Soybean Meal

After oil separation, the de-oiled soybean solids are desolventised and toasted, then ground and sized into meal. The toasting step is not incidental: raw soybean tissue contains heat-labile antinutritional factors, and controlled heat treatment is what makes the meal usable in feed. Too little heat leaves those factors active; too much damages protein quality. Meal is therefore a processed product whose value depends on process control, not merely on separation.

Dehulled meal

Meal made from beans whose hulls were removed before extraction, giving a higher-protein, lower-fibre product.

Hulls-added meal

Meal blended back with a portion of hulls to meet a lower protein specification.

Urease activity

A widely used indirect indicator of whether heat treatment has been adequate without being excessive.

• Poultry feed — the largest single outlet in most markets
• Pig feed — a core protein source in grower and finisher diets
• Ruminant feed — a supplementary protein source in dairy and beef rations
• Aquaculture feed — an increasingly important plant protein substitute
• Food and industrial — as a base for soy protein concentrates and isolates

Meal is specified for a use rather than treated as one uniform good: a poultry integrator and a dairy feed mill buy against different protein and fibre descriptions from the same crushing plant.

Meal is shipped in bulk and in bags, and is commonly pelleted for handling and freight efficiency. It takes up moisture from the air, and moist meal can heat, cake, and support mould growth — a particular concern in warm, humid ports and in long ocean voyages. Storage discipline and stock rotation matter, and meal that has heated in store has usually lost protein quality that cannot be restored.