Metabolic Perspective on Soybean and Its Potential Impacts on Digital Breeding: An Updated Overview

Abstract

Owing to its high nutritional content of protein, oil, fatty acids, and sugars, soybean (Glycine max L.), one of the most significant legume crops, is utilized worldwide as food, feed, and fuel for daily life applications. The seeds, leaves, branches, roots, and pods of soybean contain essential bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, isoflavonoids, and other specialized metabolites, that play important roles in plant growth, development, and stress responses. In recent years, significant progress has been made in increasing soybean production. Therefore, here, we summarize the most recent breakthroughs in metabolite profiling and bioactive compound identification in soybeans to inform future digital breeding approaches. In addition to classical metabolite investigations, the discovery of metabolites involved in the dehydration response was made through a recent study that examined the regulatory network of metabolites and plant hormone genes. This review aimed to provide a metabolic perspective on soybeans that will benefit soybean production. The findings of this review will facilitate the development of novel soybean cultivars containing highly valuable metabolites for digital breeding.