Table 2.

Change in vitamin E content in soybeans during the 30-day pickling process (μg g⁻¹, dry basis, P < 0.05, n = 6)

Pickled soybean
	Untreated soybean (control)	Day 1	Day 5	Day 10	Day 20	Day 30	LSD (0.05)
α-tocopherol	8.8 ± 1.1bc	10.6 ± 0.8a	8.4 ± 1.0 cd	8.0 ± 0.7 cd	10.4 ± 2.0ab	7.2 ± 1.5d	1.6
β-tocopherol	1.3 ± 0.1b	1.5 ± 0.1a	1.3 ± 0.0b	1.2 ± 0.1b	1.3 ± 0.1b	0.9 ± 0.1c	0.2
γ-tocopherol	108.1 ± 7.1a	118.4 ± 7.7a	110.2 ± 4.1a	106.6 ± 1.7a	95.2 ± 9.7b	77.2 ± 12.3c	11.4
δ-tocopherol	37.7 ± 3.3 cd	60.2 ± 1.5a	45.9 ± 2.5bc	41.0 ± 1.5 cd	53.2 ± 6.0ab	34.4 ± 2.6d	8.2
Total	156.0 ± 10.9b	190.8 ± 8.3a	165.8 ± 6.4b	156.8 ± 2.7b	160.1 ± 13.8b	119.7 ± 15.1c	18.1
α-tocopherol equivalent	42.2 ± 3.3b	47.3 ± 3.1a	42.5 ± 2.3b	40.9 ± 1.2b	40.0 ± 5.0b	31.1 ± 5.3c	4.1

α-tocopherol equivalent is based on the biological activity of vitamin E vitamers and is calculated as follows: α-tocopherol equivalent = sum of α-tocopherol + (β-tocopherol × 0.4) + (γ-tocopherol × 0.3) + (δ-tocopherol × 0.01)

^a–d Values with different superscripts differ significantly according to pickling period (P< 0.05)