What is soy or soybean?

Answer 1

USES OF SOY & SOYBEAN PRODUCTS:

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 (枝豆 IPA pronunciation: [eda-maa-me]).

Soybeans prepared this way are a popular local snack in Hawai'i, 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 including Melissa's Edamame, Bright Future Foods Ma-Me, and Seapoint Farms.

In China, Japan, and Korea the bean and products made from the bean (味噌 (miso), 納豆 (natto), 豆腐 (tofu), douchi, doenjang, cheonggukjang, ganjang, and others) are a popular part of the diet. In Korean cuisine, soybean sprouts, called kongnamul (hangul:콩나물) 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).

Soybeans grow throughout Asia and North and South America.

Answer 2

The soybean (U.S.) or soya bean (UK) (Glycine max) is a species of legume native to Eastern Asia. 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. The word "soy" is derived from the Japanese word 醤油 (shoyu) (soy sauce/soya sauce).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soybean

Answer 3

Soybeans

The delicious, slightly nutty flavored soybean has been cultivated in China for over 3,000 years but the good "news" about soy's culinary versatility and exceptional health benefits is a relatively recent phenomenon in the West. Different varieties of this truly amazing legume are available throughout the year.

The soybean is the most widely grown and utilized legume in the world and one of the most well researched, health-promoting foods available today. Like other beans, soybeans grow in pods, featuring edible seeds. While we most often think of them as being green, the seeds can also be yellow, brown or black.

Answer 4

Soy or soya bean is not an herb. It is the pulse. It provides the highest amount of protein among pulses.

Answer 5

Try these websites

www.whfoods.com

and try wikipedia