Soybean

"Soy" redirects here.

Soybean
Scientific classification
Genus: Glycine (plant) Species: max
Synonyms
Dolichos soja L. Glycine angustifolia Miq. Glycine gracilis Skvortsov Glycine hispida (Moench) Maxim. Glycine soja sensu auct. Phaseolus max L. Soja angustifolia Miq. Soja hispida Moench Soja japonica Savi Soja max (L.) Piper Soja soja H. Karst. Soja viridis Savi

Soybeans for sale in a supermarket

The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (Glycine max) is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Soybeans contain significant amounts of phytic acid, dietary minerals, and B vitamins.

Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu and tofu skin are made. Fermented soy foods include soy sauce, fermented bean paste, nattō, and tempeh. Fat-free (defatted) soybean meal is a significant and cheap source of protein for animal feed farm animals (that in turn yields animal protein for human consumption). The soybean product textured vegetable protein (TVP), is often used in meat and dairy substitutes. Soy vegetable oil, used in food and industrial applications, is another processed soybean product.

Etymology

The word "soy" originated in the Dutch soya as a corruption of the Cantonese or Japanese names for soy sauce (Chinese: 豉油; Cantonese Yale: sihyàuh (shi-yu)) (醤油, shōyu). The Chinese shi-yu is from from shi "fermented soy beans" + yu "oil." The etymology reflects Dutch presence in Japan before English and American merchants began to trade there.

The name of the genus, Glycine, comes from Carl Linnaeus. When naming the genus, Linnaeus observed that one of the species within the genus had a sweet root. Based on the sweetness, the Greek word for sweet, glykós, was Latinized.

Classification

Varieties used for many purposes

The genus Glycine may be divided into two subgenera, Glycine and Soja. The subgenus Soja includes the cultivated soybean, G. max, and the wild soybean, treated either as a separate species G. soja, or as the subspecies G. max subsp. soja. Both cultivated and wild soybeans are annuals. The wild soybean is native to China, Japan, Korea, and Russia.

The subgenus Glycine consists of at least 25 wild perennial species: for example, G. canescens and G. tomentella, both found in Australia and Papua New Guinea. Perennial soybean (Neonotonia wightii) belongs to a different genus. It originated in Africa and is now a widespread pasture crop in the tropics.

Like some other crops of long domestication, the relationship of the modern soybean to wild-growing species can no longer be traced with any degree of certainty. It is a cultigen with a very large number of cultivars.

Description

Like most plants, soybeans grow in distinct morphological stages as they develop from seeds into fully mature plant.

Upon germination, the first stage of root growth and occurs within the first 48 hours under ideal growing conditions. The first true leaves develop as a pair of single blades. Subsequent to this first pair, mature nodes form compound leaves with three blades. Mature trifoliolate leaves, having three to four leaflets per leaf, are often between 6 and 15 cm (2.4 and 5.9 in) long and 2 and 7 cm (0.79 and 2.8 in) broad. Under ideal conditions, stem growth continues, producing new nodes every four days. Before flowering, roots can grow 2 cm (0.79 in) per day. If rhizobia are present, root nodulation begins by the time the third node appears. Nodulation typically continues for 8 weeks before the symbiotic infection process stabilizes.

The final characteristics of a soybean plant are variable, with factors such as genetics, soil quality, and climate affecting its form; however, fully mature soybean plants are generally between 50 and 125 cm (20 and 50 in) in height.

Purple flowers on a soybean plant

Flowers

Flowering is triggered by day length, often beginning once days become shorter than 12.8 hours. This trait is highly variable however, with different varieties reacting differently to changing day length.

Soybeans form inconspicuous, self-fertile flowers which are borne in the axil of the leaf and are white, pink or purple. Though they do not require pollination, they are attractive to bees, because they produce nectar that is high in sugar content. Depending on the soybean variety, node growth may cease once flowering begins. Strains that continue nodal development after flowering are termed "indeterminates" and are best suited to climates with longer growing seasons. Often soybeans drop their leaves before the seeds are fully mature.

Glycine max, Soybean Fruits/pods

The fruit is a hairy pod that grows in clusters of three to five, each pod is between 3 and 8 cm (1.2 and 3.1 in) long and usually contains two to four (rarely more) seeds 5–11 mm in diameter. Soybean seeds come in a wide variety of sizes and hull colors such as black, brown, yellow, and green. Variegated and bicolored seed coats are also common.

