b-GLUCOSIDASE ACTIVITY OF SOYBEAN (GLYCINE MAX) EMBRYONIC AXIS GERMINATED IN THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF LIGHT

The aim of this study was to investigate the b-glucosidase activity of radicles,hypocotyls, cotyledons and epicotyls of soybeans (Glycine max) grown in the presence andabsenceof lightandtoobtainanalternativesourceof b-glucosidase.Seedswere germinated in the presence and absence of light at various time points, and the radicles, epicotyls, hypocotyls and cotyledons were separated. The enzymatic activity in the epicotyls presented the highest activity at 144 h in the presence of light. Specifically, the enzymatic activity of the epicotyls was sixfold higher than that of radiclesand12-foldhigherthanthatof cotyledons.Interestingly,thespecificactivity of hypocotyls and cotyledons was 4.02-fold and 5.17-fold lower than that of epicotyls after 144 h of germination under light. The high specific activity of lightgerminated epicotyls suggested that the purity of b-glucosidase from epicotyls is greater than b-glucosidase obtained from other parts of the plant.