SOYBEAN FUN FACTS

Henry Ford thought soybeans were the future; He had his engineers develop a plastic that used soybeans for the frames of his cars in 1935. Like the protein found in meat, the protein in soybeans is “complete,” meaning all of the eight amino acids needed for human health are present. Soybeans are the only vegetable that contains complete protein.

One acre of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons. One-half of all daily U.S. newspapers are printed with soybean oil-based ink. USA Today is one example. Soybean oil is the most widely used vegetable oil. It is found in margarines, salad dressings, canned foods, sauces, bakery goods and processed fried foods. Soybeans grow in pods similar to peas.

The United States grows half of the soybeans produced in the world. Tofu is believed to become a popular cooking ingredient during the Han Dynasty in China (206 BC – 220 AD). Tofu is to the soybean as cheese is to milk. Cheese is made when milk separates into curds and whey. Soybeans produce soymilk, which can also be separated into curds and whey. Tofu is the curd of soymilk. This is why you often see tofu described as “bean curd.” Although the word “tofu” is Japanese, the food seems to have originated in ancient China, where the Mandarin term is “doufu.”Visit our //www.answers.com Chinese considered the soybean one of their essential Five Sacred Grains, along with rice, wheat, barley, and millet.