Black soybeans are valued for their rich nutritional content and potential health benefits, attributed to their functional components that enhance antioxidant activity. In this study, we evaluate and compare the isoflavone and anthocyanin content, as well as the antioxidant potential, of seven Korean black soybean genotypes. Isoflavone content ranged from 2,032.8 to 3,536.8 µg/g, with Soman displaying the highest levels of both aglycones and glucosides, indicating notable bioactive potential. In terms of anthocyanins, Danheuk had the highest total content (24,080.6 µg/g), while Soman excelled in Pelargonidin-3- glucoside (Pg3glc). Soman also showed superior antioxidant activity across all measures, including total polyphenol, flavonoid content, as well as radical scavenging abilities (ABTS and DPPH). Strong correlations were found between total flavonoid content, total polyphenol content, genistin, total isoflavone content and antioxidant activity, while correlations with total anthocyanins were relatively weaker. These findings reveal significant genetic variability in isoflavone and anthocyanin content among soybean genotypes, with Soman showing particularly high antioxidant potential, suggesting its value for health-related applications and soybean breeding programs.

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Several environmental and genetic factors affect the isoflavone and anthocyanin contents in soybeans. This study aimed to assess the influences of cotyledon color and harvest period on the contents of five major isoflavones and three major anthocyanins in 323 black soybean landraces grown in Korea. In all the soybeans, malonylgenistin, malonyldaidzin and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside were the foremost components. The total isoflavone (TIC) and total anthocyanin (TAC) contents were in the ranges of 491.29-1998.39 µg/g and 452.60-2789.37 mg/100 g on dry weight basis, respectively. Both the average TIC and TAC were higher in green cotyledon soybeans (1493.93 µg/g and 1656.05 mg/100 g, respectively) than in yellow cotyledon soybeans (1423.09 µg/g and 1489.30 mg/100 g, respectively). With respect to the harvest period, the average TIC was in the order of Late-October (1517.31 µg/g) > Mid-October (1454.54 µg/g) > Early-October (1340.95 mg/g). Moreover, the average TAC decreased in the order of Late-October (1765.76 mg/100 g) > Mid-October (1503.93 mg/100 g) > Early-October (1350.91 mg/100 g). In general, cotyledon color appeared to cause a significant variation on TAC (P < 0.05) but not on TIC, whereas the harvest period appeared to cause significant variations on both the TAC and TIC. Among the 323 landraces, 20 were identified to contain high TIC (> 1800 mg/g) and TAC (> 2000 mg/100 g) in their seeds and hence, could be considered as important sources of dietary isoflavones and anthocyanins. Besides, they possibly provide a wide spectrum of options if considered during the development of improved soybean genotypes.

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This study examined the genetic variation of cyanidin 3-glucoside (C3G) contents in blackish-purple rice. F₂ populations were established from crosses between blackish purple rice and normal white rice. The blackish rice cultivars used were Jilinheimi, Heidao38, LK1A-2-12-1-1, Heugjinju, and No2, and the common white rice cultivars used were Hwachung super giant embryo and Heugbal. The purple pericarp color is known to be controlled by a set of dominant alleles, Pb(Prp-b) and Pp(Prp-a). In this study, the segregation of the black purple:brown:white pericarp in the F₂ population was 9:3:4, demonstrating that the purple pericarp color was controlled by two dominant complementary genes. The F₂ distribution of C3G showed continuous variation, with a tendency toward a lower level in all the crosses. However, some F₂ crosses, such as Jilinheimi/Heidao38 and Jilinheimi/LK1A-2-12-1-1, showed transgressive segregation of the C3G content. C3G content of Jilinheimi linked on 84% level in C3G content of F₂ population between Jilinheimi/Heidao38, and 41.3% level in Jilinheimi/LK1A-2-12-1-1. The results of the color difference meter and C3G content analysed by HPLC revealed highly significant correlations between the seed coat color of the colored rice germplasm and that of the segregated populations. There was a significant positive correlation between the C3G content with L* (lightness) and b* (yellowness). The a* (redness) was different in each cross, but there was a significant positive correlation between the C3G content with L* and b*.

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