The recently acquired archaeological record for soybean from Japan, China and Korea is shedding light on the context in which this important economic plant became associated with people and was domesticated. This paper examines archaeological (charred) soybean seed size variation to determine what insight can be gained from a comprehensive comparison of 949 specimens from 22 sites. Seed length alone appears to represent seed size change through time, although the length×width×thickness product has the potential to provide better size change resolution. A widespread early association of small seeded soybean is as old as 9000–8600 cal BP in northern China and 7000 cal BP in Japan. Direct AMS radiocarbon dates on charred soybean seeds indicate selection resulted in large seed sizes in Japan by 5000 cal BP (Middle Jomon) and in Korea by 3000 cal BP (Early Mumun). Soybean seeds recovered in China from the Shang through Han periods are similar in length to the large Korean and Japanese specimens, but the overall size of the large Middle and Late Jomon, Early Mumun through Three Kingdom seeds is significantly larger than any of the Chinese specimens. The archaeological record appears to disconfirm the hypothesis of a single domestication of soybean and supports the view informed by recent phyologenetic research that soybean was domesticated in several locations in East Asia.

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Palaeoethnobotanical research at the Yuezhuang site, a Houli Culture settlement in Jinan, Shandong Province, China, dating to 8000–7700 cal. BP, documents human–environment interaction and the local subsistence economy soon after the initiation of food production in the region. This economy supported a sizeable community that occupied a kilometer stretch of floodplain along the Nandasha River. The research explores plant domestication, the extent to which the Yuezhuang population had developed a food production niche, and, to a lesser extent, the development of agriculture in the lower Yellow River valley. In order to do so, charred seeds from a variety of plant taxa were recovered by flotation of sediment from pits and cultural strata. Just over 30% of the seed assemblage is rice ( Oryza sativa), broomcorn/common millet ( Panicum miliaceum), and foxtail millet ( Setaria italica subsp. italica). The status of several other plants such as soybean ( Glycine max subsp. max or G. max subsp. soja), perilla ( Perilla sp.), and chenopod ( Chenopodium sp.) that are also cultivated in East Asia is also assessed. Most of the plant taxa are from open, sunlit, and anthropogenic, disrupted habitats. Diverse grasses similar to those found at later sites indicate that the farming niche documented at the late Neolithic Longshan Culture in Shandong Province was being established by 8000–7700 cal. BP. The plant remains assemblage is compared with three assemblages, two belonging to the Houli Culture and one from the late Neolithic Longshan Culture. Anthropogenic habitats and their formation, maintenance and use, wetland exploitation, cultivation, hunting–gathering–fishing, and animal management characterize the mature (late) Houli Culture niche.

A novel continuous subcritical n-butane extraction technique for Camellia seed oil was explored. The fatty acid composition, physicochemical properties, and benzo[a]pyrene content of Camellia seed oil extracted using this subcritical technique were analyzed. Orthogonal experiment design (L9(34)) was adopted to optimize extraction conditions. At a temperature of 45 °C, a pressure of 0.5 MPa, a time of 50 min and a bulk density of 0.7 kg/L, an extraction yield of 99.12 ± 0.20 % was obtained. The major components of Camellia seed oil are oleic acid (73.12 ± 0.40 %), palmitic acid (10.38 ± 0.05 %), and linoleic acid (9.15 ± 0.03 %). Unsaturated fatty acids represent 83.78 ± 0.03 % of the total fatty acids present. Eight physicochemical indexes were assayed, namely, iodine value (83.00 ± 0.21 g I/100 g), saponification value (154.81 ± 2.00 mg KOH/g), freezing-point (−8.00 ± 0.10 °C), unsaponifiable matter (5.00 ± 0.40 g/kg), smoke point (215.00 ± 1.00 °C), acid value (1.24 ± 0.03 mg KOH/g), refrigeration test (transparent, at 0 °C for 5.5 h), and refractive index (1.46 ± 0.06, at 25 °C). Benzo[a]pyrene was not detected in Camellia seed oil extracted by continuous subcritical n-butane extraction. In comparison, the benzo[a]pyrene levels of crude Camellia seed oil extracted by hot press extraction and refined Camellia seed oil were measured at 26.55 ± 0.70 and 5.69 ± 0.04 μg/kg respectively.