Seed resilience

The hull of the mature bean is hard, water-resistant, and protects the cotyledon and hypocotyl (or "germ") from damage. If the seed coat is cracked, the seed will not germinate. The scar, visible on the seed coat, is called the hilum (colors include black, brown, buff, gray and yellow) and at one end of the hilum is the micropyle, or small opening in the seed coat which can allow the absorption of water for sprouting.

Soybeans, containing very high levels of protein and soluble carbohydrates protecting the seed's cell viability, can undergo desiccation, yet survive and revive after water absorption.

Chemical composition

Together, protein and soybean oil content account for 56 percent of dry soybeans by weight (36 percent protein and 20 percent fat). The remainder consists of 30 percent carbohydrates, 9 percent water, and 5 percent ash. Soybeans comprise approximately 8 percent seed coat or hull, 90 percent cotyledons, and 2 percent hypocotyl axis or germ.

Nutrition

Raw soybean are not edible and cannot be digested. For human consumption, soybeans must be processed prior to consumption–either by cooking, roasting, or fermenting–to destroy the trypsin inhibitors (serine protease inhibitors). Raw soybeans, including the immature green form, are toxic to all monogastric animals.

Soybeans are a rich source of essential nutrients, providing high contents of protein, dietary fiber, iron, manganese, phosphorus. and several B vitamins, including folate. High contents also exist for vitamin K, magnesium, zinc, and potassium. The nutritional value of soybean depends on the processing and the method of cooking: boiling, frying, roasting, baking, etc.

Protein

Most soy protein is a relatively heat-stable storage protein. This heat stability enables soy food products requiring high temperature cooking, such as tofu, soy milk, and textured vegetable protein (soy flour) to be made. Soy is a good source of protein for vegetarians and vegans or for people who want to reduce the amount of meat they eat:

Soy protein products can be good substitutes for animal products because, unlike some other beans, soy offers a 'complete' protein profile. Soybeans contain all the amino acids essential to human nutrition, which must be supplied in the diet because they cannot be synthesized by the human body. Soy protein products can replace animal-based foods—which also have complete proteins but tend to contain more fat, especially saturated fat—without requiring major adjustments elsewhere in the diet.

Carbohydrates

The insoluble carbohydrates in soybeans consist of the complex polysaccharides cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectin. The majority of soybean carbohydrates can be classed as belonging to dietary fiber.

The principal soluble carbohydrates of mature soybeans are the disaccharide sucrose, the trisaccharide raffinose, and the tetrasaccharide stachyose. While the oligosaccharides raffinose and stachyose protect the viability of the soybean seed from desiccation they are not digestible sugars, so contribute to flatulence and abdominal discomfort in humans and other monogastric animals. Since soluble soy carbohydrates are found in the whey and are broken down during fermentation, soy concentrate, soy protein isolates, tofu, soy sauce, and sprouted soybeans are digestible.

Fats

Raw soybeans are 20 percent fat, including saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated fat, mainly as linoleic acid.

Cultivation

Biplane cropdusting

Soybean cultivation is successful in climates with hot summers, with optimum growing conditions in mean temperatures of 20 °C (68 °F) to 30 °C (86 °F); temperatures of below 20 °C (68 °F) and over 40 °C (104 °F) stunt growth significantly. They can grow in a wide range of soils, with optimum growth in moist alluvial soils with good organic content.

Soybeans, like most legumes, perform nitrogen fixation by establishing a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum (syn. Rhizobium japonicum; Jordan 1982). This ability to fix nitrogen allows farmers to reduce nitrogen fertilizer use and increase yields when growing other crops in rotation with soy.

Pests

Soybean plants are vulnerable to a wide range of bacterial diseases, fungal diseases, viral diseases, and parasites.

The primary bacterial diseases that affect the soybean plant include bacterial blight, bacterial pustule, stem rot, and downy mildew.

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN), a plant-parasitic roundworm, is the most yield limiting soybean pest in the U.S.

The corn earworm moth and bollworm (Helicoverpa zea) is a common and destructive pest of soybean growth in Virginia.

Soybeans are consumed by whitetail deer which may damage soybean plants through feeding, trampling and bedding, reducing crop yields. Groundhogs are also a common pest in soybean fields, living in burrows underground and feeding nearby. One den of groundhogs can consume a tenth to a quarter of an acre of soybeans.

