Soybean | Description, Cultivation, Products, & Facts | Britannica

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tofu
tofuWorker making tofu in Indonesia. (more)

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.

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.

Soybeans are also sprouted for use as a salad ingredient or as a vegetable and may be eaten roasted as a snack food. Young soybeans, known as edamame, are commonly steamed or boiled and eaten directly from the pod.

Also called: soja bean or soya bean (Show more) Related Topics: miso edamame soybean oil soybean milk soy flour (Show more) On the Web: Frontiers - Frontiers in Nutrition - Rye (Secale cereale L.) revisited—nutritional composition, functional benefits, and role in sustainable diets (Feb. 07, 2026) (Show more) See all related content Access for the whole family! Bundle Britannica Premium and Kids for the ultimate resource destination. Subscribe

Modern research has led to a remarkable variety of uses for the soybean. Its oil can be processed into margarine, shortening, and vegetarian and vegan cheeses. Soybean meal serves as a high-protein meat substitute in many food products, including baby foods and vegetarian foods, and can be imparted with a meatlike texture for increasing the cooked yield of ground meats. Industrially, the oil is used as an ingredient in paints, adhesives, fertilizers, sizing for cloth, linoleum backing, and fire-extinguisher fluids, among other products.

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