Properties and Edible Applications of Soybean Oil

Abstract

During the twentieth century, vegetable oil consumption in the developed countries increased dramatically with advances in oil extraction and processing. Innovations like hydrogenation and interesterification have been used to modify vegetable oils to obtain variable functional properties required for different edible applications. This is particularly true of soybean oil, which has become the world's leading vegetable oil for edible consumption. For example, between 1994 and 1995, the annual world's consumption of soybean oil was estimated at 18.93 million metric tons, representing about 29.2% of all the major vegetable oils consumed worldwide (Fig. 7.1).