Phenomorphological Characterization of Vegetable Soybean Germplasm Lines for Commercial Production

Abstract

Growing demand for vegetable soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] has renewed interest in producing the crop in the United States, a significant importer of vegetable soybean despite being the world's largest producer and exporter of grain‐type soybean. Field studies were conducted over 3 yr to(i) compare phenomorphological traits of vegetable and grain‐type soybean and (ii) identify candidate lines for vegetable soybean production in the North Central United States, the nation's leading soybean‐producing region. A total of 136 vegetable soybean entries from 22 sources were compared to 14 grain‐type cultivars representing a range of maturity groups. Germination and emergence of vegetable soybean were poorer than grain‐type entries. Seedling growth traits and rate of phenological development were higher in vegetable soybean. However, by the time of crop harvest (i.e., R6 growth stage), vegetable soybean produced shorter, smaller plants than grain‐type soybean. Seed mass accounted for some of the variation in emergence and seedling traits. Filtering entry responses by criteria essential to viable commercial production, including a sensory evaluation, 12 entries from eight seed sources were identified as the most promising candidate lines for use in the North Central United States. By comparing vegetable soybean responses to grain‐type soybean, this work puts into perspective the agronomic performance of vegetable soybean germplasm available to growers in the United States and points to specific areas of future research and crop development.

Evaluation of edamame genotypes suitable for growing in Florida

“…(2007). Though overall emergence percentage was low in the present study, the selected genotypes had higher average emergence than results previously reported by Williams (2015).…”

“…It is one the few plant‐based foods which contain all the essential amino acids and certain antioxidants such as isoflavones (Velasquez & Bhathena, 2007; Wang & Murphy, 1994). In the past few years, some food companies, with the help of public universities, have begun production of edamame in the states of Arkansas, Washington, North Carolina, Kentucky, Illinois, Virginia, and Pennsylvania (Carson, Freeman, Zhou, Welbaum, & Reiter, 2011; Lumpkin, Konovsky, Larson, & McClary, 1993; Ogles, Guertal, & Weaver, 2016; Rao, Bhagsari, & Mohamed, 2002; University of Kentucky Extension, 2013; Williams, 2015; Wszelaki et al., 2005). The growing demand has attracted plant breeders and food industries to find suitable varieties for production in different regions of the USA.…”

Planting Depth and Seed Size Affect Edamame Emergence Individually

“…Horticultural research to facilitate domestic edamame production on a commercial scale is limited. The vegetable industry currently relies heavily on established grain-type soybean management guidelines, despite stark differences between the two types of cultivars and their end-use products (Williams, 2015;Zhang et al, 2013). Although some management techniques might translate from grain-type soybean to edamame, research to confirm or deny their appropriateness is lacking.…”

“…Poor emergence is a common theme in field research on edamame (Duppong and Hatterman-Valenti 2005;Rao et al, 2002;Sanchez et al, 2005;Williams, 2015). Seedling emergence is affected by interactions among biotic, edaphic, and management factors (Arndt, 1965;Hamman et al, 2002).…”

“…One of the biggest differences between grain-type soybean and edamame that may affect crop emergence is seed size. Edamame seed mass is 30 g/100-seed compared with 15 to 20 g/100-seed for grain-type soybean (Bernard, 2005;Dong et al, 2014;Williams, 2015). The literature is inconclusive on how seed size affects soybean emergence, but most studies find that seed size and emergence are inversely related.…”