**1. Introduction**

Customer requirements regarding safe product of high quality and nutritional value are increasing every day. These requirements are the results of today's life style, market globalization, food born outbreaks, etc. In order to fulfill those requirements, institutions in food chain (from field to table) are reaching for tools to enhance food quality as well as to ensure the safety of nutritious, functional, healthy and quality foods. As the food science in general has continued to evolve and as the scientific evidence on the health benefits of particular food attributes has become more familiar to consumer expectations and needs, the transfer of new research findings into applications has become more challenging for food producers. Taking into consideration physiological functions of some food constituents, as well as their nutritional implications, it is necessary to point towards better utilization of health promoting ingredients (natural antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins, fortification ingredients) The final aim of food scientist's activity in the future, is to connect further food product and process development with consumer physiological needs, based on research results obtained in respective fundamental disciplines [1].

Soybean (*Glycine max* (L.) Merr.) is a species of legume native of the Eastern Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. For many centuries, it was the main source of food for the people of the Far East (China, Japan, India). The ability of soybean for the food and non-food uses has been recognized for many years. Among available protein sources of plant origin, soybean protein is the closest to the optimum dietary essential amino profiles for human and animal nutrition. Therefore, soybean production, consumer acceptance and consumption in non-traditional regions of the world are on the rise. Increasing world population, constant need for animal feed and numerous different soybean products

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

contribute to the great demands for soybean seed in world market. Nowadays, soybean is the leading oil and protein crop, whose seed is used as a source of edible oil and protein for both human and livestock consumption and for various industrial purposes. Due to consumer's large interest in healthy food, soybean is grown more and more frequently under the organic system in which it produces satisfactory yield [2, 3].

detergents, paints and varnishes, plastics, cleaners, medical preparations, ink. Lecitin from soybean oil has applications in the bakery, confectionary, pharmaceutical, textile and chemical industries. Soybean is also used to produce biodiesel. Biodisel *"methyl soyate"* is a renewable substitute for petroleum diesel with reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Results of numerous medical studies have indicated on the important role of soybean in the prevention and curing of chronic diseases. Healthy aspects of soyfoods go beyond the oil and protein and include

Introductory Chapter: Soybean - Quality and Utilization http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93942 3

Soybean breeding has undoubtedly played a key role in production increases. The genetic improvement of soybean germplasm, based on conventional breeding strategies, contributes to advances in production and food processing industry by developing high-yielding and highquality soybean varieties, hereby enhancing value-added, healthy and safe properties of final soy products. Recent advances in biotechnology, in particular the development of improved molecular marker technology, have made possible the genetic dissection and characterization of many quantitatively inherited seed quality traits in soybean [5, 14–17]. Therefore, genetic improvement of varieties could be characterized as an integral part of sustainable food production. The value of soya in livestock and human nutrition and industry has not yet been fully exploited. The processing methods in the animal feed industry and food, chemical, phar-

Scientists look for opportunities to leverage research capabilities and commercialize promising new technologies by cooperating and collaborating with public and private sector interests. It is likely that these efforts will maintain a strong focus on soybean as a source of

2 Faculty of Agriculture, Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity and Molecular Plant Breeding,

[1] Aladjadjiyan A. Physical Factors for Plant Growth Stimulation Improve Food Quality. In: Aladjadjiyan, A., editor. Food Production - Approaches, Challenges and Tasks. Rijeka

minor compounds with nutraceutical properties [12, 13].

maceutical and other industries are continuously improving.

\*Address all correspondence to: aleksandra.sudaric@poljinos.hr

1 Agricultural Institute Osijek, Osijek, Republic of Croatia

University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Republic of Croatia

(Croatia): InTech; 2012. p. 145-168.

food and industrial products well into the future.

**4. Perspectives**

**Author details**

**References**

Aleksandra Sudarić1,2\*
