Climate Fact: Nutrition Change and Extreme Weather
In Brief: Soybeans may produce more antioxidants during years of extreme temperature and drought.
A study conducted on Maryland soybeans between 1999 and 2002 found that extreme weather events actually increase the antioxidant levels in the soybean crop. 1999 and 2001 growing season temperature and precipitation levels were normal and the crops exhibited normal levels of the antioxidant alpha-tocopherol. Although there were not any abnormalities in the soybean antioxidant levels between 1999 and 2001, it was noted that when the temperature was slightly warmer, antioxidant levels slightly increased. A similar pattern was noted in 2002, when drought and high temperatures dominated Maryland’s weather. During this year, the antioxidant levels in the soybean crops increased by a factor of 3.5.
(Source: United States. USDA. Extreme Weather Boosts Antioxidant Levels in Soybean Seeds. By Rosalie Bliss. Agricultural research service, 17 Dec. 2008. Web. Nov. 2009. <http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/081217.htm>)
