I'JOO.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. Ill 



SOY BEANS AND SOY BEAN OIL. 



BY E. B. HOLLAND, M.SC. 



1. Economic Uses. 



The soy bean/ Glycine hispida, Moencli, is a native of the 

 Orient, where it is grown chieflv for its seed, which constitutes 

 one of the staj^le in-oducts. J. J. Rein- states that in China and 

 Japan the soy bean ranks first of leguminous crops in extent, 

 variety of use and value, excelling all other vegetables in nu- 

 tritive qualities, and when properly prepared second to none in 

 flavor. While soy beans are eaten jilain cooked, special foods 

 prepared from them seem to be more generally used, prominent 

 among which are several fermented products known as slioyu, 

 an aromatic table sauce; miso, a thicker relish; and natto, a 

 mush ; also a bean curd or cheese called tofu. These prepara- 

 tions and others are described more fully by Rein,- C. F. Lang- 

 worthy,^ S. IT. Angell,'* Kellner,-'^ M. Inoyue,'' II. C. P. Geer- 

 ligs'^ and Bloch.^ Such products, rich in protein, prove a 

 valuable adjunct to rice. Of the land under cultivation in 

 Manchuria, from one-eighth to one-sixth, according to N^. 

 Ssemenow,^ is devoted to the soy bean, and the production of 

 an edible oil from the seeds forms one of the principal indus- 

 tries. Soy beans are considered too valuable in the east to be 

 fed to horses or cattle, though the straw and sometimes the 

 green fodder are used for that purpose. 



1 Jap.ancse, Daidzu and 0-mane. 



2 The Industries of Japan, pp. 56-60, 62, 105-108. 



3 U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 58 (1897), pp. 20-2,3. 



4 U. S. Cons. Rpts., Dec, 1897, pp. 551, 552. 



5 Bui. Col. Agr., Tokyo Imp. Univ., I, No. 6; Chem. Ztg. 19 (1895), pp. 97, 120, 265; AIjs 

 by H. Trimble, Amer. Jour. Pharm. 68 (1896), No. 6, pp. .311, 312. 



6 Bui. Col. Agr., Tokyo Imp. Univ., 2, No. 4; Abs. Amer. Jour. Pharm. 

 ' Chem. Ztg. 20 (1896), No. 9, pp. 67-69; Abs. Exp. Sta. Rec, 8, p. 72. 



8 Bui. Sci. Pharmacol., 13 (1906), pp. 138-143; Abs. Exp. Sta. Rec, 18, p. 857. 



9 Abs. Exp. Sta. Kec, 15, pp. 669, 670. 



