Soybeans - what they are and how they look

Soy is found in many foods. Manufacturers are replacing it with meat and dairy products. Soy is believed to be the main source of plant protein. At the same time, the addition of soybeans significantly reduces the cost of the final product.

Read about what food soy is and what products are made from it in the article.

What are soybeans and soybeans

Cultivated soybean (lat. Glycine max) is an annual herb, a species of the genus Soybean (Glycine) of the legume family.

What does soy look like

The stems of the culture are glabrous or pubescent, thin or thick. Height from 15 cm to 2 m. Leaves are ternary, with 5,7,9-leaflets. The leaves are pubescent, with transverse venation.

How soybeans bloom

The flowers are small, purple in color. They are odorless and hardly noticeable among the leaves. First, flowers appear in the lower and middle part of the main stem, after 5-6 days, active flowering begins throughout the stem. This phase lasts for 5-11 days, then the process slows down.

The duration of flowering depends on the variety - from 12 to 43 days. Favorable conditions - air temperature + 20 ... + 26 ° С, relative air humidity 65-80%.

The process is most active in the morning, the plant does not bloom at night.

Soy beans

Soybean seeds are called beans (photo below). Soybeans are large - 4-6 cm in length, resistant to cracking. The fruit is opened with two valves along the ventral and dorsal sutures. The bean is gray.

The fruit contains 2-3 oval-shaped seeds with bulges inside.

To draw attention to what kind of nutritious product it is, let's talk about the chemical composition of soybeans (the amount is indicated per 100 g):

• proteins - 13 g;
• fats - 6.5 g;
• carbohydrates - 11 g;
• vitamins A, groups B, C, PP - the amount depends on the conditions cultivation and storage;
• potassium - 650 mg;
• calcium - 200 mg;
• sodium - 65 mg;
• sodium - 15 mg;
• phosphorus - 195 mg;
• iron - 3.55 mg;
• zinc - 0.9 mg;
• copper - 120 mg;
• manganese - 0.5 mg.

Origin story

Soy is the oldest cultivated plant on the planet. According to scientists, the plant as a culture was formed about 6-7 thousand years ago in China.

Reference. In China, the culture is highly regarded and called the "Great Bean."

Soy is mentioned in ancient Chinese literature dating back to about 3-4 thousand years BC. e. Images of culture have been found by historians in China on turtle shells, bones, and stones.

From China, she was brought to Korea - this happened around 500-400 BC. e. There she also received the status of an important cultivated plant and was actively used by the local population for food.

Around the same time period, the plant came to Japan, since the Japanese islands were colonized by Korea for a long time.

In 1691 the German botanist Engelbert Kempfer visited the eastern countries. He became interested in soybeans, and he described it in detail in his work "Amoentitatum Exoticarum Politico-Physico-Medicarum". After that, the culture became known to European naturalists. However, cultivation in Europe began a little later: from 1790 in England and from 1885 in France.

In our country, the first experimental crop crops were carried out in 1877 on the territory of the Tauride and Kherson provinces. Breeding work was first carried out at the Amur experimental plant in the period from 1912 to 1918. However, during the Civil War, the experimentally bred population was lost.

The Amur yellow soybean was restored by 1923-1924, however, the variety's phenotype was somewhat different from the original one. As a result of the active work of breeders in the same period, the first domestic variety was obtained - the Amur yellow population, which was actively cultivated until 1934.

Mass introduction and beginning of cultivation of culture in Russia began in 1924-1928. - they began to grow it in the Rostov region, Stavropol and Krasnodar regions.

It is interesting:

Varieties and varieties of beans: horse (garden), decorative, large-fruited.

Green mung beans - what they are and how they are useful.

Where and how it grows

The culture is cultivated in Asia, Southern Europe, North and South America, Central and South Africa, Australia, on the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans at latitudes from the equator to 55-60 °.

In our country, it is grown in the Far East: in the Amur Region, Primorsky, Khabarovsk, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories.

Soybeans are sown in May - June at a soil temperature of at least + 8 ... + 10 ° С. The culture needs a loose, fertile soil and a site protected from the wind.

The culture is planted in a wide-row method with a row spacing of 45 cm, leaving a distance of 10-15 cm between the plants.

The crop is harvested in August - September. Maturity is determined by the yellowness of the leaves and the characteristic loud noise of the beans when shaken.

What foods are made from soy

Soybeans are rich in protein, making them often used as an inexpensive substitute for meat and dairy products. This not only lowers the cost of the product, but also makes it possible for people who do not eat meat, do not digest lactose, or are on a diet.

Foods made from soybeans:

1. Oil. This is a versatile product that is used not only for food, but also for industrial purposes (some paints and olive are made on its basis). Soybean oil is consumed exclusively in refined form, as it has a specific fishy smell.
2. Milk - an alternative to cow. It is indicated for people with liver, kidney, stomach diseases, lactose or milk protein intolerance.
3. Tofu. What is this bean curd made of? The product is obtained from soy milk by adding a special mushroom culture. Tofu replaces meat in Chinese cuisine. The Chinese call it "boneless meat". The product is recommended for use in cases of gastritis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases; it is used by athletes to build muscle mass.
4. Cocoa - an inexpensive and healthy drink that restores energy.
5. Meat - an analogue of regular meat, filled with protein, is well absorbed and lowers cholesterol. The product is made from soy flour, water, food additives.
6. Sauce. A favorite product in many countries. It is made by fermenting soybeans under the influence of fungi. Making soy sauce is a complex technological process that takes from 6 months to 2 years.
7. Miso. The product is a fermented soybean paste. Miso is used in Japanese cuisine.

Conclusion

Soy is an ancient oriental culture, and soybeans are an analogue of dairy and meat products for vegetarians and people on a diet. Soy milk and cheese are much cheaper than livestock products. Meat is made from soybeans, the protein content is not inferior to natural, cocoa, delicious sauces.