Soya has great nutritional benefits and is commonly consumed as roasted beans, but there is much more one can get from this amazing legume.
Norman Ampurira, the sales and marketing supervisor at Sesacco Limited, says soya can be consumed in many different forms by all age groups and classes of people.
“For example, it can be taken as a beverage. Soya cup is a good substitute for coffee drinkers, but it has no caffeine which is great for pregnant women. Soya cup extra contains sugar that is safe for those who have diabetes to drink,” he says.
There is also soya meat for vegetarians or those who do not eat meat with blood for religious reasons, like the Seventh Day Adventists.
“We dry the soya, remove the milk then use the dehydrated residue. To prepare soya meat, first, soak it in water for 10-15 minutes as you fry your condiments, then mix it in and use the water it was soaking in to form the stew,” he adds.
Since babies cannot chew the nutritious soya beans, they can eat it in form of Soya millet and maize porridge which comes precooked and takes a maximum of two minutes to prepare.
“With such products, the nutritional value is not compromised. It is fortified with other nutrients like zinc magnesium and vitamin A and the percentages are verified by UNBS for instance zinc is 0.1%, soya 40% millet 50%,” Ampurira says.
He explains that some products are instant and just mixed with hot water. They are fortified with orange sweet potato, rich in vitamin A, iron-rich beans, soya, maize, milk through a process called extrusion.
Soya can also be used to make dairy products like milk, yoghurt, and ice cream.
The fear that natural products spoil or expire fast is dismissed because soya products are made with preservative methods.
“We precook, roast, and add stabilizers to give them a longer shelf life. Storage also matters because if it is kept in the wrong conditions, it can get spoilt quickly. So, we indicate the correct storage conditions, for example, a cool dry place,” Ampurira says.
