Soluble phenolics and antioxidant properties of soybean (Glycine max L.) cultivars with varying seed coat colours

• Isoflavones differed significantly with cultivars, crop years, and seed coat colours.
• Malonylgenistin and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside had the most remarkable variations.
• Protein, oil, and fatty acid showed slight variations in coloured seed coat soybeans.
• The acidified methanol extracts of soybeans exhibited potent antioxidant properties.
• Antioxidant activities are correlated with isoflavone and anthocyanin contents.

This research was the first to investigate nutritional components, including soluble phenolics (isoflavones and anthocyanins), protein, oil, and fatty acid as well as antioxidant activities in different coloured seed coat soybeans (yellow, black, brown, and green) for two crop years. The soluble phenolics differed significantly with cultivars, crop years, and seed coat colours, while protein, oil, and fatty acid exhibited only slight variations. Especially, malonylgenistin and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside compositions had the most remarkable variations. Green soybeans had the highest average isoflavone content (3079.42 μg/g), followed by yellow (2393.41 μg/g), and black soybeans (2373.97 μg/g), with brown soybeans showing the lowest value (1821.82 μg/g). Anthocyanins showed only in black soybeans, with the average contents of the primary anthocyanins, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, delphinidine-3-O-glucoside, and petunidin-3-O-glucoside, quantified at 11.046, 1.971, and 0.557 mg/g, respectively. Additionally, Nogchae of green soybean and Geomjeongkong 2 of black soybean may be recommended as potential cultivars owing to the highest average isoflavone (4411.10 μg/g) and anthocyanin (21.537 mg/g) contents. The scavenging activities of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radicals also differed remarkably, depending upon isoflavone and anthocyanin contents, with black soybeans exhibiting the highest antioxidant effects.