Soybeans are the most important crops in the world and are grown for a variety of agricultural and industrial uses. Raw soybeans cannot be used for animal feed or human food, because they contain several different antinutritional factors. These factors are trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors, phytohaemagglutinins like lectins and urease. These factors affect the digestion of soybeans in the stomach. All can be deactivated or reduced through proper heat treatment to minimize or eliminate their adverse effect. Since all these inhibitors are proteins, caution should be taken to assure that no destruction of the oilseed protein occurs. This can be accomplished only through optimum processing and good quality control measures.