Cultivars

Modern crop cultivars generally reach a height of around 1 m (3 ft), and take 80–120 days from sowing to harvesting.

Disease resistant varieties are available. The vast majority of cultivars in the US have soybean cyst nematode resistance (SCN resistance).

Cultivation History

Soybeans were a crucial crop in East Asia long before written records began. They were first cultivated in North America in the eighteenth century, a little later in Europe and South America. However, for a long time the crop was grown primarily for animal feed and industrial products with little used for human consumption. By the twenty-first century, however, with increased interest in its protein value, especially as a substitute meat product for vegetarians, soybean production became an important food source.

East Asia

Botanical illustration of soybean, Seikei Zusetsu (1804)

The cultivation of soybeans is known to have taken place in the eastern half of northern China by 2000 B.C.E., but is almost certainly much older. According to the ancient Chinese myth, in 2853 B.C.E., the legendary Emperor Shennong of China proclaimed that five plants were sacred: soybeans, rice, wheat, barley, and millet. Thus he is called as "The Emperor of Five Grains."

Some scholars suggest that soybean originated in China and was domesticated about 3500 B.C.E. Recent research, however, indicates that seeding of wild forms started earlier. The earliest documented evidence for the use of Glycine of any kind comes from charred plant remains of wild soybean recovered from Jiahu in Henan province China, a Neolithic site occupied between 9000 and 7800 calendar years ago. An abundance of archeological charred soybean specimens have been found centered around this region.

The oldest preserved soybeans resembling modern varieties in size and shape were found in archaeological sites in Korea. Radiocarbon dating of soybean samples recovered through flotation during excavations at the Early Mumun period site in Korea indicated soybean was cultivated as a food crop in around 1000–900 B.C.E.

Soybeans from the Jōmon period in Japan from 3000 B.C.E. are also significantly larger than wild varieties. The earliest Japanese textual reference to the soybean is in the classic Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), which was completed in 712 C.E.

Soybeans became an important crop by the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 B.C.E.) in China. However, the details of where, when, and under what circumstances soybean developed a close relationship with people are poorly understood. Soybean was unknown in South China before the Han period. From about the first century C.E. to the Age of Discovery (fifteenth-sixteenth centuries), soybeans were introduced into across South and Southeast Asia. This spread was due to the establishment of sea and land trade routes.

Southeast Asia

By the thirteenth century, the soybean had arrived and cultivated in Indonesia; it probably arrived much earlier however, carried by traders or merchants from Southern China.

The earliest known reference to it as "tempeh" appeared in 1815 in the Serat Centhini manuscript. The development of tempeh fermented soybean cake probably took place earlier, circa seventeenth century in Java.

Indian subcontinent

Soybean field in India

The soybean probably arrived from southern China, moving southwest into northern parts of Indian subcontinent. By the 1600s, soy sauce spread from southern Japan across the region through the Dutch East India Company.

North America

Soybeans were first introduced to North America from China in 1765, by Samuel Bowen, a former East India Company sailor who had visited China in conjunction with James Flint. The first soybeans were grown near Savannah, Georgia, and were made into soy sauce for sale in England.

William Morse is considered the "father" of modern soybean agriculture in America. He and Charles Piper took what was an unknown Oriental peasant crop in 1910 and transformed it into a "golden bean" for America, becoming one of America's largest farm crops and its most nutritious.

Prior to the 1920s in the US, the soybean was mainly a forage crop, a source of oil, meal (for feed) and industrial products, with very little used as food. During the Great Depression, the drought-stricken (Dust Bowl) regions of the United States were able to use soy to regenerate their soil because of its nitrogen-fixing properties. Farms were increasing production to meet with government demands, and Henry Ford became a promoter of soybeans. Soybean oil was used by Ford in paint for the automobiles, as well as a fluid for shock absorbers.

During World War II, soybeans became important chiefly as substitutes for other protein foods and as a source of edible oil.

Prior to the 1970s, Asian-Americans and Seventh-Day Adventists were essentially the only users of soy foods in the United States:

The soy foods movement began in small pockets of the counterculture, notably the Tennessee commune named simply The Farm, but by the mid-1970s a vegetarian revival helped it gain momentum and even popular awareness through books such as The Book of Tofu.

Although practically unseen in 1900, by 2000 soybean plantings covered more than 70 million acres, second only to corn, and had become the nation’s largest cash crop.

