Improvement of the functional value of green soybean (edamame) using germination and tempe fermentation: A comparative metabolomics study

by Selleckchem | Oct 18 2023

Green soybean, also known as edamame, is a legume with high nutritional and functional value. Despite its growing popularity and potential health benefits, the functionality of green soybean has not been thoroughly studied. Previous research on the functionality of green soybean has largely focused on a limited number of specific, well-studied, bioactive metabolites, without comprehensively investigating the metabolome of this legume. Additionally, very few studies have explored the improvement of the functional value of green soybean. This study aimed to investigate the metabolome profile of green soybean, identify bioactive metabolites, and to further explore the potential improvement of the identified bioactive metabolites using germination and tempe fermentation. A total of 80 metabolites were annotated from green soybean using GC-MS and HPLC-PDA-MS. Among them, 16 important bioactive metabolites were identified: soy isoflavones daidzin, glycitin, genistin, malonyl daidzin, malonyl genistin, malonyl glycitin, acetyl daidzin, acetyl genistin, acetyl glycitin, daidzein, glycitein, and genistein, as well as other metabolites including 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 3-hydroxyanthranillic acid, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric acid (meglutol), and 4-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Germination and tempe fermentation techniques were employed to potentially improve the concentrations of these bioactive metabolites. While showing improvements in amino acid contents, germination process did not improve bioactive metabolites significantly. In contrast, tempe fermentation was found to significantly increase the concentrations of daidzein, genistein, glycitein, acetyl genistin, acetyl daidzin, 3-hydroxyanthranillic acid, and meglutol (>2-fold increase with p < 0.05) while also improving amino acid levels. This study highlights the potentials of germination and fermentation to improve the functionality of legumes, particularly green soybean.

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The study you described aimed to investigate the metabolome profile of green soybean, identify bioactive metabolites, and explore the potential improvement of these metabolites using germination and tempe fermentation techniques.

Using GC-MS and HPLC-PDA-MS methods, a total of 80 metabolites were annotated from green soybean. Among them, 16 important bioactive metabolites were identified. These bioactive metabolites included soy isoflavones such as daidzin, glycitin, genistin, malonyl daidzin, malonyl genistin, malonyl glycitin, acetyl daidzin, acetyl genistin, acetyl glycitin, daidzein, glycitein, and genistein. Additionally, other metabolites such as 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 3-hydroxyanthranillic acid, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric acid (meglutol), and 4-aminobutyric acid (GABA) were also identified as bioactive compounds.

To potentially improve the concentrations of these bioactive metabolites, the researchers explored the use of germination and tempe fermentation techniques. However, the germination process did not significantly improve the bioactive metabolites, although it did show improvements in amino acid contents.

On the other hand, tempe fermentation was found to be effective in significantly increasing the concentrations of several bioactive metabolites. The concentrations of daidzein, genistein, glycitein, acetyl genistin, acetyl daidzin, 3-hydroxyanthranillic acid, and meglutol were increased by more than two-fold with statistical significance (p < 0.05) through tempe fermentation. In addition to the improvement in bioactive metabolites, tempe fermentation also improved the amino acid levels in green soybean.

This study highlights the potential of germination and tempe fermentation techniques in improving the functionality of legumes, specifically green soybean. Tempe fermentation, in particular, was effective in increasing the concentrations of bioactive metabolites, which are known to have various health benefits.