About Soy Beans
In case you were curious about soy beans, I thought it would be nice to include some information about them. All of the following information comes directly from Wikipedia.

The soybean (U.S.) or soya bean (UK) (Glycine max) is a species of legume native to Eastern Asia. As all beans the soy bean is a complete protein. It is an annual plant that may vary in growth, habit, and height. It may grow prostrate, not growing higher than 20 cm (7.8 inches), or even stiffly erect up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) in height. The pods, stems, and leaves are covered with fine brown or gray pubescence. The leaves are trifoliate (sometimes with 5 leaflets), and the leaflets are 6–15 cm (2–6 inches) long and 2–7 cm (1–3 inches) broad. The leaves fall before the seeds are mature. The small, inconspicuous, self-fertile flowers are borne in the axil of the leaf and are white, pink or purple. The fruit is a hairy pod that grows in clusters of 3–5, with each pod 3–8 cm (1–3 inches) long and usually containing 2–4 (rarely more) seeds 5–11 mm in diameter.

Like corn and 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 cultural variety (a cultigen) with a very large number of cultivars. However, it is known that the progenitor of the modern soybean was a vine-like plant that grew prone on the ground.

Beans are classed as pulses whereas soybeans are classed as oilseeds.

Physical Characteristics: Soybeans occur in various sizes, and in several hull or seed coat colors, including black, brown, blue, yellow, and mottled. 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.

It is a remarkable fact that seeds such as soybeans, containing very high levels of soy protein, can undergo desiccation yet survive and revive after water absorption. A.Carl Leopold, son of Aldo Leopold, set out twenty years ago to study this capability at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University. Studying the survival of soybeans and corn he found each to have a range of soluble carbohydrates protecting the seed's cell viability. Patents were awarded to him in the early 1990s on techniques for protecting "biological membranes" and proteins in the dry state.

What Leopold, who is retired, could not have foreseen is that his research on soybeans would lead to techniques that allowed insulin to be dried and later processed into an inhalable insulin, named Exubera by Pfizer.

Chemical composition of the seed: The oil and protein content together account for about 60% of dry soybeans by weight; protein at 40% and oil at 20%. The remainder consists of 35% carbohydrate and about 5% ash. Soybean cultivars comprise approximately 8% seed coat or hull, 90% cotyledons and 2% hypocotyl axis or germ.

The majority of soy protein is a relatively heat-stable storage protein. It is this heat-stability of the soy protein that enables soy food products requiring high temperature cooking, such as tofu, soymilk and textured vegetable protein (soy flour) to be made.

The principal soluble carbohydrates, saccharides, of mature soybeans are the disaccharide sucrose(range 2.5–8.2%), the trisaccharide raffinose (0.1–1.0%) composed of one sucrose molecule connected to one molecule of galactose, and the tetrasaccharide stachyose(1.4 to 4.1%) composed of one sucrose connected to two molecules of galactose. While the oligosaccharides raffinose and stachyose protect the viability of the soybean seed from desiccation{see above section on physical characteristics} they are not digestible sugars and therefore contribute to flatulence and abdominal discomfort in humans and other monogastric animals. Undigested oligosaccharides are broken down in the intestine by native microbes producing gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen, nitrogen, methane, etc.

Since soluble soy carbohydrates are found mainly in the whey and are broken down during fermentation, soy concentrate, soy protein isolates, tofu, soy sauce, and sprouted soybeans are without flatus activity. On the other hand, there may be some beneficial effects to ingesting oligosaccharides such as raffinose and stachyose, namely, encouraging indigenous bifidobacteria in the colon against putrefactive bacteria.

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.

Uses (and related information): Soybeans can be broadly classified as "vegetable" (garden) or field (oil) types. Vegetable types cook more easily, have a mild nutty flavor, better texture, are larger in size, higher in protein, and lower in oil than field types. Tofu and soymilk 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 they have a tendency for the pods to shatter on reaching maturity.

Among the legumes, the soybean, also classed as an oilseed, is pre-eminent for its high (38–45%) protein content as well as its high (20%) oil content. Soybeans are the leading agricultural export in the United States. The bulk of the soybean crop is grown for oil production, with the high-protein defatted and "toasted" soy meal used as livestock feed. A smaller percentage of soybeans are used directly for human consumption.