Western Europe

The Portuguese and Spanish were familiar with soybeans and soybean product through their trade with Far East since at least the seventeenth century. However, it was not until the late nineteenth century that the first attempt to cultivate soybeans in the Iberian peninsula was undertaken. In 1880, the soybean was first cultivated in Portugal in the Botanical Gardens at Coimbra. In the early twentieth century the first attempts at Soybean cultivation in Spain were made by the Count of San Bernardo, who cultivated soybeans on his estates at Almillo (in southwest Spain) about 48 miles east-northeast of Seville.

The soybean was first cultivated in France in the eighteenth century. In the early twentieth century Li Yu-ying, who had been living in France for several years, went back to China and returned with five workers and a large supply of Chinese soybeans and coagulant. Hhe and his engineers designed equipment to transform soybeans into soymilk and then tofu. He built a large factory where the first commercial soyfoods in France were made.

Soybeans were grown in Italy in botanical gardens in the eighteenth century. However, only since the late 1950s was there serious interest in soybeans, soybean oil or meal, or traditional Asian soyfoods in Italy. By 1939, soybeans were cultivated in Greece.

Soybeans began to be cultivated in Switzerland and Austria (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) in the late nineteenth century. They were first cultivated in Switzerland in 1861. In 1873, Professor Friedrich J. Haberlandt first became interested in soybeans when he obtained the seeds of 19 soybean varieties at the Vienna World Exposition (Wiener Weltausstellung). He cultivated these seeds in Vienna, and soon began to distribute them throughout Central and Western Europe.

South America

Soybean field in Argentina

The soybean first arrived in South America in Argentina in 1882.

Andrew McClung showed in the early 1950s that with soil amendments the Cerrado region of Brazil would grow soybeans. In June 1973, when soybean futures markets mistakenly portended a major shortage, the Nixon administration imposed an embargo on soybean exports. It lasted only a week, but Japanese buyers felt that they could not rely on U.S. supplies, and the rival Brazilian soybean industry came into existence. This led Brazil to become the world's largest producer of soybeans in 2020, with 131 million tons.

Industrial soy production in South America is characterized by wealthy management who live far away from the production site which they manage remotely. In Brazil, these managers depend heavily on advanced technology and machinery, and agronomic practices such as zero tillage, high pesticide use, and intense fertilization. One contributing factor is the increased attention on the Brazilian Cerrado in Bahia, Brazil by US farmers in the early 2000s. This was due to rising values of scarce farmland and high production costs in the US Midwest. There were many promotions of the Brazilian Cerrado by US farm producer magazines and market consultants who portrayed it as having cheap land with ideal production conditions, with infrastructure being the only thing it was lacking. These same magazines also presented Brazilian soy as inevitably out-competing American soy. Another draw to investing was the insider information about the climate and market in Brazil. A few dozen American farmers purchased varying amounts of land by a variety of means including finding investors and selling off land holdings. Many followed the ethanol company model and formed an LLC with investments from neighboring farmers, friends, and family while some turned to investment companies. Some soy farmers either liquidated their Brazilian assets or switched to remote management from the US to return to farming there and implement new farming and business practices to make their US farms more productive. Others planned to sell their now expensive Bahia land to buy land cheaper land in the frontier regions of Piauí or Tocantins to create more soybean farms.

In spite of the Amazon "Soy Moratorium", soy production continues to play a significant role in deforestation when its indirect impacts are taken into account, as land used to grow soy continues to increase. This land either comes from pasture land (which increasingly supplants forested areas), or areas outside the Amazon not covered by the moratorium, such as the Cerrado region. Roughly one-fifth of deforestation can be attributed to expanding land use to produce oilseeds, primarily for soy and palm oil, whereas the expansion of beef production accounts for 41%. The main driver of deforestation is the global demand for meat, which in turn requires huge tracts of land to grow feed crops for livestock. Around 80% of the global soybean crop is used to feed livestock.

Uses

Tofu and soy sauce

Among the legumes, the soybean is valued for its high (38–45%) protein content as well as its high (approximately 20%) oil content. Soybeans are the most valuable agricultural export of the United States. Approximately 85% of the world's soybean crop is processed into soybean meal and soybean oil, the remainder processed in other ways or eaten whole.

Soybeans can be broadly classified as "vegetable" (garden) or field (oil) types. Vegetable types cook more easily, have a mild, nutty flavor, and better texture, are larger in size, higher in protein, and are lower in oil than field types. Tofu, soy milk, and soy sauce are among the top edible commodities made using soybeans. Producers prefer the higher protein cultivars bred from vegetable soybeans originally brought to the United States in the late 1930s. The "garden" cultivars are generally not suitable for mechanical combine harvesting because there is a tendency for the pods to shatter upon reaching maturity.

