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Contact SupplierSoybean in the US, also called the soya bean in Europe (Glycine max) is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses. The plant is classed as an oilseed rather than a pulse by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Soybeans, which are high in both protein and oil, are processed into diverse food products, including soy curd and fermented soy cakes (tofu and tempeh), soy sauce, soy paste (miso), and soy milk (which is frequently used as a dairy substitute). Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is a meat substitute made from processed soybeans. Flour made from soy beans is used in numerous processed foods, as a stabilizer and to increase protein content. Soy oil is widely used in cooking (including in food products such as margarine, shortening, salad oil) as well as in cosmetic and industrial products (paints, printing inks, soaps, disinfectants, and linoleum). Soy oil is also increasingly used as a biofuel. The soy meal that remains after oil is extracted is used to make fiber, textiles, and adhesives, or as livestock feed. Soybeans and whole plants are also widely used for animal fodder and pasture, hay, and silage, as well as grown as a cover crop (green manure), Soy has been grown for three millennia in Asia and, more recently, has been successfully cultivated around the world. Today, the world’s top producers of soy are the United States, Brazil, Argentina, China and India.
About 85 percent of the world’s soybeans are processed, or "crushed," annually into soybean meal and oil. Approximately 98 percent of the soybean meal that is crushed is further processed into animal feed with the balance used to make soy flour and proteins. Of the oil fraction, 95 percent is consumed as edible oil; the rest is used for industrial products such as fatty acids, soaps and biodiesel.
Soy is one of the few plants that provide a complete protein as it contains all eight amino acids essential for human health.