Exist a soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) classification in two groups in agreement with yours principal uses: the first group, denominated grain type is employed manly in the bran and oil production, with medium grain size (one hundred seed weight (HSW) varying among 10 at 19 g), however have undesirable flavor; the second group is denominated food type, with flavor taste, constituted by two subgroups, the first with HSW smaller than 10 g, consumed in the sprouts form and natto (fermented) and the second with HSW presenting 20 g or more, being consumed directly by human principally in the immature pod form (R6 stage from the Fehr & Caviness scale (1977)) how snack, being enominated vegetable soybean, green soybean or edamame; presenting also the subgroups denominated sweet soybean (kuromame) and salad soybean (Vello, 1992). The main characteristics presented by the vegetable soybean are big seeds; sweetened flavor (similar to the nuts); carbohydrate content high; without or smaller undesirable smell (Rackis et al., 1979; Carrao-Panizzi, 1989; Orf, 1989; Vello, 1992) and smaller anti-nutritional factors content, principally the Bowmann Birk and Kunitz anti proteases (Orf, 1989), characters existent in Japanese and Chinese genotypes principally; such genotypes have been introduced in Brazil for the improvement of the soy being sought the human feeding, because the soybean cultivate in Brazil is from the type grain with medium size seeds (PCS between 10 and 19 g) and flavor bitter, astringent, besides of the high lipoxigenases tenor and anti nutritional substances presence.bitstream/item/160292/1/43scottGilberto.pd
