03-CB14 preserved more sucrose than steamed seeds; however, no difference was shown between steamed pods and seeds in V94-7456.

In general, there were no changes in sugar composition of steam-blanched

vegetable soybean pods relative to the raw ones for both genotypes, except that raffinose in V95-7456 decreased significantly after steam blanching. The increase in fructose after steam blanching in pods was attributed to sample variation. Both water and steam blanching at 100 _C for 10 min followed by frozen storage used in the present study were effective in inactivating enzymes that responsible for sugar changes during storage.

4. Conclusions

Fresh soybean stored at 4 _C in air or nitrogen atmosphere showed gradual decrease in soluble sugars during 28 days of storage. Soybean stored in open air at 25 _C showed significant accumulation of oligosaccharides; whereas soybean stored in nitrogen atmosphere at 25 _C showed significant degradation of all sugars. Low temperature was more important than atmospheric condition in preserving the nutritional and sensory values of fresh vegetable soybean. Soluble sugars decreased in soybean seeds during water blanching treatment as a result of leaching. The presence of pod effectively impeded阻碍 the leaching of sugars in water blanching treatment. Steam blanching preserved soluble sugars in both vegetable soybean pods and seeds than water blanching. There was no

significant change in sugar composition of blanched vegetable soybeans during 6 months of frozen storage. This research information will be useful in selecting post-harvest processing and/or storage method for vegetable soybean. Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Luck Howard for his consultation and discussion in vegetable post-harvest processing, and Eddie Stiles for his help with soybean blanching.