Soybean oil

Soybean seed contains 18–19% oil. To extract soybean oil from seed, the soybeans are cracked, adjusted for moisture content, rolled into flakes, and solvent-extracted with commercial hexane. The oil is then refined, blended for different applications, and sometimes hydrogenated. Soybean oils, both liquid and partially hydrogenated, are exported abroad, sold as "vegetable oil," or end up in a wide variety of processed foods.

Soybean meal

Soybean meal, or soymeal, is the material remaining after solvent extraction of oil from soybean flakes, with a 50% soy protein content. The meal is 'toasted' (a misnomer because the heat treatment is with moist steam) and ground in a hammer mill. Ninety-seven percent of soybean meal production globally is used as livestock feed. Soybean meal is also used in some dog foods.

Livestock feed

One of the major uses of soybeans globally is as livestock feed, predominantly in the form of soybean meal. In the European Union, for example, though it does not make up most of the weight of livestock feed, soybean meal provides around 60% of the protein fed to livestock. In the United States, however, 70 percent of soybean production is used for animal feed, with poultry being the number one livestock sector of soybean consumption. Spring grasses are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, whereas soy is predominantly omega-6. The soybean hulls, which mainly consist of the outer coats of the beans removed before oil extraction, can also be fed to livestock and whole soybean seeds after processing.

Food for human consumption

Tempeh

In addition to their use in livestock feed, soybean products are widely used for human consumption. Common soybean products include soy sauce, soy milk, tofu, soy meal, soy flour, textured vegetable protein (TVP), soy curls, tempeh, soy lecithin and soybean oil. Soybeans may also be eaten with minimal processing, for example, in the Japanese food edamame (枝豆, edamame), in which immature soybeans are boiled whole in their pods and served with salt.

Natto on rice

In China, Japan, Vietnam and Korea, soybean and soybean products are a standard part of the diet. Tofu (豆腐 dòufu) is thought to have originated in China, along with soy sauce and several varieties of soybean paste used as seasonings.^{[citation needed]} Japanese foods made from soya include miso (味噌), nattō (納豆), kinako (黄粉) and edamame (枝豆), as well as products made with tofu such as atsuage and aburaage. In China, whole dried soybeans are sold in supermarkets and used to cook various dishes, usually after rehydration by soaking in water; they find their use in soup or as a savory dish. In Korean cuisine, soybean sprouts (콩나물 kongnamul) are used in a variety of dishes, and soybeans are the base ingredient in doenjang, cheonggukjang and ganjang. In Vietnam, soybeans are used to make soybean paste (tương) in the North with the most popular products are tương Bần, tương Nam Đàn, tương Cự Đà as a garnish for phở and gỏi cuốn dishes, as well as tofu (đậu hũ or đậu phụ or tàu hũ), soy sauce (nước tương), soy milk (nước đậu in the North or sữa đậu nành in the South), and đậu hũ nước đường (tofu sweet soup).

Bhatmaas – Nepali fried soybeans

Flour

Soy flour refers to soybeans ground finely enough to pass through a 100-mesh or smaller screen where special care was taken during desolventizing (not toasted) to minimize denaturation of the protein to retain a high protein dispersibility index, for uses such as food extrusion of textured vegetable protein. It is the starting material for soy concentrate and protein isolate production.

Soy flour can also be made by roasting the soybean, removing the coat (hull), and grinding it into flour. Soy flour is manufactured with different fat levels. Alternatively, raw soy flour omits the roasting step.

• Defatted soy flour is obtained from solvent extracted flakes and contains less than 1% oil.
• "Natural or full-fat soy flour is made from unextracted, dehulled beans and contains about 18% to 20% oil." Its high oil content requires the use of a specialized Alpine Fine Impact Mill to grind rather than the usual hammer mill. Full-fat soy flour has a lower protein concentration than defatted flour. Extruded full-fat soy flour, ground in an Alpine mill, can replace/extend eggs in baking and cooking. Full-fat soy flour is a component of the famous Cornell bread recipe.
• Low-fat soy flour is made by adding some oil back into defatted soy flour. Fat levels range from 4.5% to 9%.
• High-fat soy flour can also be produced by adding back soybean oil to defatted flour, usually at 15%.

