INFORM October 2025

14 • inform October 2025, Vol. 36 (9)

Developing flavor-null soybeans requires meticulous genotyping analyses, and this screen shows data from plants that are homozygous mutant (red), homozygous wild-type (blue), or heterozygous (green) for a seed composition trait. Source: Kristin Bilyeu

attractive as an animal feed. Additional experiments eventu ally led the team to the flavor-null variety called Super that combines the HOLL/Soyleic® trait and defective lipoxygenase enzymes with the carbohydrate trait. “The idea was to see what I can put all in one package to bring more value through out the value chain,” says Bilyeu. On the food science side, Vardhanabhuti’s team con ducted sensory panels that tasted samples of the new soybean varieties. To tie the sensory data to the chemis try, Vardhanabhuti collaborated with another group at the University of Missouri that analyzed the new varieties with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This method pro vides information on volatile compounds that usually have a smell associated with them. The researchers analyzed raw soy slurries and soy milk they made in the lab. “Overall, the Super soybean had the lowest concentration of vola tiles that have been shown to correlate with off-flavor,” says Vardhanabhuti. Bilyeu wondered if she could go even lower and reduce linolenic acid level to less than 1 percent of the oil. Scaboo already had developed a soybean variety with a suite of dys functional enzyme genes that they then bred with Super, resulting in a variety with 10 defective enzyme genes. This Super-L variety has ultra-low linolenic acid—less than 1 per cent. “The little bit of linolenic acid is due to a leak-through of the biochemical pathway, so even though I have done my best to destroy all parts of it, there is still a little bit of the biochem istry capability left,” says Bilyeu. Vardhanabhuti’s team will test Super-L soon for its sensory and chemical properties and should have results by summer 2026. GETTING FARMERS AND INDUSTRY ONBOARD The soybean industry is a large-scale production that is difficult to change, so the researchers are working to fit their needs, as well as those of farmers. “Everybody in the value chain has to perceive their role as being a winner,” says Bilyeu.

“On the research end, we need to make sure that these soybean seeds behave like any other soybean seeds that a farmer would grow so that they are incentivized to grow them and know that they will be as profitable as their other seeds,” says Bilyeu. To help farmers feel they are not los ing anything by growing the new soybeans, researchers are conducting tests to make sure good yields are possible for different geographical locations and environments. Another aspect is helping farmers overcome negative perceptions of how growing alternative protein sources like soybeans for potential use in non-animal meat products could impact their communities. Companies need to see that the varieties can be grown on a large scale and that the protein would be useful for many types of products. “They need a source of nutritious protein that has the functional properties that work in their products, and the less offending the flavor is, the better,” says Bilyeu. For example, Vardhanabhuti says that if the protein will be used in ice cream, it should be able to foam, but foaming is not desirable in many types of beverages. The team’s efforts combining the HOLL trait with other properties, such as low raffinose content, can also make the soybeans more valuable for industry. Currently, the team is in discussions with companies to see how they can work together. A food company has expressed interest in including the new soybean varieties into snacks. Bilyeu notes that alter native protein ingredient companies and seed companies could also be interested in collaborating on these soy varieties. “I am really excited to be able to talk to these different entities and let them know what kind of research we have here and the fact that the soybean is available under different agreements,” she says. “We want to be good partners at ARS.” Katie Cottingham is a freelance science writer and editor whose work has appeared in publications, such as Science , Scientific American , and Smithsonian Magazine . She can be contacted at katie.cottingham@yahoo.com.