Soy flour is made from the meal of ground soybeans. Added to baked goods, it increases nutritional and protein content and improves moisture and texture. Soy flour adds a flavor of sweet to bean-like, depending on the type of soy flour. For people with specific health issues, soy flour is a useful replacement for ingredients that cause allergic reactions.
Types
Full-fat soy flour retains the natural oil in the soybean. It is best in baked goods that are sweet, such as cookies and quick breads. Full-fat soy flour is 40 percent protein. Low-fat flour has about 75 percent of the oil removed. It contains approximately 2/3 less fat than full-fat soy flour and contains 52 percent protein. Defatted soy flour has most of the oil solvent-extracted during processing and contains 55 percent protein. Defatted soy flour has the fewest calories and will not go rancid as easily as the other varieties.
Nutrition
Full-fat soy flour contains 92 calories; defatted and low-fat contain 82 calories per 1/4 cup. With little or no saturated fat or cholesterol, soy flour is low in carbohydrates, providing 7 to 10 g per 1/4-cup serving. Defatted soy flour supplies 24 percent of the daily value for protein containing all the essential amino acids; low-fat provides 20 percent DV for protein and full-fat has 14 percent DV. Soy flour is a good source of dietary fiber for proper digestion, as well as calcium, B vitamins and folate, iron, phosphorus and potassium. In addition, soy flour contains 33 to 50 mg of isoflavones, which are estrogen-like compounds.
Uses
Soy flour is used in many commercially baked products, including candy, pies, fudge, cakes, pasta, pancake mixes, frozen desserts and meat products such as veggie burgers. Many granola and breakfast bars use soy flour to boost protein content. Pasta products are commonly fortified with defatted soy flour to increase nutrition in government feeding programs and school lunches. Doughnuts and other fried foods absorb less fat if made with soy flour, resulting in a good crust color, better shape and longer shelf life. Adding soy flour to dough helps emulsify fats and other ingredients, resulting in dough that is smoother, more uniform, pliable and less sticky. Soy flour can be used to thicken homemade gravies and sauces. It adds variety to the color, texture, tenderness and moistness of your baked goods.
Specialized Diets
Since it has more protein than carbohydrate, soy flour is useful in low-carb, low-GI and low-fat diets. Traditional baked goods are high in fat and sugar. The carbohydrate and fat content of your recipes can be substantially lowered by replacing wheat flour with soy flour in breads, casseroles, cakes and cookies. The use of soy flour to make meat alternatives that resemble beef, poultry or fish products in taste, texture, color and form provide vegetarians with a good source of protein. Soy protein is comparable in protein quality to beef, and 80 to 90 percent of whole egg, according to the American Soybean Association. Soy flour makes a good egg substitute in baked products by replacing one egg with 1 tbsp. soy flour plus 1 tbsp. of water. People with celiac disease benefit from gluten-free food products made from soy flour, such as bread, pasta and cakes. The Canadian Celiac Association recommends replacing 1 cup of wheat flour with 1 cup soy flour plus 1/4 cup of potato starch. Lactose intolerant individuals can replace milk products with soy milk, soy yogurt, soy cheese and tofu made with soy flour.
Developing Countries
Full-fat soy flour applications are used as an economical extender and supplemental additive to wheat flour in baked goods to combat mineral deficiency in developing countries. The mandate of the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health and the World Soy Foundation is to offer more nutritious diets to people worldwide suffering from poor nutrition. In studies aimed to increase the mineral content of the deficient diet of people in Pakistan and other developing countries, researchers from universities in Pakistan found that replacing wheat flour with a percentage of soy flour increased minerals and phytic acid content of the flour used to bake chapatis and rotis, a staple food of Pakistan.
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