What Chinese plant gives us so much more than just food?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
October 2, 2001
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Soybeans (Glycine max) [gli' seen max] are considered sacred in China, one of the five precious grains—rice, soybean, wheat, barley, and millet. At least 3,100 years ago, farmers in northeastern China began growing what was essentially a weed.
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Now, there are more than 1,000 varieties in Southeast Asia with colorful names like Brings Happiness, Heaven's Bird, and Great Treasure. Soybeans are eaten as a garden vegetable, used to make doufu (bean curd) and soy sauce, and refined soy flour is a low carbohydrate alternative for diabetics.
Soybeans first came to America in the late 1700s. From 1804 to 1890, numerous varieties were introduced, generally because soybeans provided ballast on ships from the Orient. These seeds were grown as curiosity plants, but an economic value was soon realized.
Soybeans could rebuild soils worn out by years of cotton cultivation and cattle quickly fattened on a diet containing soy. During the Civil War, soybeans were even roasted and used as a substitute for coffee.
Today, soybeans are a major industrial crop in the world. Soybean oil provides about 40% of the fats and oils in the American diet. Most vegetable and salad oils are soybean oil and it is a major component in margarine and mayonnaise.
But the soybean has also pervaded other aspects of our lives. The oil is used in the production of candles, soaps, body lotions, inks, paints, and varnishes. There is even a non-toxic soy paint stripper. The soy meal left over after the oil extraction is used for livestock feed and to manufacture plastics and adhesives. The John Deere Company announced that next year's combines (harvesters) will have parts constructed of soy-based polymers.
Now that is a symmetry which would please a Chinese philosopher.
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
How were soybeans used to change medicine? Plants that Changed History - January 22, 2002
Genetically Modified Organisms The Potting Bench - July 16, 2001
What crop grows best irrigated with sea water? Weird Plants - June 13, 2002
Did the Native Americans grow corn that was free of earworms? Renfield's Garden - August 29, 2001
What is the smallest flowering plant? Weird Plants - January 3, 2002
Why is this ancient grain making a comeback? Plants that Changed History - September 7, 2004
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Gurney's Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
Henry Fields Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
Spring Hill Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
Gardens Alive! -$20 off—>Click here.
Michigan Bulb -$20 off—>Click here.
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