Soybeans may be boiled whole in their green pod and served with salt, under the Japanese name edamame (IPA pronunciation: [edamame]). Soybeans prepared this way are a popular local snack in Hawaii, and are becoming increasingly popular in the continental United States. Because of the health benefits of soy, edamame has been featured as an ideal snack alternative in fitness and healthy living magazines such as Real Simple. A number of companies sell edamame in the frozen vegetable section at larger grocery stores.

In China, Japan, and Korea the bean and products made from the bean (miso, natto, tofu, douchi, doenjang, cheonggukjang, ganjang, and others) are a popular part of the diet. In Korean cuisine, soybean sprouts, called kongnamul are also used in a variety of dishes.

The beans can be processed in a variety of ways. Common forms of soy (or soya) include soy meal, soy flour, "soy milk", tofu, textured vegetable protein (TVP, which is made into a wide variety of vegetarian foods, some of them intended to imitate meat), tempeh, soy lecithin and soybean oil. Soybeans are also the primary ingredient involved in the production of soy sauce (or shoyu).

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is among the largest processors of soybeans and soy products. ADM along with DOW, DuPont and Monsanto support the industry trade associations United Soybean Board (USB) and Soyfoods Association of North America (SANA). These trade associations have increased the consumption of soy products dramatically in recent years.

The dramatic increase is largely credited to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of health claims for soy which very likely is unfounded. Since the bulk of the soy grown in the US is GMO variety the chief beneficiaries of the increase are the biotech seed companies. Dr. Jane E. Henney who was the FDA commissioner at the time, now sits on the board of biotech giant Astra Zeneca. Many top agency officials from the Bush Administration, have been under criticism for close ties to industry and possible financial conflicts of interest. The former USDA Secretary of Agriculture, Daniel Robert Glickman, also left to accept seats on the boards of soy related companies including Hain Foods.

From 2001 to 2004, food manufacturers in the US introduced over 1600 new foods with soy as an ingredient, averaging 400 new products per year, according to the Mintel’s Global New Products Database.

From 1992 to 2003, soyfoods sales have experienced a 15% compound annual growth rate, increasing from $300 million to $3.9 billion over 11 years, as new soyfood categories have been introduced, soyfoods have been repositioned in the market place, thanks to a better emphasis on marketing nutrition. New customers have selected soy for health and philosophical reasons. Dramatic growth followed the FDA approval of a health claim linking soy with heart disease reduction.

Soy Oil: In processing soybeans for oil extraction and subsequent soy flour production, selection of high quality, sound, clean, dehulled yellow soybeans is very important. Soybeans having a dark colored seed coat, or even beans with a dark hilum will inadvertently leave dark specks in the flour, an undesirable factor when used in food products. All commercial soybeans in the United States are yellow or yellow brown.

To produce soybean oil, 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. The remaining soybean husks are used mainly as animal feed.

The major unsaturated fatty acids in soybean oil triglycerides are 7% linolenic acid (C18:3); 51% linoleic acid (C-18:2); and 23% oleic acid(C-18:1). It also contains the saturated fatty acids 4% stearic acid and 10% palmitic acid.

Soybean oil has a relatively high proportion, 7–10%, of oxidation prone linolenic acid, which is an undesirable property for continuous service, such as in a restaurant. In the early nineties, Iowa State University developed soybean oil with 1% linolenic acid in the oil. Three companies, Monsanto, DuPont/Bunge, and Asoyia in 2004 introduced low linolenic, (C18:3; cis-9, cis-12, cis-15 octadecatrienoic acid) Roundup Ready soybeans: the former introduced a new soybean seed variety called "Vistive" and the latter Pioneer seed variety 93M20. Dupont/Bunge is marketing its low linolenic soybean oil under the brand name Nutrium. The idea is that reducing or eliminating the triple unsaturated fatty acid, linolenic, also eliminates the tendency to be a paint-like drying oil producing noticeable rancidity. In the past hydrogenation reduced the unsaturation in linolenic acid but produced the unnatural trans fatty acid trans fat configuration whereas in nature the configuration is cis.

One unintended consequence of moving away from partially hydrogenated soybean oil (containing trans fatty acids) is the switch to partially saturated palm oil for frying, especially in China. This fact is resulting in a severe threat of deforestation to pristine forests in Indonesia followed by the planting of oil palm plantations.

