CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CHEMISTRY OF THE 



SOYA BEAN. 



By I^rofessor Paul Daniel Hahn, M.A., Ph.D.* 



From time immemorial the soya bean has played a ver}- 

 prominent part in the household oi the Eastern Asiatics; in 

 fact, it is next in importance to rice. It is almost unthinkable 

 in Japan that a meal could be completed without the soya bean 

 figuring in the menu in some form or other. The soya bean, 

 consisting principally of fat and albuminoids, is the very comple- 

 ment to the starch-containing rice, the staple food in Japan. 

 China is supposed to be the home of the soya, where it has been 

 under cultivation for over 5,000 years. 



About thirty years ago the soya began to occupy a place in 

 the world's trade. Owing to the ever-increasing demand from 

 purveyors for vegetable fats and oils, the English oil-mills have 

 made great use of the soya bean, which contains about 20 per 

 cent, of oil. In 1908 not less than 200,000 tons were imported 

 into Europe from China, and in 1909 over 500,000 tons. 



During recent years many publications on the botany and 

 the cultivation and practical uses and applications of the soya 

 bean have appeared, of which one deserves special mention, 

 giving a full account of the numerous methods of preparing the 

 soya bean for consumption.! 



In the South African Agricultural Journal articles on the 

 soya bean have also been published, and these have induced some 

 zealous students to undertake certain experiments and investi- 

 gations bearing upon the soya, grown in South Africa. 



Two kinds of soya beans were available for these experi- 

 ments, a large white bean, directly imjiorted from Manchuria^ 

 and small black bean grown on a farm in the Cape Flats. 



The Large White Vakietv. 



This sam]:)le of soya was by no means fresh, being at least 

 three years old at the time when the experiments commenced. 

 The amount of moisture was therefore much less than that of 

 the fresh beans subsequently obtained. 



The beans were found to contain : — 



Moisture 4.80 per cent. 



Inorganic Constituents (ash) . 4.22 „ 

 Organic Constituents 90.98 „ 



^- Nearly all the anal\-ses given "in these notes were made by the late 

 Mr. Morris Anderson, B.A., who died of fever in France while a member 

 of the Royal xA.rmy Medical Corps. Mr. Anderson was an enthusiastic 

 and successful student of science, and his untimely death in the service of 

 his country is mourned by none of his friends more deeply than by the 

 writer of these contributions, which liave lieen compiled from the notes 

 left by his departed friend. 



fLi-Yu-Ying: " Le Soya, sa culture, ses usages alimentaires, therapeu- 

 tiques, agricoles ct industriels." Paris (1912). 