Soy lecithin can be added (up to 15%) to soy flour to make lecithinated soy flour. It increases dispersibility and gives it emulsifying properties.

Soy flour has 50% protein and 5% fiber. It has higher levels of protein, thiamine, riboflavin, phosphorus, calcium, and iron than wheat flour. It does not contain gluten. As a result, yeast-raised breads made with soy flour are dense in texture. Among many uses, soy flour thickens sauces, prevents staling in baked food, and reduces oil absorption during frying. Baking food with soy flour gives it tenderness, moistness, a rich color, and a fine texture.

Soy grits are similar to soy flour, except the soybeans have been toasted and cracked into coarse pieces.

Kinako is a soy flour used in Japanese cuisine.

Section reference: Smith & Circle (1972, p. 442)

Soy-based infant formula

Soy-based infant formula (SBIF) is sometimes given to infants who are not being strictly breastfed; it can be useful for infants who are either allergic to pasteurized cow milk proteins or who are being fed a vegan diet. It is sold in powdered, ready-to-feed, and concentrated liquid forms.

Some reviews have expressed the opinion that more research is needed to determine what effect the phytoestrogens in soybeans may have on infants. Diverse studies have concluded there are no adverse effects in human growth, development, or reproduction as a result of the consumption of soy-based infant formula. One of these studies, published in the Journal of Nutrition, concludes that there are:

... no clinical concerns with respect to nutritional adequacy, sexual development, neurobehavioral development, immune development, or thyroid disease. SBIFs provide complete nutrition that adequately supports normal infant growth and development. FDA has accepted SBIFs as safe for use as the sole source of nutrition.

Meat and dairy alternatives and extenders

Soybeans can be processed to produce a texture and appearance similar to many other foods. For example, soybeans are the primary ingredient in many dairy product substitutes (e.g., soy milk, margarine, soy ice cream, soy yogurt, soy cheese, and soy cream cheese) and meat alternatives (e.g. veggie burgers). These substitutes are readily available in most supermarkets. Soy milk does not naturally contain significant amounts of digestible calcium. Many manufacturers of soy milk sell calcium-enriched products, as well.

Soy products also are used as a low-cost substitute for meat and poultry products. Food service, retail and institutional (primarily school lunch and correctional) facilities regularly use such "extended" products. The extension may result in diminished flavor, but fat and cholesterol are reduced. Vitamin and mineral fortification can be used to make soy products nutritionally equivalent to animal protein; the protein quality is already roughly equivalent. The soy-based meat substitute textured vegetable protein has been used for more than 50 years as a way of inexpensively extending ground beef without reducing its nutritional value.

Soy nut butter

The soybean is used to make a product called soy nut butter which is similar in texture to peanut butter.

Sweetened soybean

Sweet-boiled beans are popular in Japan and Korea, and the sweet-boiled soybeans are called "Daizu no Nimame" in Japan and Kongjorim (Korean: 콩조림) in Korea. Sweet-boiled beans are even used in sweetened buns, especially in Mame Pan.

The boiled and pasted edamame, called Zunda, is used as one of the Sweet bean pastes in Japanese confections.

Coffee substitute

Roasted and ground soybeans can be a caffeine-free substitute for coffee. After the soybeans are roasted and ground, they look similar to regular coffee beans or can be used as a powder similar to instant coffee, with the aroma and flavor of roasted soybeans.

Other products

Display of soybean wax candles

Soybeans with black hulls are used in Chinese fermented black beans, douchi, not to be confused with black turtle beans.

Soybeans are also used in industrial products, including oils, soap, cosmetics, resins, plastics, inks, crayons, solvents, and clothing. Soybean oil is the primary source of biodiesel in the United States, accounting for 80% of domestic biodiesel production. Soybeans have also been used since 2001 as fermenting stock in the manufacture of a brand of vodka. In 1936, Ford Motor Company developed a method where soybeans and fibers were rolled together producing a soup which was then pressed into various parts for their cars, from the distributor cap to knobs on the dashboard. Ford also informed in public relation releases that in 1935 over five million acres (20,000 km²) was dedicated to growing soybeans in the United States.

Health effects

Reducing risk of cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, "There is growing evidence that eating traditional soy foods such as tofu may lower the risk of cancers of the breast, prostate, or endometrium (lining of the uterus), and there is some evidence it may lower the risk of certain other cancers." There is insufficient research to indicate whether taking soy dietary supplements (e.g., as a pill or capsule) has any effect on health or cancer risk.

As of 2018, rigorous dietary clinical research in people with cancer has proved inconclusive.

Breast cancer

Although considerable research has examined the potential for soy consumption to lower the risk of breast cancer in women, as of 2016 there is insufficient evidence to reach a conclusion about a relationship between soy consumption and any effects on breast cancer. A 2011 meta-analysis stated: "Our study suggests soy isoflavones intake is associated with a significant reduced risk of breast cancer incidence in Asian populations, but not in Western populations."

Gastrointestinal and colorectal cancer

Reviews of preliminary clinical trials on people with colorectal or gastrointestinal cancer suggest that soy isoflavones may have a slight protective effect against such cancers.

Prostate cancer

A 2016 review concluded that "current evidence from observational studies and small clinical trials is not robust enough to understand whether soy protein or isoflavone supplements may help prevent or inhibit the progression of prostate cancer." A 2010 review showed that neither soy foods nor isoflavone supplements alter measures of bioavailable testosterone or estrogen concentrations in men. Soy consumption has been shown to have no effect on the levels and quality of sperm. Meta-analyses on the association between soy consumption and prostate cancer risk in men concluded that dietary soy may lower the risk of prostate cancer.

Cardiovascular health

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the following health claim for soy: "25 grams of soy protein a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease." One serving, (1 cup or 240 mL) of soy milk, for instance, contains 6 or 7 grams of soy protein.

An American Heart Association (AHA) review of a decade long study of soy protein benefits did not recommend isoflavone supplementation. The review panel also found that soy isoflavones have not been shown to reduce post-menopausal "hot flashes" and the efficacy and safety of isoflavones to help prevent cancers of the breast, uterus or prostate is in question. AHA concluded that "many soy products should be beneficial to cardiovascular and overall health because of their high content of polyunsaturated fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals and low content of saturated fat". Other studies found that soy protein consumption could lower LDL.

Soy allergy

Allergy to soy is common, and the food is listed with other foods that commonly cause allergy, such as milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish. The problem has been reported among younger children, and the diagnosis of soy allergy is often based on symptoms reported by parents and results of skin tests or blood tests for allergy. Only a few reported studies have attempted to confirm allergy to soy by direct challenge with the food under controlled conditions. It is very difficult to give a reliable estimate of the true prevalence of soy allergy in the general population. To the extent that it does exist, soy allergy may cause cases of urticaria and angioedema, usually within minutes to hours of ingestion. In rare cases, true anaphylaxis may also occur. The reason for the discrepancy is likely that soy proteins, the causative factor in allergy, are far less potent at triggering allergy symptoms than the proteins of peanut and shellfish. An allergy test that is positive demonstrates that the immune system has formed IgE antibodies to soy proteins. However, this is only a factor when soy proteins reach the blood without being digested, in sufficient quantities to reach a threshold to provoke actual symptoms.

Soy can also trigger symptoms via food intolerance, a situation where no allergic mechanism can be proven. One scenario is seen in very young infants who have vomiting and diarrhoea when fed soy-based formula, which resolves when the formula is withdrawn. Older infants can suffer a more severe disorder with vomiting, diarrhoea that may be bloody, anemia, weight loss and failure to thrive. The most common cause of this unusual disorder is a sensitivity to cow's milk, but soy formulas can also be the trigger. The precise mechanism is unclear and it could be immunologic, although not through the IgE-type antibodies that have the leading role in urticaria and anaphylaxis. However, it is also self-limiting and will often disappear in the toddler years.

In the European Union, identifying the presence of soy either as an ingredient or unintended contaminant in packaged food is compulsory. The regulation (EC) 1169/2011 on food-labeling lists 14 allergens, including soy, in packaged food must be clearly indicated on the label as part of the list of ingredients, using a distinctive typography (such as bold type or capital letters).

Genetics

Chinese landraces were found to have a slightly higher genetic diversity than inbred lines by Li et al., 2010. Specific locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) has been used by Han et al., 2015 to study the genetic history of the domestication process, perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of agronomically relevant traits, and produce high-density linkage maps. An SNP array was developed by Song et al., 2013 and has been used for research and breeding; the same team applied their array in Song et al., 2015 against the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection and obtained mapping data that are expected to yield association mapping data for such traits.

