Mainstreaming Glycine soja (Himalayan soybean) a potential underutilized climate resilient crop for nutritional...

Growing challenges of climate change, agricultural sustainability and malnutrition demand climate-resilient nutrient dense crops to mitigate the consequences of climate change while sustaining agricultural productivity and ensuring nutritional security in the Himalayan regions. Glycine soja also known as Himalayan soybean or wild soybean is a wild relative of cultivated soybean (Glycine max) is a valuable underutilized, less explored, and nutritionally rich climate resilient crop offers promising solution to address these challenges. The present systematic review was conducted using bibliometric analysis following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, and total 3359 published scientific documents were analyzed. G. soja is a rich source of various nutrients such as protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, micronutrients and several bioactive compounds having potential role in disease prevention. The genetic diversity within G. soja presents considerable opportunities for crop improvement through gene flow with G. max utilizing biotechnological methods or breeding programs. The aim of the present study is to not only highlight the existing knowledge on its nutraceutical, stress resilience and crop improvement potential but it also emphasizes the research gaps including its de novo domestication, in-depth understanding of nutritional and stress resilience properties and the limitations of current biotechnological techniques in addressing agronomic challenges in G. soja cultivation and consumption. Mainstreaming and harnessing the potential of G. soja might help to achieve sustainable food systems, enhancing nutritional security and supporting climate-resilient agriculture in the Himalayan regions.