Most bakers have used defatted soy flour, soybean oil, and lecithin—commodity ingredients that have been used for decades in small and large bakeries around the world. Most bakers are also familiar with soy protein concentrates or isolates, used where highly specialized functional properties justify the additional costs.
More recently, however, bakers are discovering the benefits of "minimally-processed" whole soy (also called "full fat") ingredients from Natural Products, Inc. (NPI). These ingredients offer a wide range of benefits to bakeries of all sizes, including excellent functionality, cost-savings, and nutritional advantages compared with other soy ingredients and animal proteins.
The functional properties of whole soy ingredients in baked foods are determined by the amount of heat used in the processing of the soy, and also by the types and quantities of protein and oil contained in the soybean. Whole soy ingredients, containing from 40-55% protein and between 8 and 25% oil, generally deliver the following functional properties in baked goods:
Minimally processed soy protein is one of the cheapest proteins available to the food industry. Because processing costs are kept to a minimum, inexpensive whole soy ingredients play an important role for food manufacturers in keeping raw materials costs low and stable, while at the same time maintaining excellent product quality. 
In the same way that functional benefits are closely related to the oil and protein, the nutritional benefits of whole soy ingredients are also related to the oil and protein. By leaving the oil and protein virtually intact, whole soy ingredients retain the maximum nutritional value of the original soybean. 
