Prediction and characterization of the T cell epitopes for the major soybean protein allergens using bioinformatics approaches

Protein allergens is a health risk for consumption of soybeans. To understand allerginicity mechanism, T cell epitopes of 7 soybean allergens were predicted and screened by abilities to induce cytokine interleukin 4. The relationships among amino acid composition, properties, allergenicity and pepsin hydrolysis sites were analyzed. Among the 138 T cell epitopes identified, YIKDVFRVIPSEVLS, KDVFRVIPSEVLSNS, DVFRVIPSEVLSNSY of Gly m 6.0501 (P04347), and AKADALFKAIEAYLL, ADALFKAIEAYLLAH of Gly m 4.0101 (P26987) were the most possible epitope candidates. In T cell epitopes pattern, the frequencies of amino acids Q, D, E, P and G decreased, while F, I, N, V, K and H increased. Hydrophobic residues at positions p1 and p2 and positively charged residues in positions p13 might contribute to allergenicity. Most of epitopes could be hydrolyzed by pepsin into small polypeptides within 12 residues length, and the anti-digestive epitope regions contained I, V, S, N, and Q residues. T cell epitopes EEQRQQEGVIVELSK from Gly m 5.03 (P25974) showed resistantence to pepsin hydrolysis and would cause a higher Th2 cell response. This research provides basis for the development of hypoallergenic soybean products in the soybean industry as well as for the immunotherapy design for protein allergy.

Underutilized Agricultural Co-Product as a Sustainable Biofiller for Polyamide 6,6: Effect of Carbonization Temperature

Polyamide 6,6 (PA66)-based biocomposites with low-cost carbonaceous natural fibers (i.e., soy hulls, co-product from soybean industry) were prepared through twin-screw extrusion and injection molding. The soy hull natural fiber was pyrolyzed at two different temperatures (500 °C and 900 °C denoted as BioC500 and BioC900 respectively) to obtain different types of biocarbons. The BioC500 preserved a higher number of functional groups as compared to BioC900. Higher graphitic carbon content was observed on the BioC900 than BioC500 as evident in Raman spectroscopy. Both biocarbons interact with the PA66 backbone through hydrogen bonding in different ways. BioC900 has a greater interaction with N-H stretching, while BioC500 interacts strongly with the amide I (C=O stretching) linkage. The BioC500 interrupts the crystallite growth of PA66 due to strong bond connection while the BioC900 promotes heterogeneous crystallization. Dynamic mechanical analysis shows that both biocarbons result in an increasing storage modulus and glass transition temperature with increasing content in the BioC/PA66 biocomposites over PA66. Rheological analysis shows that the incorporation of BioC900 results in decreasing melt viscosity of PA66, while the incorporation of BioC500 results in increasing the melt viscosity of PA66 due to greater filler–matrix adhesion. This study shows that pyrolyzed soy hull natural fiber can be processed effectively with a high temperature (>270 °C) engineering plastic for biocomposites fabrication with no degradation issues.

The development of directions of government regulation of the soybean production industry in modern economic conditions

In modern conditions of the world economy’s transformation, which caused significant changes in the foreign trade market environment, the current issue is the modernization of the agrifood policy of Russia to provide the national economy with the agricultural products of its own production, in particular with soybean. By increasing the means of state support and by overcoming structural problems, the soybean industry can become both a powerful driver of domestic economic growth and a key factor in the development of the world food markets in terms of Russia’s focus on the global competitiveness of domestic products.

Quality grading of soybean seeds using image analysis

<span>Image processing and machine learning technique are modified to use the quality grading of soybean seeds. Due to quality grading is a very important process for the soybean industry and soybean farmers. There are still some critical problems that need to be overcome. Therefore, the key contributions of this paper are first, a method to eliminate shadow noise for segment soybean seeds of high quality. Second, a novel approach for color feature which robust for illumination changes to reduces problem of color difference. Third, an approach to discover a set of feature and to form classifier model to strengthen the discrimination power for soybean classification. This study used background subtraction to reduce shadow appearing in the captured image and proposed a method to extract color feature based on robustness for illumination changes which was H components in HSI model. We proposed classifier model using combination of the color histogram of H components in HSI model and GLCM statistics to represent the color and texture features to strengthen the discrimination power of soybean grading and to solve shape variance in each soybean seeds class. SVM classifiers are generated to identify normal seeds, purple seeds, green seeds, wrinkled seeds, and other seed types. We conducted experiments on a dataset composed of 1,320 soybean seeds and 6,600 seed images with varies in brightness levels. The experimental results achieved accuracies of 99.2%, 97.9%, 100%, 100%, 98.1%, and 100% for overall seeds, normal seeds, purple seeds, green seeds, wrinkled seeds, and other seeds, respectively</span>

