Soy: A Mystery Box

 Soy or soy belongs to the genus Glycine max is a member of the legume family, originally from East Asia. Soybean meal is fat free, low cost and is widely used as animal feed and other packaged products. Soybean oil is another economically important product which is used for cooking. Textured vegetable protein (TVP) made from soybeans is used in meat and dairy products analogues.Traditionally cooked non-fermented soy products contain soy milk, tofu and tofu skin.

 

Fermented products include soy sauce, fermented bean paste, natto, and tempeh.The main producers of soy products are the USA, Brazil, Argentina and India. The beans are high in phytic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, isoflavones genistein and daidzein.Soy protein is capable of twice as much per hectare compared to other vegetable crops.The name is derived from a Japanese soy word. The genus name derives from the Greek word for pear-shaped tubers. 

 

The plant varies in growth and habit. The leaves are trifoliate and there are 3-4 leaflets per leaf.The plant throws all the leaves before the seeds reach maturity. Each pod measuring 3.8 cm long and 2.4 seeds, which encloses 5.11 mm in diameter.The seed coat is hard, waterproof and protects the cotyledon and hypocotyls from damage. When skin is damaged seed germination does not occur.

 

A. Carl Leopold, son of Aldo Leopold at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University in the mid-1880s found that soy is a group of water soluble carbohydrates, to protect the viability of the seeds contain.Oil and protein about 60% of the dry weight of the seed. The heat-stable protein, soy protein isolate memory.

 

 For this reason, the soy products high temperatures required for cooking.The principle soluble carbohydrates include sucrose, raffinose, stachyose, and galactose. Raffinose and stachyose give the seed viability. The insoluble carbohydrates in soybeans contain complex polysaccharides such as cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin. Soybean for human consumption should be cooked properly to destroy the trypsin inhibitors. Raw soybeans are toxic to humans and all animals with one stomach. Soybeans are consumed, as well as vegetable and arable crops.