Rich Soybeans From Chile

Soybeans are legumes related to peas, clover and alfalfa. Soybeans are dicots, which means they have two cotyledons. Each soybean plant produces 60 to 80 pods, each holding three pea-sized beans. Soybeans are hardy plants and well adapted to a variety of soils and soil conditions.

Soy·​bean ˈsȯi-ˈbēn. -ˌbēn. : a hairy annual Asian plant of the legume family widely grown for its edible seeds rich in oil and proteins, as food for livestock, and for soil improvement.

Annual legume of the pea family (Fabaceae) and its edible seed. The soybean is economically the most important bean in the world, providing vegetable protein for millions of people and ingredients for hundreds of chemical products.

The soybean is an erect branching plant and can reach more than 2 metres (6.5 feet) in height. The self-fertilizing flowers are white or a shade of purple. Seeds can be yellow, green, brown, black, or bicoloured, though most commercial varieties have brown or tan seeds, with one to four seeds per pod.

The soybean is one of the richest and cheapest sources of protein and is a staple in the diets of people and animals in numerous parts of the world. The seed contains 17 percent oil and 63 percent meal, 50 percent of which is protein. Because soybeans contain no starch, they are a good source of protein for diabetics.

Soybean has a typical papilionaceous flower with a tubular calyx of five unequal sepal lobes and a five-parted corolla consisting of posterior standard petal, two lateral wing petals and two anterior keel petals in contact with each other but not fused (Carlson and Larsten, 1987).

In East Asia and elsewhere, the bean is extensively consumed in the forms of soy milk, a whitish liquid suspension, and tofu, a curd somewhat resembling cottage cheese. Soy sauce, a salty brown liquid, is produced from crushed soybeans and wheat that undergo yeast fermentation in salt water for six months to a year or more; it is a ubiquitous ingredient in Asian cooking. Other fermented soy foods include tempeh, miso, and fermented bean paste.

• Healthier cooking oil. Soybean oil is used in baking cakes to frying french fries. 
• >Sustainable fuel. 
• >Cleaner oceans, lakes, and rivers. 
• >Safer everyday household products.
• >Better food for animals.

The economically viable industrial uses today are paper coatings and wood veneer adhesives (protein), and alkyd resins, printing ink, and oleochemicals (oil).

Soybeans are high in protein and a decent source of both carbs and fat. They are a rich source of various vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant compounds, such as isoflavones. For this reason, regular soybean intake may alleviate the symptoms of menopause and reduce your risk of prostate and breast cancer.