In the 2002–2003 growing season, 30.6 million metric tons of soybean oil were produced worldwide, constituting about half of worldwide edible vegetable oil production, and thirty percent of all fats and oils produced, including animal fats and oils derived from tropical plants.

Soybean oil has also been found effective as an insect repellant in some studies. The commercial product Bite Blocker contains soybean oil as one active ingredient.

Soy Meal: Soybean meal, the material remaining after solvent extraction of soybean flakes, with a 50% soy protein content, toasted (a misnomer because the heat treatment is with moist steam), and ground, in a hammer mill, provided the energy for the American revolution, beginning in the 1930s, of growing farm animals such as poultry and swine on an industrial scale; and more recently the aquaculture of catfish.

Soy Flour: Soy flour refers to defatted soybeans where special care was taken during desolventizing (not toasted) in order to minimize denaturation of the protein to retain a high Nitrogen Solubility Index (NSI), for uses such as extruder texturizing (TVP). It is the starting material for production of soy concentrate and soy protein isolate.

• Defatted soy flour, is obtained from solvent extracted flakes, and contains less than 1% oil.
• Full-fat soy flour, is made from unextracted, dehulled beans, and contains about 18% to 20% oil. Due to its high oil content a specialized Alpine Fine Impact Mill must be used for grinding rather than the more common hammermill.
• Low fat soy flour, is made by adding back some oil to defatted soy flour. The lipid content varies according to specifications, usually between 4.5% and 9%.
• High fat soy flour, is produced by adding back soybean oil to defatted flour, at the level of 15%.
• Lecithinated soy flour, is made by adding soybean lecithin to defatted, low fat or high fat soy flours to increase their dispersibility and impart emulsifying properties. The lecithin content varies up to 15%.

Infant formula: Infant formulas based on soy are used by lactose-intolerant babies; and for babies that are allergic to human milk proteins and cow milk proteins. The formulas are sold in powdered, ready to feed, or concentrated liquid forms.

It has been recommended internationally by pediatric associations that soy formulas not be used as the primary or sole source of nutrition for infants due to the high risk of several deficiencies including calcium and zinc. Some studies have also indicated that soy may act similarly to the hormone estrogen in developing infants. This has caused some concern that soy formula may cause undesirable side effects, such as reproductive problems. However, no studies to date have shown any negative effects on infants resulting from the estrogen-like compounds in soy formula. The Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction, part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has recommended further research into this area.

Substitute for existing products: Many traditional dairy products have been imitated using processed soybeans, and imitation products such as "soy milk," "soy yogurt" and "soy cream cheese" are readily available in most supermarkets. These imitation products are derived from extensive processing to produce a texture and appearance similar to the real dairy-based ones. Soy milk does not contain significant amounts of calcium, since the high calcium content of soybeans is bound to the insoluble constituents and remains in the pulp. Many manufacturers of soy milk now sell calcium-enriched products as well. In Australia, Sweet William Chocolates have developed a soy based chocolate which they market as "dairy free" chocolate and chocolate spread.

Other Products: Soybeans are also used in industrial products including oils, soap, cosmetics, resins, plastics, inks, crayons, solvents, clothing, and biodiesel. Soybeans are also used as fermenting stock to make a brand of vodka.

Henry Ford promoted the soybean, helping to develop uses for it both in food and in industrial products, even demonstrating auto body panels made of soy-based plastics. Ford's interest led to two bushels of soybeans being used in each Ford car as well as products like the first commercial soy milk, ice cream and all-vegetable non-dairy whipped topping.

The Ford development of so called soy-based plastics was based on the addition of soybean flour and wood flour to phenolformaldehyde plastics.

In 1931, Ford hired the chemists Robert Boyer and Frank Calvert in a quest for artificial silk. They succeeded in making a textile fiber of spun soy protein fibers, hardened or tanned in a formaldehyde bath which was given the name Azlon by the Federal Trade Commission. Pilot plant production of Azlon reached 5000 pounds per day in 1940, but never reached the commercial market. However, Henry Ford did have the now famous suit made for him of Azlon which he wore on special occasions. The winning textile fiber in the search for artificial silk was, of course, Nylon: a synthetic polyamide or artificial protein discovered in 1935 by Wallace H. Carothers at DuPont. [Soybeans and Soybean Products, Vol.II, edited by K. H. Markley, 1951].

Today, very high quality textile fibers are made commercially from "okara" (soy pulp), a by-product of tofu production.