At that time, the production of soybean in China was mainly concentrated around the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.
Around 2,200 years ago, in Han Dynasty, soybeans were first fermented to make douche, the predecessor of soy sauce and miso.
By the late 16th century, when European trade with China and Japan was beginning to be established, soybean protein had become a key dietary component of most of East Asia.
It is believed that the first shipment of soybeans to the West occurred in 1804 when an American clipper, returning from China to the USA carried a cargo of soya beans as ballast.
In the 1930’s the United States began to explore and develop soybean varieties through hybridization. It was not until 1940s that US farmers began to plant the first commercial crop to provide beans for soya sauce and now United States is the largest producer, growing 75% of the world’s soybean crop.
In the 1970s soybean production developed in brazil and this country is now the second largest soybean producing century.
History of soybean
