The following are a few of the very large number of kinds suitable for eating : — 

 "Herman," " Easy Cook," and some of the non-shattering kinds known as " Hernon." 

 The soya bean has a texture entirely different from the other pulses, such as beans 

 and peas, familiar to the African. It contains a high proportion of protein and of fat 

 and when cooked does not become very soft and floury but retains its firm con- 

 sistency and form. This latter fact is probably its greatest drawback against the 

 use of the bean by Africans. They are used to beans which crumble readily between 

 the fingers when they pick them up with a lump of porridge and they quite naturally 

 assume that the beans must be insufficiently cooked when in actual fact they are 

 well cooked. 

 Methods of Cooking Soya Beans : — 



1 Boiled as a Side-dish. 



By far the simplest method is to boil in the usual native way. The varieties 

 differ considerably in the length of boiling required, the kinds mentioned above take 

 from 3-4 hours before they are well softened and even so they retain their shape. 

 They may be accepted cooked in this way and it is always worth trying. Experiments 

 (*) have been carried out in Salisbury and it is reported that although there was some 

 difficulty at first, the beans have now been successfully introduced into the rations 

 for labour. A start was made by mixing small amounts 5 per cent, of soya beans 

 with cowpeas and by gradually increasing the amounts of the former. At the end of 

 six months equal quantities of soya and cowpea were used. 



2. Cipere, Boiled and Mashed Beans with Skins removed as a Side-dish. 

 The skins are very easily removed after soaking, the beans can then either be 



pounded or ground and boiled until soft. They froth up considerably during the 

 process. Soya beans, however, because of the firm texture do not make good cipere 

 and are not likely to be very popular in this form. 



3. The use op Soya Bean Meal to Improve the Food Value of Porridge, 

 nsima. 



This is probably the best way to use soya beans in native diets. Unfortunately, 

 the method is at present only applicable to large scale feeding in institutions such 

 as schools, hospitals and prisons or in the case of labour where the gang is given a 

 cooked meal or is issued with meal and not whole maize. 

 {a) Use of roasted meal. 



The beans should be roasted for some minutes and then ground or pounded. 

 The resulting flour is palatable and also stores well. It may be used in amounts 

 up to 20 per cent. (10 per cent, is recommended) to mix with any other kind of 

 flour. It makes a very palatable product with cassava flour, the latter is of such 

 poor nutritive value on its own, as it consists almost entirely of starch, that the 

 addition to it of protein-rich soya meal is important. 

 (b) Use of unroasted meal. 



Soya beans may be used in the proportion of up to 20 per cent, mixed with maize 

 moal, without detracting from the palatability of the product. Amounts of 5-10 

 per cent., however, if used constantly are sufficient to improve the diet materially. 

 The beans should be milled mixed with maize in order to prevent possible clogging 

 of the plates due to the oiliness of the bean. The mixture will not keep for more 

 than 3-4 days depending on the temperature because of the large amount of fat 

 in the beans which tends to go rancid. 



Unroasted meal is not suitable to mix with cassava flour as the short cooking 

 usually given to the latter is not enough to cook the bean meal. 



4. Roasted Soya as a Substitute for Groundnuts in Side-dishes. 

 Roasted and pounded soya beans may be used as an alternative to groundnuts 



in the preparation of various kinds of side-dishes, particularly of leaves. The product 



(*) Rhodesian AgricnItvralJoKrnal Vol. 48, 9th September, 1941. 



