The magic of soya bean

…patent technology for soy powder capable of creating 5, 000 jobs

…soy milk panacea for cancer, cardiovascular disease

Chidi Aja

Described as a ‘miracle bean’ or ‘golden bean’ because of its cheap protein-rich grain, soya bean (Glycine max) is a leguminous vegetable of the pea family that grows in tropical, subtropical, and temperate climates. Soya bean was domesticated in the 11th century BC around northeast of China and is believed to have been introduced to Africa in the 19th century by Chinese traders along the east coast of Africa.

Importance of soya bean in the global economy

Soya bean is among the major industrial and food crops grown in every continent. Many leguminous crops provide some protein, but soybean is the only crop that provides an inexpensive and high quality source of protein comparable to meat, poultry and eggs.

It is also a prime source of vegetable oil in the international market. Soya bean has an average protein content of 40 per cent and is more protein-rich than any of the common vegetable or animal food sources found in Nigeria. Soya bean seeds also contain about 20 per cent oil on a dry matter basis, which is 85 per cent unsaturated and cholesterol-free.

Consumption
Worldwide consumption of soya bean is nearly 11 million tonnes. Africa consumes about 618,000 tonnes annually, and uses another 4,800 tonnes for animal feed. Nigeria is the largest consumer of soya beans in SSA followed by Uganda.

Why grow soya bean?

·         Soya bean is good for food—soy-milk, soy-cheese, dadawa, Tom Brown (infant weaning food),

·         It is the source of an excellent vegetable oil

·         It is used in industry,

·         It improves soil fertility by adding nitrogen from the atmosphere, which is a major benefit in African farming systems, where soils have become exhausted by the need to produce more food for increasing populations, and where fertilizers are hardly available and are expensive for farmers.

·         It controls the parasitic weed, striga hermonthica

·         Soya bean cake is an excellent high-protein animal feed, especially for poultry,

·         The haulms provide good feed for sheep and goats

Health benefits of soya bean

Soya bean is hailed as the most protective bean. With 40 per cent protein, it has the highest protein content amongst plant products. “Soy protein” refers to the protein found in soya beans. As animal protein contains all the essential amino acids, lacking in pulse protein, soya is often used to replace the animal proteins in an individual's diet. Soya bean is the only vegetable food that contains all eight essential amino acids and can be processed into various soya products namely soya flour, soya milk, cottage cheese and fermented products.

Medindia, a leading online provider of health information services that serves consumers, physicians, allied healthcare professionals and corporates has discussed extensively the macronutrients in soya bean. They include:

Protein

Soya bean is the richest plant source of protein. It contains 43 per cent protein as compared to other legumes which contain 20 to 25 per cent protein. Soy protein is also of the highest quality amongst all legumes, which is healthy for bone, skin and muscle tissues. According to the United Soya bean Board, 25 g of soya protein per day may even help reduce the risk of heart disease. Under guidelines adopted by the Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organisation for evaluating protein quality for children and adults, soy protein isolate receives a rating of 1, which is the highest possible score. This means that the quality of soy protein is equal to that of meat and milk proteins.
Most plant proteins are considered "incomplete" proteins because they are low in one or more essential amino acids. Levels of one amino acid or another are insufficient for human needs. Grains are typically low in lysine; beans are typically low in the sulfur amino acids, methionine and cysteine. However, the level of sulfur amino acids in soya bean is higher than in other beans, and therefore soy protein is equivalent to animal protein in quality.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Food and Drug Administration use an alternative method for evaluating protein quality called the protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS). The PDCAAS for soy protein isolate is 1.0, which makes soy equivalent to animal proteins in quality and higher than other plant proteins foods. Soy foods if used smartly contribute significantly toward meeting protein needs, and could be an excellent addition to a diet for a variety of reasons.

Besides being a complete reservoir of nutrients, especially proteins, the phytochemicals in soya bean prevents blood clotting from taking place. Similarly, soya bean, being a fabulous source of proteins, aids in lowering the cholesterol level while Genistein, an isoflavone in soya bean, protects the body from the clutches of plague disease.

Fat

Like protein soya bean is high in fat too. Most legumes (except peanuts) contain between 2 to 14 per cent fat, whereas soybean contains 19 per cent fat.
At the same time, most of the fat in soya bean is unsaturated and beneficial. Polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fats make up 63 per cent, 23 per cent, and 14 per cent respectively of the fat in soya beans with saturated fat being the lowest. The polyunsaturated fat content of soya bean includes linoleic acid or Omega-3 fatty acid. The presence of omega–3 fats makes it special as soya bean is one of the very few plant sources of this essential fatty acid. Omega-3 fatty acids form an essential nutrient which helps to reduce risk of both heart disease and cancer.
Soya bean oil can be used in cooking. Some soya foods have the fat removed. Defatted soya flour is commonly available. Reduced-fat tofu and reduced or non-fat soymilk also form some low fat alternatives.

Fibre

A serving of soya bean provides approximately eight grams of dietary fibre. However, some soy foods are processed in ways that decrease the fibre content significantly. Soya milk contains very little fibre, while soya foods that utilise the whole bean, soy flour and textured soy protein are high in fibre.

Calcium

Soy foods are a good source of calcium in comparison to the commonly used legumes. However, processing affects the calcium content of soy foods considerably. Soya milk contains around 93 mg of calcium per one cup serving. The calcium-fortified soymilk could often contain between 200 and 300 mg of calcium per serving and a good amount of vitamin D.

Although soy foods are high in both oxalates and phytates that inhibit calcium absorption, the calcium from soy foods is well absorbed and has an absorption rate equal to that of milk.

Iron

Soya is rich in iron too. However, both phytate and soy protein reduce iron absorption which leads to the iron in soy foods being poorly absorbed. Iron could be better absorbed from fermented soy foods.

Other nutrients
Like other whole grains, soy foods are rich in B-vitamins, particularly niacin, pyridoxine and folacin. Soy milk is well fortified with vitamin B12 which makes it a prominent source of this essential nutrient.

Soya bean serves as an excellent source of essential magnesium, lecithin, riboflavin, thiamin, and folate (folic acid).

Indeed, owing to the innumerable benefits of soya beans, many households now incorporate them in their daily meals to promote health fitness.

IITA's research and impact
IITA researchers have developed combined rust-resistant and high yielding varieties. Other varieties include low pod shattering and soil deficiency tolerance; and resistance to frog-eye leaf spot, bacterial pustule and bacterial blight. They have also developed efficient and rapid methods of evaluating rust-resistant varieties; and new techniques to aid resistance breeding.

The institute launched a project to combat malnutrition in Nigeria by encouraging soya bean production and to increase its dietary consumption. They also researched and adapted farming techniques to reduce labour and various soya bean processing machines for use in SSA. These activities resulted in an increase in consumption and in the number of farmers growing the crop.

Production

Nigeria produces about 500, 000 metric tonnes of soya bean annually, making it the largest producer of soya bean in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). According to a survey of raw materials by location conducted by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria vested with the mandate to promote the development and utilisation of Nigeria’s industrial raw materials, soya bean is produced mostly in the middle belt of Nigeria with Benue State accounting for over 45 per cent of the total production. Other states that produce soya bean include Adamawa, Ekiti, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, and Taraba. 

International market for soya bean is estimated at $40 billion while Nigeria currently produces soya bean worth $85 billion. Because of its numerous uses, soya bean is in great demand, which opens up an opportunity for interested investors to export the product with a return on investment estimated at between 10 per cent- 15 per cent.

But beyond the export of raw soya bean seed, the production of soya milk powder offers more attractive return on investment. To harness this huge investment opportunity, a Nigerian-born American, Leslie M. Nsofor has patented a technology for a medium to large scale industrial (commercial) manufacture of bland/odorless soy powder (full-fat or partially defatted) for downstream food and beverage application.

Nsofor told ManufacturingToday that he is willing to license the technology to Nigerian entrepreneurs as part of his contribution to the technological advancement of the country and job creation initiative of the present administration.

Prospects of soya milk production

Good health and wellness consciousness has been on the increase worldwide recently, prompted by the pandemic of chronic diseases typically obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.  Humankind now has a new plague, widespread chronic, inflammations, which a century ago was typically an old-age infliction.  In modern times, a variety of chronic inflammatory diseases creep in when people are in their prime.  Intensive urbanisation has greatly limited access to the consumption of freshly harvested foods from local neighbourhood farms.  Instead, the predominant choice is the consumption of stale or over-processed foods which are nutrients-eroded.  This phenomenon coupled to sedentary lifestyles is partially debilitating humankind.  In response, wellness and lifestyle changes to promote health are progressively being adopted.  Businesses are springing up in an effort to exploit the wellness-and lifestyle changes awareness as a result, health-foods, beverages and nutritional supplements manufacturing and distribution are experiencing a boom. 

In recent surveys, more than 80 per cent of people interviewed in the United States indicated that eating soya bean-based foods promotes good health and expressed the desire to purchase such foods.  The participants strongly believe that soy nutrients reduce cancer and cardiovascular disease rates.  Soya bean processing research and development has responded to this desire.  The sale of soya foods is no more a business done in niche markets, but has gone mainstream.  The manufacturing method of the most popular soya product – soya milk has been stepped up from the simple extraction of a low-fibre high-protein beverage, the traditional soya milk, to the production of a high-fibre, high-protein, high-antioxidant containing beverage, with a complimentary content of polyunsaturated fats.   

