Soybeans harvested this month in Michigan may provide a healthier, more flavorful oil for the food industry. The new variety, developed at Iowa State University, has the potential to reduce the need to hydrogenate the oil from the soybeans. Hydrogenation produces the trans fats found in certain foods, which many researchers believe can lead to heart disease. Through the soybean checkoff-funded Better Bean Initiative (BBI), the oil produced by the new soybean variety will be made available to food companies to evaluate following harvest. 

"A primary objective of the BBI is to develop new soybean varieties with enhanced compositional traits that meet the needs of end users," explains United Soybean Board (USB) Chairman David Durham, a soybean farmer from Hardin, Mo. "The soybean checkoff will be working with end users such as food companies to test this promising new oil."

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced new regulations that will require food companies to list the amount of trans-fatty acids in foods on package nutrition labels by 2006.

"The new regulations set by the FDA add a greater sense of urgency to develop soybean varieties that produce an oil that leads to fewer trans fats in foods," said Durham. "We're eager to hear the results of food companies' testing of the oil."

The new variety produces soybean oil with 1 percent linolenic acid, the fatty acid most vulnerable to oxidation, which often results in an unusual flavor in food products. To avoid flavor instability, food companies often use hydrogenation to reduce the linolenic acid content of the oil. Unfortunately, hydrogenation produces trans fats.

"Tests conducted on the oil last year indicate that it provides the same flavor stability as partially hydrogenated oil," said Walter Fehr, Ph.D., Iowa State University and lead researcher responsible for the development of the new variety. "Thanks to the support of the soybean checkoff, about 200,000 pounds of the 1 percent linolenic oil will be available for evaluation by major food companies. These tests will include taste testing and other evaluations to ensure that the 1 percent linolenic oil does not alter the flavor or consistency of the food products."

According to Fehr, 18 grower cooperatives and companies are preparing to produce enough seed to plant 1 million acres of the 1 percent linolenic soybeans in 2005. "These cooperatives and companies include many farmers who are looking for a way to add value to their crop," said Fehr.

The checkoff-funded evaluation of the new soybean oil is not the first BBI effort to find a healthier soybean. In 2001, a new variety developed by the BBI was harvested in limited quantities in North Carolina. This variety had the potential to significantly reduce the level of saturated fat and trans-fatty acids in processed soybean oil. While this first BBI variety was an improvement in certain areas, more research was needed to meet food industry specifications.

USB is made up of 61 farmer-directors who oversee the investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers. As stipulated in the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff.