CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Soy processing industries select raw material based on weight, moisture, impurities and grain damage. Differences in chemical and physical properties of soybean cultivars are not taken into consideration in soyfood processing. Information on these characteristics could help food industries obtain products with better functional, nutritional and sensory qualities with greater cost benefits (Sbardelotto & Leandro, 2008).
Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is a particularly good source of protein (35–42%) and fat (16–27%). This makes the soybean one of the most valuable and most commonly cultivated crops (Kumar et al., 2006). The soybean shares the flaw of many plants from theFabaceae family, namely it is prone to mechanical damage occurring during threshing,
cleaning, drying, transportation, storage and processing. Knowledge of the physical properties of soybean seeds is therefore particularly important for the optimization of harvesting, drying storing and processes (Rybiński et al., 2009). Unlike cereal grains, soybean seeds have two cotyledons between which a gap may be formed if the water content is low. This leads to an increased susceptibility of
the seeds to damage like, for example, breaking in half
(Shahbazi et al., 201).
According to their different uses, soybean cultivars are classified as grain type, which are conventional
soybeans for oil and animal feeding, and food-type,
which are those for human consumption in fermented
foods and non-fermented foods (tofu, soy flour and soy milk) (Liu, 1999). Therefore, soybean cultivars for human consumption should present special chemical and physical characteristics.
In view of the above this project intends to carryout an analysis of physical and chemical properties of soya bean.