Total lipids of Korean black soybean (Glycine man Merr) during soaking in water were extracted, purified and fractionated into three lipid classes, and then lipid contents and their fatty acid compositions were investigated. The lipids of the beans consisted of 89.1% neutral lipids, 1.5% glycolipids and 9.4% phospholipids, and these fractions did not change significantly during the soaking period. The neutral lipid fraction of the beans contained 92.1% triglyceride, 3.0% sterol esters and hydrocarbons, 2.8% diglyceride, 1.5% free fatty acids, 0.3% free sterols and 0.3% monoglyceride, and no significant changes were found in the composition of neutral lipid fraction from the soaked beans. Major components of the glycolipid fraction were esterified steryl glycosides (43.6%), steryl glycosides (26.6%) and digalactosyl diglycerides (14.5%), and these fractions did not change significantly during the soaking period. On the other hand, phosphatidyl choline (41.6%) and phosphatidyl ethanolamine (39.5%) were most abundant components found in the phospholipid fraction, and the contents of phospholipids changed a little during the soaking period. Linoleic acid, oleic acid and palmitic acid were the major fatty acids found in total lipids, neutral lipids, glycolipids and phospholipids. A few changes in the major fatty acid compositions of phospholipids were observed during the soaking period.