Soybean oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the soybean (Glycine max). It is one of the most widely consumed cooking oils. As a drying oil, processed soybean oil is also used as a base for printing inks (soy ink) and oil paints. It is also converted to cooking oils.
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To produce soybean oil, the soybeans are cracked, adjusted for moisture content, heated to between 60 and 88ºC (140-190°F), rolled into flakes, and solvent-extracted with hexanes. The oil is then refined, blended for different applications, and sometimes hydrogenated. Soybean oils, both liquid and partially hydrogenated are sold as "vegetable oil," or are ingredients in a wide variety of processed foods. Most of the remaining residue (soybean meal) is used as animal feed.
In the 2002–2003 growing season, 30.6 million tons of soybean oil were produced worldwide, constituting about half of worldwide edible vegetable oil production, and thirty percent of all fats and oils produced, including animal fats and oils derived from tropical plants.[1]
100g of soybean oil has 16g of saturated fat, 23 g of mono unsaturated fat, and 58g of poly unsaturated fat.[2][3] The major unsaturated fatty acids in soybean oil triglycerides are 7–10% alpha-Linolenic acid (C-18:3); 51% linoleic acid (C-18:2); and 23% oleic acid (C-18:1). It also contains the saturated fatty acids 4% stearic acid and 10% palmitic acid.
The high-proportion of oxidation-prone linolenic acid is undesirable for some uses, such as cooking oils. Three companies, Monsanto Company, DuPont/Bunge, and Asoyia in 2004 introduced low linolenic Roundup Ready soybeans. In the past, hydrogenation was used to reduce the unsaturation in linolenic acid, but this produced the unnatural trans-fatty acid configuration, whereas in nature the configuration is cis. This external picture from North Dakota State University compares soybean oil fatty acid content with other oils.
Soybean oil is mostly used for frying and baking. It is also used as a condiment for salads.
| Total Fat | Saturated Fat | Monounsaturated Fat | Polyunsaturated Fat | Smoke Point | |
| Sunflower oil | 100g | 11g | 20g | 69g | 225 °C (437 °F)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Soybean oil | 100g | 16g | 23g | 58g | 257 °C (495 °F)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Olive oil | 100g | 14g | 73g | 11g | 190 °C (374 °F)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Corn oil | 100g | 15g | 30g | 55g | 230 °C (446 °F)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Peanut oil | 100g | 17g | 46g | 32g | 225 °C (437 °F)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Vegetable Shortening (hydrogenated) | 71g | 23g (34%) | 8g (11%) | 37g (52%) | 165 °C (329 °F)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Lard | 100g | 39g | 45g | 11g | 190 °C (374 °F)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Suet | 94g | 52g (55%) | 32g (34%) | 3g (3%) | 200°C (400°F) |
| Butter | 81g | 51g (63%) | 21g (26%) | 3g (4%) | 150 °C (302 °F)[lower-alpha 1] |
Soybean oil is a drying oil, which means that it will slowly harden upon exposure to air, forming a flexible, transparent, and waterproof solid. Because of this property, it is used in some printing ink and oil paint formulations.
While soybean oil has no direct insect repellent activity, it is used as a fixative to extend the short duration of action of essential oils such as geranium oil in several commercial products.[4][5]
Soybean oil is traded at the Chicago Board of Trade in contracts of 60,000 pounds at a time. Prices are listed in cents and hundredths of a cent per pound.
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