Soya bean

Description

      The soya bean is one of the most nutritious foods. It belongs to the family of legumes or pulses and is perhaps one of the earliest crops cultivated by man. It is one of the most important sources of oil and protein.

      The soya bean is an annual plant, up to 150 cm in height. It has hairy, twining or climbing stems, alternate leaves and hairy, grey, brown or black, pods, borne in clusters on short stalks.

Seeds are more or less round, with yellow, green, and brown or black color.

Origin and Distribution

      The name Soya has its origin in the Chinese word shu and sou. The Aryans of central Asia considered soya along with honey as sacred food to be offered to the departed. The ancient yogis of the Indus Valley Civilization supplemented their meatless diet with this bean to ward off deficiency of good quality protein.

      The soya bean is a native of the Far East. It has been an important food crop in China. Manchuria and Korea long before the dawn of human history. It was first referred to in a Chinese book written by Emperor Shennung of China as early as 2838 Be. It was given very great importance in China so much so that the Emperor of the country to sow it every year with great pomp. It is now very popular crop of the world over and is widely cultivated in the United States, Europe, South Africa, Egypt, Russia, Australia and other countries. In recent years several countries like Brazil, Mexico, Rumania, Paraguay and Argentina have substantially increased their soya bean production. India too has joined the ‘soya bean race’ in its expansion programmer and there is growing awareness among the consumers in the country of the potential uses of soya bean.

Food Value

   The soya bean is esteemed for its high food value. It is a valuable source of protein, vitamins, minerals and other food ingredients. It also contains vitamin B complex, biotin, folic acid, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine and vitamin E.

Soya bean*
Food Value		Minerals and Vitamins
Moisture	8.1%	Calcium	240 mg
Protein	43.2%	Phosphorus	690 mg
Fat	19.5%	Iron	11.5 mg
Minerals	4.6%	Small amount of
Fiber	3.7%	Vitamin B Complex
Carbohydrates	20.9%	And Vitamin E
	100%
*Values per 100 gms edible portion		Calorific Value - 432

      The soya bean is particularly valued for its high protein content of great biological value. Its protein is complete as it contains all the essential amino acids or building blocks of protein in the proportions that make' them most available and most valuable for human needs. It is the best of all vegetable proteins and ranks in this respect with protein of milk, eggs and meat. But soya bean contains by far more protein than these articles.

Natural Benefit and Curative Properties

      The Soya bean contains many medicinal virtues. While most of the proteins are acid in their ash, soya bean is rich in alkaline bearing salts and hence regarded as a corrective diet. The Chinese, who consume soya beans liberally, believe that it makes the body plump, improves the complexion, stimulates the growth and removes constipation and many other physical ailments. Modern researches carried out in the laboratories in Europe and America has corroborated much of these claims.

      Soya hean, especially in the form of milk, is highly beneficial in the treatment of several ailments This milk is prepared by soaking the beans in' water for about 12 hours The skin of the beans is then removed and after a thorough wash, they are turned into fine paste in a grinding machine. The paste is mixed with water, three times its quantity. The milk should then be boiled on a slow fire, stirring it frequently. After it becomes a little cooler, it should be strained through a piece of thin cloth and sugar be added to it.

      Soya bean milk is at par in importance with cow's milk in feeding children. Investigations have shown that 90 per cent of the soya bean protein is absorbed in the body and 95 to 100 per cent of the milk is digested. Soya bean milk is very helpful in maintaining, intestinal health. The soya bean curd is a health food par excellence It is better than soya bean milk in taste and aroma and it very much resembles the dairy curd The curd is prepared by allowing the milk to cool, then seeded with a small quantity of cow's milk curd or soya bean milk curd and allowed LO remain for 12 hours LO set. Its regular use will help maintain the intestinal health, prevent diseases arising from defective digestion and retard the ageing process.

      One of the chief uses of soya beans is as a source of lecithin, which is a great natural emulsifier. Lecithin, as is well known helps disperse deposits of fatty materials and cholesterol in certain vital organs. It is rich in substances which are important for the proper functioning of all living cells in the body. It is also an important component around brain and nerve cells. Lecithin is so abundant in soya beans that most of the lecithin used commercially comes from them.

Diabetes

      Soya bean contains a fairly large amount of carbohydrate but there is little or no starch in it. It is, therefore, regarded as a very suitable food for diabetic patient. Its carbohydrate produces heat and energy in the body without causing sugar to appear in the urine.

Skin Disorders

      The soya bean is regarded as a valuable food remedy in eczema and other skin affections. It renders unnecessary the use of animal protein, that is, meat, eggs and milk and thus reduces the inflammatory activities in the skin and is free from the tendency' to produce sensitivity or allergic reactions which so frequently attend the users of all animal proteins. When soya bean is taken liberally, the intense itching diminishes almost immediately and disappears completely after a few days. The skin lesions also often vanish after some days. Improvement in skin health presumably occurs due to its lecithin content – a natural emulsifier which helps disperse fatty deposits and cholesterol from vital organs.

Anemia

   Soya bean, being rich in iron, has been found beneficial in the treatment of anemia. As, however, the anemic patients suffer from weak digestion, it should be given to them in a very light form which may be easily digested.

Uses

      Soya beans are used in other forms such as flour, green beans, sprouts and oil. The soya flour is one of the most widely used products of soya bean. In the West, the soya bean flour industry has grown to immense proportions. The soya flour is prepared by first roasting the soya beans and removing their coatings. They are then turned into powder. It is by far more nutritious than the wheat flour. It contains 15 times as much calcium, seven times as much phosphorus, 10 times as much iron, 10 times as much thiamine and nine times as much riboflavin as wheat flour.

Precautions

      Soya bean contains a bitter substance which can be removed by soaking soya bean in six cupful of warm water containing half a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate for 10 minutes. The process also removes the coloring matter from soya bean. Soya beans contain a factor which inhibits the action of the digestive enzyme trypsin. This factor can be destroyed by heating.