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Soybean Protein 101

 
Four Bean Pod
 
 
How do soybean plants make protein, and what can you do to help them?
 
Have you ever wondered how a soybean plant makes protein? How about ways you can create conditions conducive to boosting protein levels in your fields? Seth Naeve, Ph.D., University of Minnesota associate professor and extension agronomist, explains how it all works.
 
Q: How does a soybean plant produce protein?
 
A: Protein is partially made of nitrogen. The soybean plant has a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in the soil, which form nodules on the roots of the plant and feed off of sugar produced by the plant. In return for food and housing, the bacteria convert nitrogen from the environment into a form the plant can use. The nitrogen compounds produced in the nodules are then absorbed by the plant, stored in the leaves and later utilized to create protein in the seed. Because of this symbiotic relationship with the bacteria, the nitrogen is basically free for the farmer. That’s one of the good things about soybeans—they have a high amount of protein, which is valuable to end-users. And there’s also value for the farmer because they don’t have to apply nitrogen on their fields to get protein from the crop.
 
Q: Is there any way farmers can improve protein levels?
 
A: Soil type and climate may be a part of the regional differentiation we see across the U.S.  Unfortunately, those are two things farmers can do little to change. However, there are several things farmers can do to increase protein levels in soybeans. Choosing a high-protein variety and selecting the appropriate maturity group are important – you want to choose plants that will mature under good conditions. Stresses during seed-filling can affect the quality of the soybeans, so minimizing the stresses of insects and disease can have a positive effect on quality. Although farmers cannot change the soil type they have, root health is important for the uptake and metabolism of nitrogen. Building organic matter in the soil will give the plant a bigger reserve of nitrogen to go to when bacteria stop fixing nitrogen at the end of the year.
 
Q: How are protein, oil and yield related?
 
A: Protein and oil are the most valuable parts of the soybean, but they’re also the parts that make up the yield of the soybean.
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New research chair appointed to accelerate crop variety development

Video: New research chair appointed to accelerate crop variety development

Funded by Sask Wheat, the Wheat Pre-Breeding Chair position was established to enhance cereal research breeding and training activities in the USask Crop Development Centre (CDC) by accelerating variety development through applied genomics and pre-breeding strategies.

“As the research chair, Dr. Valentyna Klymiuk will design and deploy leading-edge strategies and technologies to assess genetic diversity for delivery into new crop varieties that will benefit Saskatchewan producers and the agricultural industry,” said Dr. Angela Bedard-Haughn (PhD), dean of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at USask. “We are grateful to Sask Wheat for investing in USask research as we work to develop the innovative products that strengthen global food security.”

With a primary focus on wheat, Klymiuk’s research will connect discovery research, gene bank exploration, genomics, and breeding to translate gene discovery into improved varieties for Saskatchewan’s growing conditions.