Template:Vanchor is a resistance gene against soybean rust. Rpp1-R1 is an R gene (NB-LRR) providing resistance against the rust pathogen Phakopsora pachyrhizi. Its synthesis product includes a ULP1 protease.

Qijian et al., 2017 provides the Template:Vanchor gene array.

Genetic modification

Different varieties of soybeans being grown together

Soybeans are one of the "biotech food" crops that have been genetically modified, and genetically modified soybeans are being used in an increasing number of products. In 1995, Monsanto company introduced glyphosate-tolerant soybeans that have been genetically modified to be resistant to Monsanto's glyphosate herbicides through substitution of the Agrobacterium sp. (strain CP4) gene EPSP (5-enolpyruvyl shikimic acid-3-phosphate) synthase. The substituted version is not sensitive to glyphosate.

In 1997, about 8% of all soybeans cultivated for the commercial market in the United States were genetically modified. In 2010, the figure was 93%. As with other glyphosate-tolerant crops, concern is expressed over damage to biodiversity. A 2003 study concluded the "Roundup Ready" (RR) gene had been bred into so many different soybean cultivars, there had been little decline in genetic diversity, but "diversity was limited among elite lines from some companies".

The widespread use of such types of GM soybeans in the Americas has caused problems with exports to some regions. GM crops require extensive certification before they can be legally imported into the European Union, where there is considerable supplier and consumer reluctance to use GM products for consumer or animal use. Difficulties with coexistence and subsequent traces of cross-contamination of non-GM stocks have caused shipments to be rejected and have put a premium on non-GM soy.

A 2006 United States Department of Agriculture report found the adoption of genetically engineered (GE) soy, corn and cotton reduced the amount of pesticides used overall, but did result in a slightly greater amount of herbicides used for soy specifically. The use of GE soy was also associated with greater conservation tillage, indirectly leading to better soil conservation, as well as increased income from off-farming sources due to the greater ease with which the crops can be managed. Though the overall estimated benefits of the adoption of GE soybeans in the United States was $310 million, the majority of this benefit was experienced by the companies selling the seeds (40%), followed by biotechnology firms (28%) and farmers (20%). The patent on glyphosate-tolerant soybeans expired in 2014, so benefits can be expected to shift.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Brachfeld, Aaron, and Mary Choate. Eat Your Food! Gastronomical Glory from Garden to Gut. Coastalfields Press, 2007.
• Chaplin, Joyce E. An Anxious Pursuit: Agricultural Innovation and Modernity in the Lower South, 1730–1815. University of North Carolina Press, 1996. ISBN 978-0807846131
• Liu, KeShun. Soybeans: Chemistry, Technology, and Utilization. Springer, 2012. ISBN 978-1461357117
• Murphy, Denis J. People, Plants and Genes: The Story of Crops and Humanity. Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0199207145
• Roth, Matthew. Magic Bean: The Rise of Soy in America. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2018. ISBN 978-0700626335
• Schwarcz, Joe. The Fly in the Ointment: 70 Fascinating Commentaries on the Science of Everyday Life. ECW Press, 2004., ISBN 978-1550226218
• Shekhar, Hossain Uddin, Zakir Hossain Howlader, and Yearul Kabir (eds.). Exploring the Nutrition and Health Benefits of Functional Foods. Medical Information Science Reference, 2016. ISBN 978-1522505914
• Shurtleff, William, and Akiko Aoyagi. The Book of Tofu. Ballantine Books, 1987 (original 1978). ISBN 978-0345351814
• Shurtleff, William, and Akiko Aoyagi. The Book of Tempeh. Ten Speed Press, 2001. ISBN 978-1580083355
• Siddiqi, Mohammad Rafiq. Tylenchida: Parasites of Plants and Insects. CABI, 2000. ISBN 978-0851992020
• Singh, Ram J. (ed.). Genetic Resources, Chromosome Engineering, and Crop Improvement: Oilseed Crops, Volume 4. CRC Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0849336393
• Stark, Miriam T. (ed.). Archaeology of Asia. Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. ISBN 978-1405102131
• Wrigley, Colin, Harold Corke, and Charles E. Walker (eds.). Encyclopedia of Grain Science. Academic Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0127654904

External links

All links retrieved

• Uses of Soybeans North Carolina Soybean Producers Association
• What to know about soy Medical News Today
• Soybeans 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Effects Healthline
• Soybeans and Oil Crops US Department of Agriculture
• Soyinfo Center

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