what exactly are soybeans?

Question

I was just wondering what exactly is a soybean and where do they come from, and for that matter why put in in foods?

Answer 1

A soybean is a bean, or fruit, of the mature soy plant. Farmers all across the nation grow soybeans. The plant is about knee to waist high when fully grown.

They are used in foods a lot as a food "extender". The beans are full of protein and have no taste of their own. They tend to absorb the taste of whatever they're mixed in. This makes them ideal as a food extender.

As a food extender you can take a pound of ground beef, add a half pound of soybean meal and come up with a pound and a half of 'hamburger'. Some people say they can taste a difference in 'extended' hamburgers---I don't think I can. So by adding soybean meal you can make a limited portion of something go that much further.

Answer 2

Soybeans are soya plant embryos. All beans are embryos, thats why their nutritional value is so much higher than say, wheat. Embryos need to have enough stored energy and proteins already inside of them so that when they get into the soil they can grow up to their source of life, sun light. They are put in foods because of their high nutritional value and because they are easy to grow in very diverse climates.

Answer 3

IT's a vegatable...alot liek a pea or green beans... there are soft edible seeds the grow inside a pod. they can be eaten alone.. and they are the basis of may prododucts.. food and non-=food alike.

Answer 4

It's a bean that doesn't have much flavor but they can pretty much make it taste like whatever you want. They come from Illinois, I see them everyday and the refinery's stink.

Answer 5

They are beans..just like beans you see in the freezer or dried in bags. They have alot of nutrients and are high in protein.

Answer 6

http://www.michigan.gov/mda/1,1607,7-125-1570_2468_2469-12681--,00.html

Answer 7

they are the major ingredient in school hamburgers