1. To obtain NIR spectra of both raw (ground and whole beans) and toasted soybean seed and meals for measuring carbohydrates in soybeans from around the world.
2. To accurately quantify soluble oligosaccharide components of soybean meal that influence soybean feed characteristics, i.e., quantitative analysis of the major, extractable soluble oligosaccharide products (i.e. sucrose, raffinose, stachyose) from soybean meal (raw and toasted) by HPLC-RID (refractive index detection) or HPAEC-PAD (high-performance anion-exchange chromatography-pulsed amperometric detection) and/or GC or GC-MS methodology to enable simultaneous characterization and quantification of component non-reducing sugars.
3. To accurately determine composition of total monosaccharides (i.e. free xylose, arabinose, rhamnose, glucose, galactose, mannose, etc.) by GC or GC/MS. Requires chemical modification to prepare volatile sugar derivatives suitable for GC analysis (e.g. peracetylation, alditol acetates, or aldononitrile acetate).
4. To quantify total acid labile sugars by GC and/or GC/MS. Major expectation is for starch and or maltose sugars.
5. To quantify acid-labile insoluble fiber/polysaccharides: (a) cellulosics, and/or (b) hemi-cellulosic arabinoxylans by GC or GC/MS analysis of component Glc, Xyl, and Ara, and potentially also Gal. The cellulosic/hemicellulosic ratio is determined from the ratio of component monosaccharides.
6. To compare NIR results and HPLC/GC-MS analyses on toasted and non-toasted (ground and whole beans) soybean seeds and meals.
7. To seek validation of our data and standards based on analyzed samples from international partners and ultimately global acceptance.
8. To survey carbohydrate compositional traits from soybean growing in different regions of the world and publish the result.

The proposed project aims to build upon the technological foundation for providing soybean breeders and other NIR users with rapid, consistent, and cost-effective NIR analytical standards to assess rapidly and accurately the available carbohydrates in raw and thermally-processed soybeans.