Japanese Imperialism and Environmental Disease on a Soy Frontier, 1890–1940

This article focuses on the 1935 discovery of what is now believed to be a selenium deficiency disorder in the Japanese client state of Manchukuo. The epicenter of this disease had served as pasture for Oirat Mongols until the late nineteenth century. Opening up the land for reclamation by Chinese migrants put greater pressure on each acre to produce food. With a limited supply of selenium in the soil, the intake of this mineral by crops decreased over time, especially under the extractive conditions of the soybean industry during the Japanese occupation. Japanese theories on climate and hygiene made legible the consequences of transforming this nomadic borderland into an agrarian heartland on colonized bodies. By bringing attention to the understudied Mongol territories in Manchukuo, this essay goes beyond environmental histories bound by the nation-state to reveal the corporeal costs of settler colonialism and ecological imperialism.

Ultrasound- and hemicellulase-assisted extraction increase β-glucosidase activity, the content of isoflavone aglycones and antioxidant potential of soymilk

Soymilk is consumed as such or used in the preparation of tofu, fermented soymilk, and soy yogurt, among others. In this study, hemicellulase-assisted extraction (HAE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) were used during soymilk manufacturing. The activity of endogenous β-glicosidases was increased 1.3 and 1.5-fold in soymilk produced upon HAE and UAE, respectively. Likewise, the concentration of isoflavones in the aglycone form increased 1.7 and 2.4 times in samples subjected to HAE and UAE, respectively. UAE, but not HAE, rendered an equimolar conversion from conjugated isoflavones to their respective aglycones. In addition, HAE and UAE showed higher antiradical activity towards ABTS radical cation and peroxyl radical, compared to those of the control. The aglycone isoflavones/conjugated isoflavones (aISO/cISO) ratio correlated with the antiradical activity, thus suggesting that the soybean industry may use this new quality index to indicate the antioxidant potential of products. Food formulations containing soymilk with high aISO/cISO ratio may translate to higher oxidative stability of the final product. Likewise, the higher absorption of aglycone isoflavones compared to that of their conjugated counterparts is well recognized. Therefore, high aISO/cISO ratio of soymilk and/or its products may provide a better antioxidant protection under physiological conditions.

Ultransound- and hemicellulase-assisted extraction increase β-glucosidase activity, the content of isoflavone aglycones and antioxidant potential of soymilk

Soymilk is consumed as such or used in the preparation of tofu, fermented soymilk, and soy yogurt, among others. In this study, hemicellulase-assisted extraction (HAE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) were used during soymilk manufacturing. The activity of endogenous β-glicosidases was increased 1.3 and 1.5-fold in soymilk produced upon HAE and UAE, respectively. Likewise, the concentration of isoflavones in the aglycone form increased 1.7 and 2.4 times in samples subjected to HAE and UAE, respectively. UAE, but not HAE, rendered an equimolar conversion from conjugated isoflavones to their respective aglycones. In addition, HAE and UAE showed higher antiradical activity towards ABTS radical cation and peroxyl radical, compared to those of the control. The aglycone isoflavones/conjugated isoflavones (aISO/cISO) ratio correlated with the antiradical activity, thus suggesting that the soybean industry may use this new quality index to indicate the antioxidant potential of products. Food formulations containing soymilk with high aISO/cISO ratio may translate to higher oxidative stability of the final product. Likewise, the higher absorption of aglycone isoflavones compared to that of their conjugated counterparts is well recognized. Therefore, high aISO/cISO ratio of soymilk and/or its products may provide a better antioxidant protection under physiological conditions.

Why do agribusiness firms simultaneously source from different contract farming arrangements? Evidence from the soybean industry in Malawi

This paper describes and analyzes the rationale for concurrent use of different contract farming arrangements (CFAs) by a large agroprocessor. We postulate that plural governance is determined by ambiguity over the best mode of coordination, complexity of transactions and strategic behavior by the agroprocessor. We carried out an in-depth case study of an agroprocessor that has multiple CFAs in the soybean industry in Malawi. We find that ambiguity explains the formation of plural governance structures, but strategic behavior is the main motivation for their persistence. Hence, the study findings unite hitherto opposing schools of thought on the stability of plural forms. The results imply that the incentives and disincentives of agribusiness firms to source through different CFAs should be considered in designing policies and programmes to promote contract farming.