Relationship of Fatty Acid Formation and Chlorophyll Content in Soybean Seed1

We compared fatty acid formation in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) seeds with a normal level and low level of chlorophyll. A low level of chlorophyll in the seed of four genotypes was obtained by covering nodes with aluminum foil before pods were visible. Seeds of known age were harvested from covered and uncovered nodes at 4‐day intervals beginning 22 days after flowering and continuing until maturity. The percentage of palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acid in the oil was determined by gas‐liquid chromatography. Although fatty acid composition of the oil changed markedly during seed development, there were no large differences in the pattern of fatty acid formation among genotypes or between the covered and uncovered treatments. The similarity of linolenic acid percentage in seeds with a normal or low level of chlorophyll indicated that linolenic acid formation was not closely related to chlorophyll content in soybean seed.