I - The soybean's place in our diet The soybean, already used as a food for a thousand years, will still be one of our key foods in the year 2000. The world's leading oilseed, the yellow soybean (Glycine Maxima) is one of the most important elements of world trade. World soybean production is of the order of 100 million tonnes, mainly destined for use as animal fodder. Half of this production comes from the United States, and 200,000 tonnes from France. Soybean production is environmentally friendly, since it requires little use of fertilizers or pesticides. The direct use of soybeans in foods for humans makes it possible to eliminate animal products from the production chain for proteins, with greater productivity than that for any other vegetable-based source of protein, not to mention animal sources. The soybean is presently used as the basis for a range of foods which are well adapted to consumers' concerns for health and a balanced diet. Soy-based food products have variable nutritional composition depending on their nature and manufacturing process. Some are mainly made up of proteins, others of fibres, while still others contain all the bean's constituents, modified by the physical transformations of the manufacturing process. Their role in human nutrition is the object of a growing number of studies. The soybean's composition by weight is 36% proteins, 18% lipids, 14% glucides, 18% fibres and 4.5% minerals. (NEXT page)