Current and Future Uses of Soy: Expectations for Soybean Breeding

Soybeans contain many useful nutrients and high-quality proteins. However, around the world today, soybeans are harvested primarily for their oil. This results in huge amounts of defatted soy flour, which is used primarily for live-stock as opposed to human consumption, being created as a correlated by-product. While the flavor and texture of soybeans do pose some minor issues for use in food production, the much larger issue of a population growth-induced food shortage needs to be addressed. Therefore, research on how to improve the use of the whole soybean for human consumption is paramount for the future. Recently, plant breeding and biotechnology have been making remarkable progress. Therefore, it should be possible in the near future to improve the taste, texture, and physiological function of soybeans by applying new technological developments. These improvements should lead to the expanded application of soy-related products worldwide. In order to both improve the favorable and reduce the unfavorable aspects of soy taste, research on the constitution of lipids may be effective. Concerning the improvement of texture, it has been suggested that the re-combination of soy globulin subunits could be useful. With respect to physiology, beta -conglycinin fractions have been shown to be effective for the prevention and improvement of metabolic syndrome. Additionally, reducing production cost by altering membrane properties which surround the protein body is discussed. (Accepted Jun. 11, 2012)