New VALPRO Path Research Paper Explores Low-Raffinose Soybeans for Added-Value Applications

A new research paper, in which VALPRO Path researchers participated, explores the potential of low-raffinose soybean genotypes for applications with specific nutritional and compositional requirements.

The study, titled “Agronomic traits and nutritional features of importance in low-raffinose genotypes for added-value soybeans”, was published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, in 2026. It focuses on novel low-raffinose soybean cultivars, as well as on conventional and on other added-value genotypes. The paper evaluates their agronomic performance and their composition in terms of relevant seed components.

Raffinose-family oligosaccharides (RFOs) are carbohydrates naturally synthesized by soybeans. These sugars, that include raffinose, stachyose and verbascose, are responsible for some of the limitations of the use of soybeans in specific high-value food and feed applications. The interest in low-RFO soybean genotypes thus comes from their potential to allow access to higher-value markets.

The study assesses the performance of a set of low-RFO genotypes and two conventional genotypes. Traits analyzed in two growing seasons include grain yield, seed size, protein content, RFO concentrations and trypsin inhibitor activity. According to the researchers, the results obtained demonstrate that:

• The new low-RFO cultivars displayed very low total RFO concentrations, below 0.4 g/100g in 2022 and 0.2 g/100g in 2023.
• Moreover, compared to the other soybean genotypes considered in the study, total RFO concentrations were six times lower in 2022 and eleven times lower in 2023
• The studied low-RFO genotypes showed a yield potential similar to or greater than that of control genotypes of the same maturity group.
• The cultivars displayed an excellent seed size and test weight.
• Furthermore, all low-RFO cultivars were characterized by a high protein content (over 42%)
• and a trypsin inhibitor activity comparable to that of conventional genotypes.

The combination of lower levels of anti-nutritional factors and of a high yield potential, protein content and agronomic performance thus make low-RFO soybean cultivars an attractive option for soybean applications with specific compositional requirements.

The study is part of the VALPRO Path mission to explore opportunities to strengthen the European plant protein value chains and foster the development of higher-value applications for protein crops.