25/11/13: New grain silos in the UAE; rising demand for Soybean flour; spent grains for cat litter

New grain silos are set to open in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates in the coming months.

The silos, which are located at the port of Fujairah, just outside the Strait of Hormuz, will have the capacity to store up to 275,000 tonnes of grain, enough for a strategic supply of around six months.

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Recently, Soybean flour has been making waves among health-conscious consumers.

Mei Bao, a healthy food restaurant in Tokyo's Shimbashi district, Japan serves deep-fried noodles made from 100 percent soybean flour. 

With just 10 grams of sugar, (about 75% less than wheat flour) Soybean flour has a much lower calorie count than other flours and is still relatively nutritious.
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A plant physiologist from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has come up with an innovative way to use spent grains left over from corn ethanol production.

Spent grains are also known as dried distiller's grains (DDGs). Steven F. Vaughn and his colleagues have suggested that using spent grains as a starting material in cat litter may prove to be more environmentally friendly than popular but nonbiodegradable clay-based litters.

In preliminary studies, Vaughn's group tested 'x-DDGs.' These are DDGs that, after being used for ethanol production, are treated with one or more solvents to extract any remaining, potentially useful natural compounds

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Soybeans are used for many purposes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)