Herb extracts commercially used in Korea were screened for PPAR-γ agonist test and α-glucosidase inhibition assay. Total 16 herb plants had a PPAR-γ agonist activity. Specially, Alisma orientale Juz (108.41%), Ephedra sinica (98.22%), Sasa japonica Makino var. purpurascens Nakai (140.68%), Astragalus membranaceus Bunge (106.79%) and Cnidium officinale Makino (113.00%) showed high PPAR-γ agonist activity rate compared with rosiglitazone's (167.46%). And Cornus officinalis S. et Z. (90.3%), Cinnamomum cassia Blume (89.2%), Psoralea corylifolia L. (89.8%), Paeonia japonica (Makino) Miyabe (92.4%) and Paeonia suffruticosa Andr (93.2%), showed high α-glucosidase inhibition rates. These results support previous reports of the efficacy of Oriental medicinal plants used for diabetes mellitus.

Fermented soybean food is one of most economical and health food due to its valuable nutritional and medicinal attributes and have been consumed for centuries as flavoring ingredient in Korea. On fermented soybean food such as doenjang, aroma compounds are important property because they determine taste and grade of fermentation. This study investigated variety of aroma compounds of doenjang made from different soybean genotypes. Aroma compounds in twelve different doenjang made from two cultivar (Daewon and Taekwang) and ten elite lines were extracted by steam distillation extraction (SDE) method and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Aroma compound were detected over 80 kinds in eight samples (Daewon, Taekwang, MY177, MY187, MY189, MY192, MY204 and MY205) and under 70 kinds in four samples (yeonchun1, MY188, MY203 and MY206). Among the detected aroma components, 47 compounds were assigned as aromatic compounds (21), long chain fatty acid (13), short chain fatty acid (5) and others (8) by the computer library (Wiley 7n program). The major aroma compounds in twelve different doenjang were benzaldehyde, benzeneacetaldehyde, 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, pyrazine type compounds, cysteaminesulfonic acid, palmitic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid. Each doenjang made by same condition (microbe, temperature, aging time and etc) had a difference in ratio and variety of aroma compounds due to different components having soybean genotype.

A new garden pea cultivar, Daehyup 2, was developed at the Yeongnam Agricultural Research Institute (YARI) in 2006. It was selected from the cross between Olwandu and Sachulwandu in 1996. The preliminary, advanced, and regional yield trials for evaluation and selection of this cultivar were carried out from 2003 to 2006. It has white flower, yellow cotyledon, absent or very weakly curved pod shape and yellow seed color. It was resistant to virus and powdery mildew disease. The 100 green seed weight of Daehyup 2 was 65.5 g, which was 8.9 g heavier than check cultivar. The sucrose and total sugar contents of fresh pod of Daehyup 2 were 11.1% and 12.5%, respectively, which were 3.2% and 4.3% higher than those of Sachulwandu. The fresh pod yield of Daehyup 2 was similar to that of Sachulwandu with 12.16 ton per hectare in the regional yield trials carried out in three locations of Korea from 2005 to 2006.

A new black seed coat soybean variety, “Socheong” was developed at the Yeongnam Agricultural Research Institute (YARI) in 2006. The goal to breed the black seed coat soybean is to develop the cultivar with high yield, lodging tolerance, resistant to disease such as soybean mosaic virus (SMV), and bacterial pustule and seed size. Socheong was selected from the cross between Milyang 78, which was late maturing, susceptible to lodging and SMV and with large seed size and green cotyledon, and Peking which was tolerant to lodging and with small seed size. The preliminary, advanced and regional yield trials for evaluation and selection of this variety were carried out from 2002 to 2006. It has determinate growth habit, white flower, brown pubescence, brown pod color, black seed coat, green cotyledon, elongated flattened seed shape, oval leaf shape and small seed size (15.7 grams per 100 seeds), and it was 3 days later in maturity than the check cultivar Cheongjakong. Socheong was higher, in the seed quality of sucrose and total sugar contents (6.8 and 8.2%) and isoflavone contents (1,754 ㎍/g) than the check cultivar. Futhermore, it has good characteristics for mechanical harvest, such as lodging tolerance, pod shattering and stem diameter. It also has been identified to have resistance to soybean mosaic virus symptom which was the troublesome soybean diseases. The average yield of Socheong was 2.21 ton per hectare in the regional yield trials carried out in four locations of Korea among seven locations from 2004 to 2006, which was 5 percent lower than the check cultivar Cheongjakong.

A new black seed coat soybean cultivar, “Heugmi” was developed at the Yeongnam Agricultural Research Institute (YARI) in 2006. The goal to breed the black seed coat soybean is to develop the cultivar with high yield, lodging tolerance, resistant to disease such as soybean mosaic virus (SMV), and bacterial pustule and seed size. Heugmi was selected from the cross between Milyang 78, which was late maturing, susceptible to lodging and SMV and with large seed size and green cotyledon, and Milyang 68, which was middle maturing, resistant to lodging and SMV and with middle seed size and yellow cotyledon. The preliminary, advanced and regional yield trials for evaluation and selection of this cultivar were carried out from 2001 to 2006. It has determinate growth habit, purple flower, brown pubescence, black pod color, black seed coat, green cotyledon, spherical seed shape, oval leaf shape and middle seed size (24.8 grams per 100 seeds), and it was 2 days earlier in maturity than the check cultivar Cheongjakong. Heugmi was better in the seed quality of crude protein contents, sucrose and total sugar contents than the check cultivar. It also has been identified to have resistance to SMV which was the troublesome soybean diseases. The average yield of Heugmi was 2.53 ton per hectare in the regional yield trials carried out in seven locations of Korea from 2004 to 2006, which was 8 percent higher than the check cultivar Cheongjakong.

A new soybean cultivar for soy-paste, “Mansu”, was developed from the cross between ‘Suwon 192’, which was tolerant to disease, late maturing and high yielding, and ‘Suwon 196’ which was early maturing and large seed by soybean breeding team in the Yeongnam Agricultural Research Institute (YARI) to make new variety having large seed and high yielding. A promising line, SS97213-2B-3SSD-39-1-1, was selected and designated as the name of ‘Suwon 236’. It was characterized by regional yield trials (RYT) for three years from 2004 to 2006 and released as the name of “Mansu”. It has a determinate growth habit, purple flower, grey pubescence, pale green seed coat, yellow cotyledon, large spherical seed (26.5 grams per 100 seeds). Maturity date is 4 days later than the check cultivar, Taekwang. The average yield of Mansu was 2.93 ton per hectare in the regional yield trials (RYT) carried out for three years from 2004 to 2006 which was 7 percent higher than that of the check cultivar, Taekwang.

"Mirang", a new cultivar for vegetable soybean, was developed fi-om the cross between "Keunol" and "Geunjeongol"a black seed coat with black hilum and yellow cotyledon. Over 3 year of Korea Regional Adaptation Tests (2003-2005) for veg-etable soybean, Mir