ABSTRACT
Soybeans have been an integral part of the diet o f people in the Far East for m ore than 5000 years. However, the history of soy protein p ro d ucts-flours, concentrates, isolates, and their derivatives-is relatively short. In early years, soy protein products were mainly used to m eet nutritional needs, but m ore recently they have been used primarily for their unique functional characteristics. Today, many thousands of tons of concentrated forms o f functional soy protein ingredients and products are used by the food industry, feed m anufacturers, and o ther nonfood, nonfeed industries in a variety o f applications. This chapter will describe the various types o f soy protein ingredients and products available com mercially, the m ethods o f their preparation, their physicochemical and functional characteristics, and the cu rren t and possible functional appli cations o f these ingredients.
