[34] The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) poses a significant threat to agricultural crops, including soybeans, due to its voracious feeding habits.

Found commonly in both urban and suburban areas, these beetles are frequently observed in agricultural landscapes where they can cause considerable damage to crops like corn, soybeans, and various fruits.

In Indian cultivars, Nataraj et al. 2020 find that anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum truncatum is resisted by a combination of 2 major genes.

[50] The rapid growth of the industry has been primarily fueled by large increases in worldwide demand for meat products, particularly in developing countries like China, which alone accounts for more than 60% of imports.

Roughly one-fifth of deforestation can be attributed to expanding land use to produce oilseeds, primarily for soy and palm oil, whereas the expansion of beef production accounts for 41%.

The main driver of deforestation is the global demand for meat, which in turn requires huge tracts of land to grow feed crops for livestock.

[58] The earliest documented evidence for the use of Glycine of any kind comes from charred plant remains of wild soybean recovered from Jiahu in Henan province China, a Neolithic site occupied between 9000 and 7800 calendar years ago (cal bp).

[59] According to the ancient Chinese myth, in 2853 BC, the legendary Emperor Shennong of China proclaimed that five plants were sacred: soybeans, rice, wheat, barley, and millet.

The oldest preserved soybeans resembling modern varieties in size and shape were found in archaeological sites in Korea dated about 1000 BC.

[56][65] Soybeans were mentioned as kadêlê (modern Indonesian term: kedelai)[66] in an old Javanese manuscript, Serat Sri Tanjung, which dates to 12th- to 13th-century Java.

While the origins and history of Soybean cultivation in the Eastern Himalayas is debated, it was potentially introduced from southern China, more specifically Yunnan province.

Central India is considered a tertiary gene centre particularly the area encompassing Madhya Pradesh which is also the country largest soybean producer.

[79] It was not until Lafayette Mendel and Thomas Burr Osborne showed that the nutritional value of soybean seeds could be increased by cooking, moisture or heat, that soy went from a farm animal feed to a human food.

During the Great Depression, the drought-stricken (Dust Bowl) regions of the United States were able to use soy to regenerate their soil because of its nitrogen-fixing properties.

During World War II, soybeans became important in both North America and Europe chiefly as substitutes for other protein foods and as a source of edible oil.

In Brazil, these managers depend heavily on advanced technology and machinery, and agronomic practices such as zero tillage, high pesticide use, and intense fertilization.

There were many promotions of the Brazilian Cerrado by US farm producer magazines and market consultants who portrayed it as having cheap land with ideal production conditions, with infrastructure being the only thing it was lacking.

Older infants can suffer a more severe disorder with vomiting, diarrhoea that may be bloody, anemia, weight loss and failure to thrive.

[126] A 2015 scientific review by the European Food Safety Authority concluded that intake of isoflavones from supplements did not affect thyroid hormone levels in postmenopausal women.

A 100-gram reference quantity of raw soybeans supplies 1,866 kilojoules (446 kilocalories) of food energy and are 9% water, 30% carbohydrates, 20% total fat and 36% protein.

[citation needed] While the oligosaccharides raffinose and stachyose protect the viability of the soybean seed from desiccation (see above section on physical characteristics) they are not digestible sugars, so contribute to flatulence and abdominal discomfort in humans and other monogastric animals, comparable to the disaccharide trehalose.

On the other hand, there may be some beneficial effects to ingesting oligosaccharides such as raffinose and stachyose, namely, encouraging indigenous bifidobacteria in the colon against putrefactive bacteria.

[153][154] Saponins, a class of natural surfactants (soaps), are sterols that are present in small amounts in various plant foods, including soybeans, other legumes, and cereals, such as oats.

[174] Diverse studies have concluded there are no adverse effects in human growth, development, or reproduction as a result of the consumption of soy-based infant formula.

The soy-based meat substitute textured vegetable protein has been used for more than 50 years as a way of inexpensively extending ground beef without reducing its nutritional value.

[185] In 1936, Ford Motor Company developed a method where soybeans and fibers were rolled together producing a soup which was then pressed into various parts for their cars, from the distributor cap to knobs on the dashboard.

[188][189] A 2016 review concluded that "current evidence from observational studies and small clinical trials is not robust enough to understand whether soy protein or isoflavone supplements may help prevent or inhibit the progression of prostate cancer.

"[152] A 2010 review showed that neither soy foods nor isoflavone supplements alter measures of bioavailable testosterone or estrogen concentrations in men.

An American Heart Association (AHA) review of a decade long study of soy protein benefits did not recommend isoflavone supplementation.

[196] Other studies found that soy protein consumption could lower the concentration of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) transporting fats in the extracellular water to cells.