Dairy products analogs such as frozen desserts and cultured products are now being manufactured utilising the new soya milk as the raw material.  This is a giant step in achieving better health and wellness in the new millennium as foods which are high in fibre, antioxidants and polyunsaturated fats have been shown by nutritional science to be optimal for naturally controlling chronic inflammations.

Global awareness of the health benefits derived from the consumption of soya bean-based food and beverage products is increasing, and progressively is exploited for the development of multibillion dollar health foods industry.  Benefits which span from cardiovascular diseases prevention to obesity, cancer, bone and cartilage, and neurodegenerative diseases control are widely published in scientific journals and the mass media. 

Indeed, in no country have the benefits of soya bean exploited than in the United States. The cardiovascular support health claim approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1999 for soya protein was the catalyst for the present global wave of commercialisation of soya products.  Requests for other health claims in different countries have been receiving attention, particularly in Europe and Asia.  The anticipated approval of newer requests for more health claims would further popularise the consumption of soya products, which would most likely translate to more intense commercialisation of the products.

According to Soyatech/SPINS Report 2010, soya milk and shakes, soya protein nutrition/powder bars, and soya-based sports nutrition powder mixes are presently the most widely sold soya products in the United States.  Other increasingly popular soya foods include tofu, yogurt-type products, and frozen desserts.  Powdered soya ingredients, most recently are added to numerous food products in manufacturing industries for protein enrichment and texture modification. 

The dairy industry which previously was averse to soya milk, in calculated steps, now adopts the addition of soya fibre to cow’s milk and other dairy products, as the nutritional value of fibre becomes common knowledge.   Soya bean oil utilisation has almost outpaced other cooking oils in the United States because it is low in saturated fats and has no cholesterol, the two most established scientific causes of cardiovascular disease.  Generally, soya foods sale has grown out of niche markets into mainstream supermarkets as the overall nutritional awareness of soy increases. 

Geographically, the greatest immediate growth potential is in third world countries, where sources of tasty, low-cost protein and energy are in greatest demand.  There are huge potential markets in the urbanised areas of China, Africa, Latin America, and parts of Southeast Asia, where cow milk is rarely consumed because of its prohibitive cost and its scarcity.

Nsofor, who is the founder of Lensof Consult, stated that the soymilk powder from this patented technology does not have the typical grassy/beany associated with traditional soy product.

“The product is non-genetically modified, with 48 per cent protein content, moisture – 6 per cent, Ash – 6 per cent, fat – 8 per cent, and fibre - 3.5 per cent.  The powder is fully soluble after reconstitution in cold or warm water followed by low pressure homogenization and ultra-pasteurization.  There is no extraction.  This soy ingredient is very rich in protein, fibre, and antioxidants.  It is a good source of calcium, potassium and unsaturated fats, nutrients, which enhance cardiovascular health (anti-high blood pressure/stroke), are anti-diabetic, and help control body weight by promoting stomach fullness (satiety) among other health benefits like preventing bone weakness/loss.” 

He explains that the technology stems from his 33 years interrelated research of microbiology, biotechnology, food science, nutrition, dairy technology, chemical engineering, biochemistry and lately nutraceuticology.   

“The inventions are protected by two United States patents (6,451,359 and 7,067,163) and one European Union patent (EP 1,309,248), and more than 50 patentable trade secrets.  The aggregate patents essentially describe a biological pre-digestion process for whole soybeans to produce soy base ingredients which is bland to taste, contains dehulled-whole soybean matrix ingredients (no extraction of any form), is predominately soluble in water and contains activated soy matrix nutrients.”

Production process, design and specification

The production process, he says, entails the whole beverage-grade soya bean (locally grown and/or imported) given optimum heat-treatment, dehulled, crushed and ultra-fine ground, followed by fortification with potassium and calcium and finally bagged in 25 kilogram packs.

“The soya powder would then be utilised for downstream food and beverage production. The powder could be exported for the manufacture of products overseas. Ready to consume food and beverage products would be manufactured downstream at the same plant or at another location utilising the powdered soy ingredients.  Big multinational corporations with backward integration experience could form joint ventures with the presently proposed venture for growing large soya bean acreage in different parts of the country.  Soya bean farmers’ cooperatives also could be formed solely for producing soya beans to feed the large scale industrial manufacture.”

Soya powder as base ingredients

The following food and beverage products (some well-known and popularly consumed would be manufactured with the new soy powder as base ingredient:

Dairy products’ analogs

Ø  Dry formulations

Ø  Soy beverages and shakes (vanilla, chocolate-and fruit-flavored), soy-based frozen desserts (ice-cream analogs), and cultured (fermented) yogurt-type products.

Ø  Cow’s milk extenders (low cost cow’s milk volume booster)

Fortified beverage products

Ø  Fruit juices nutritionally enriched with soy (optionally frozen as popsicles)

Ø  Soy-enriched caramelized malt drinks (Vitamalt/Maltex-type beverage)

Ø  Yeast-fermented alcoholic beverage blends (soy and malt).

Ø  Soy-enriched sorghum malt powder formulation (Horlicks-type beverage powder)

Nutritionally enriched foods with soy

Ø  Infant weaning foods

Ø  Baked products (biscuits/cookies, specialty bread)

Ø  Snacks: doughnut, gari mix/meal.

Ø  Extruded products (pasta-type), puffed corn.

Products produced by the business

According to Nsofor, the first generation soy products to be produced by the business include a bland/odourless pre-digested whole (non-extracted full-fibre) soya bean base ingredients (liquid or spray-dried) powder) with multiple applications on the manufacture of whole soya bean-based beverages and shakes, high-protein/high-fibre reduced fat antioxidant-rich weight management specialised beverages, powders, nutrition/power bars, and snack foods. 

“These products generally are delicious, particularly when flavoured with vanilla or fruit flavours, and most importantly, they control appetite.  This pre-digested whole soy ingredient also is applicable to the manufacture of frozen desserts and colour products. This same pre-digested whole soy ingredient has been successfully blended with fruit juice (particularly orange), and cow milk.  Flavoured/frozen yogurt-type products and highly nutritious soy-fruit juice combination slushes have been developed from this pre-digested whole soy ingredients.  Baked products could be nutritionally enriched with this ingredient to suppress appetite and enhance colon health. Supplementation also incorporates soy antioxidants in all the food and beverage products mentioned above.  Soy-yogurt/fruit juice blends have been prepared for drinking or frozen as a dessert utilising the pre-digested whole soy ingredient.  Malt powders have been enriched with the pre-digested whole soy ingredient for non-alcoholic beverage production similar to malted milk products.” 

He pointed out that a giant breakfast cereal manufacturing company in the United States, in a pilot plant research study, utilised this pre-digested whole soy ingredient to enrich a high-end breakfast cereal.   Furthermore, he said that two senior research scientists from this company also witnessed the manufacture of a frozen dessert from a blend of this pre-digested whole soy and cow milk ingredients in the dairy plant of a leading university in the United States. 

“In a similar development, a business development director of a giant canned soap manufacturing company in the US, after tasting the shake prepared with this pre-digested whole soy, mooted the idea of developing an antioxidant-rich, fibre-rich and protein-rich soup base with this new ingredient, for appetite suppression and nutrients enrichment.  Breakfast puddings (oatmeal) also could be enriched with this ingredient, the director suggested.  Infant weaning foods could be developed from this pre-digested whole soy ingredient for early childhood development for obesity control.”

Nsofor stated that by the second generation or 5th year upward of the business, products will focus on the utilisation of super-bioactive soy ingredients manufactured by specialized bio-process techniques commonly applicable in the pharmaceutical industry (bioreactor fermentation to produce supplements with highly elevated nutritional value. 

“In the healthy human body, this process is efficiently accomplished in the distal gastrointestinal track (colon).  This process constitutes the immune health platform. Comparatively, in ruminants, a more intense fermentation process occurs in the rumen.  Ruminant fermentation converts low nutrient-value grass, vegetable matter and roughage into difficult-to-fathom high-value nutrients. This is the mechanism for producing the nutrient-components for milk synthesis by the cow.  Milk has the envious reputation of being the single most nutritious food on the planet. Bioreactor fermentation of the pre-digested whole soy with probiotics has been accomplished at bench-top and pilot plant scales.  The popular soy antioxidants (isoflavones-polyphenolics) were 90 per cent bioactivated by this process.  Isoflavones are a scientifically documented antidote for oxidative stress, the physiological process that induces most chronic inflammations,” he said. 

Employment creation opportunities

He estimates the total upstream (soy powder production to downstream jobs to be created by the business to be about 700 – 5,000 jobs.

Creation of new industries (spin-offs)

Closely related downstream industries development is expected with spin-off technologies.  Soya bean oil pressing and refining (cooking/vegetable oil) is achievable by utilizing high oil-yielding soya bean varieties in the soybean crushing operation. “By-products of soya bean oil refining include chemicals utilized in the cosmetics, chemical, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. An extremely popular universal industrial soya bean oil by product is lecithin.  Its fractionation yields a variety of high-end ingredients.”

Editor’s note:

Entrepreneurs interested in this technology wishing to contact Leslie M. Nsofor, should call 08034724155