Relationship of elevated palmitate to soybean seed traits

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] oil with elevated palmitate content may be useful for producing solid fat at room temperature without hydrogenation. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between elevated palmitate and soybean seed traits. A total of 92 soybean cultivars and lines with palmitate contents ranging from 103 to 427 g kg(-1) were evaluated in a randomized complete-block design with two replications at each of three Iowa locations in 1997, Seed from each plot was analyzed for protein, oil, palmitate, stearate, oleate, linoleate, and linolenate contents. The phenotypic correlations were significant (P < 0.05 or 0.01) and positive between palmitate and protein (0.25), stearate (0.58), and linolenate (0.86) contents. There were significant (P < 0.01) negative phenotypic correlations of palmitate content with oil (-0.84), oleate (-0.94), and linoleate (-0.96) contents. Lines with >400 g kg(=1) palmitate had protein contents equal to conventional cultivars, hut their oil contents were reduced by more than 30 g kg(-1). None of the lines with > 400 g ka(-1) had oleate, linoleate, or linolenate contents equal to conventional cultivars, These relationships will influence the feasibility of developing soybean cultivars with elevated palmitate content that are acceptable for other seed components.