Saponins are bioactive plant metabolites abundant in soybean ( Glycine max ) seeds. However, direct quantification of total saponins in mature dry seeds remains challenging due to low levels and matrix interference. In this study, a rapid workflow was developed to determine total saponins in mature dry soybean seeds by combining microwave‐assisted extraction (MAE) with an optimized vanillin–sulfuric acid spectrophotometric assay (560 nm) for comparative germplasm screening. The method enabled extraction efficiency and assay sensitivity, enabling high‐throughput analysis of a large sample set. A total of 266 soybean accessions were analyzed, revealing total saponin contents ranging from 1.56 to 4.60 mg aescin equivalents (AE) g −1 (dry weight), indicating substantial natural variation among genotypes. The developed protocol is simple, rapid, and suitable for comparative screening of mature seeds in soybeans. This study provides a valuable tool for crop breeding programs, nutritional profiling, and functional food development by facilitating the efficient screening of mature soybean seeds for total saponin content.
Basnet et al. (Thu,) studied this question.