Soybean research at Kentucky State University is offering new insight into how producers may be able to improve seed protein concentration without sacrificing important measures of protein and oil quality.
Deepak Khatri, a former Research Associate in Kentucky State’s Agronomy Lab, led the peer-reviewed paper, “Can biochar and late-season nitrogen fertilization overcome the sulfur-containing amino acid deficiency and improve oil stability in soybean seeds?” published in Frontiers in Plant Science. Dr. Anuj Chiluwal, principal investigator of the agronomy lab and assistant professor of agronomy, served as corresponding author. Lab members Sudip Poudel, Manish Pandit, and former lab member Lalit Pun Magar are co-authors.
The study builds on Khatri’s earlier research, published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, which found that late-season nitrogen fertilization can increase soybean seed protein concentration. The new paper examines whether increasing protein quantity affects the nutritional and industrial quality of soybean seeds.
“We already knew from our earlier study that late-season nitrogen can boost protein concentration,” Khatri said. “The next question was whether this increase comes with any trade-offs in protein or oil quality. That is exactly what we set out to investigate.”
Source : kysu.edu