The major soybean compounds and their benefits for human health
Abstract
Soybean is one of the most important crops in the world, which is not only adapted to cultivate under various environmental conditions, but also abundant in crucial nutritional ingredients for human, such as soy protein, soy isoflavone and several bioactive components. Soy protein might be the most important nutritional component in soybean, because it provides all amino acids and several bioactive peptides for human health, which could lower cholesterol levels and may resist virus infection. Soy isoflavone usually refers as phytoestrogen, which has the functions of resisting breast cancer and relieving menopause syndrome. Soybean oil could reduce the plasma cholesterol, while saponins exhibits the bioactivity of resisting HIV and preventing osteoporosis. As for phytosterol, it has the functions of decreasing blood cholesterol levels and reducing the intestinal absorption of dietary and endogenous cholesterol. Soybean and its derived products have great potential in enhancing human immunity. In a word, soybean, a tiny seed from China, is both of highly nutritional and medical value for human health and immunity, and therefore could protect billions of people in the world.
