS508, XBWS80147 and CMSX629 showed the highest means for the total reducing sugars (TRS) and recoverable sugar (RS). In the production of ethanol per tonne of biomass (EP), the cultivars BRS508 and CMSX629 presented the best results.Index terms: Ethanol; reducing sugars; period of industrial use. RESUMOO sorgo sacarino [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] se destaca como cultura complementar à cana-de-açúcar Saccharum spp. na produção de etanol, uma vez que este possui colmos suculentos com presença de açúcares diretamente fermentescíveis. Em decorrência deste fato, existe a necessidade de se analisar as propriedades do sorgo, a fim de atender às demandas da agroindústria. No presente trabalho, buscou-se desenvolver e estudar as curvas de maturação de sete cultivares de sorgo sacarino em dez épocas de colheita. Os resultados mostram que houve diferença significativa para cultivares e épocas de colheita para todos os parâmetros (p≤0,01). Quanto aos teores de açúcares, as cultivares BRS508, XBWS80147 e CMSXS629 apresentaram as maiores médias para as variáveis açúcares redutores totais (ART) e açúcares totais recuperáveis (ATR). Em relação à produção de etanol por tonelada de biomassa, as cultivares BRS 508 e a CMSXS629 apresentaram os melhores resultados.Termos para indexação: Etanol; açucares redutores; periodo de utilização industrial.

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One use of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] as food is as a vegetable, also known as edamame, in which the green pods with seeds fully developed are harvested, cooked briefly, and consumed. Few efforts have been devoted to developing new soybean cultivars with high agronomic performance and characteristics suitable for human consumption. In the present research, crosses between six soybean lines were performed in a diallel scheme without reciprocals to determine the combining ability and the type of gene action that controls the inheritance of development and yield component traits for edamame production. The results showed the existence of variability among the evaluated genotypes and indicated that the progenies presented superior performance in comparison to the parental lines for important traits. The cultivar BRS267 and the inbred line USP-13-19-007 had consistently high estimates of general combining ability for pod and seed size, indicating their potential as parents in breeding for edamame. Most progenies had positive specific combining ability for pod and seed size, showing that generating novel genotypic combinations through new crossings is a promising strategy for improvement. Additive effects played a major role in the inheritance for maturity traits and for pod size, seed size, and yield; both additive and nonadditive effects were important. The magnitude and significance of the correlations indicated that it is possible to improve vegetable soybean traits without affecting grain yield.

À minha mãe Reijane, meu pai Geraldo, meu irmão Eric, minha namorada Sueme, toda a minha família e meus amigos por todo incentivo e apoio durante esta etapa. À