Soya beans – Specification  
 
(First draft: 2016-04) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTE: This is a draft proposal and it shall neither  be used nor regarded as a Malawi Standard 
 ICS 67.060               DMS 2 44 :201 6 
    Second Edition 
 
 
 
 
DRAFT MALAWI STANDARD  
  ICS 67.060           DMS 244:2016 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Soya beans – Specification 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Obtainable from the 
Malawi Bureau of Standards 
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P O Box 946 
BLANTYRE 
 
Tel: +265 1 870 488 
Fax: +265 1 870 756 
E-mail: mbs@mbsmw.org 
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i 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Contents                    Page 
 
Foreword .......................................... ................................................... ................................................... .............. i 
Technical committee ............................... ................................................... ................................................... ....... i 
Notice ............................................ ................................................... ................................................... ................. i 
Scope ............................................. ................................................... ................................................... .............. 1 
Normative references .............................. ................................................... ................................................... .... 1 
Terms and definitions ............................. ................................................... ................................................... ..... 1 
Quality requirements .............................. ................................................... ................................................... ...... 2 
Contaminants ...................................... ................................................... ................................................... ......... 3 
Hygiene ........................................... ................................................... ................................................... ............. 4 
Packaging ......................................... ................................................... ................................................... ........... 4 
Labelling ......................................... ................................................... ................................................... ............. 4 
Methods of analysis and sampling .................. ................................................... ............................................... 5 
 
 
FOREWORD 
 
This draft standard is a revision of MS 244:1991, S oya beans – Specification. In preparing this draft 
standard, reference was made to the following East African Community Standard:  
 
EAS 762:2011 , Dry soybeans — Specification . 
 
Acknowledgement is made for the use of the informat ion. 
 
 
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE 
 
This draft standard was prepared by the Technical C ommittee MBS/TC 16, Primary Agricultural Products 
and the following companies, organizations and inst itutions were represented: 
 
- ADMARC Limited; 
- Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa; 
- Auction Holdings Commodity Exchange; 
- Bakhresa Grain Milling Malawi Limited; 
- Blantyre Agricultural Development Division; 
- Bvumbwe Agricultural Research Station; 
- Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Re sources (LUANAR) – Bunda Campus; 
- Malawi Bureau of Standards; 
- National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Mala wi (NASFAM); 
- Rab Processors Limited; and 
- Transglobe Produce Export Limited. 
 
NOTICE 
 
This standard shall be reviewed every five years, o r earlier when it is necessary, in order to keep ab reast of 
progress. Comments are welcome and shall be conside red when the standard is being reviewed.   
1 
 DMS 244:2016 
DRAFT MALAWI STANDARD 
 
Soya beans – Specification  
 
 
1 SCOPE 
 
This draft Malawi Standard specifies the requiremen ts and methods of sampling and test for dry whole s oya 
beans of varieties (cultivars) grown from Glycine max  (L.) Merr. intended for human consumption.  
 
 
2 NORMATIVE REFERENCES 
 
The following standards contain provisions, which t hrough reference in this text, constitute provision s of this 
Malawi standard. All standards are subject to revis ion and, since any reference to a standard is deeme d to 
be a reference to the latest edition of that standa rd, parties to agreements based on this standard ar e 
encouraged to take steps to ensure the use of the m ost recent edition of the standard indicated below.  
Information on current valid national and internati onal standards can be obtained from the Malawi Bure au of 
Standards. 
 
MS 19: Labelling of pre-packed foods – General standard; 
 
MS 21: Food and food processing units – Code of hygienic c onditions; 
 
MS 145: Cereals and pulses – Methods of sampling as milled products; 
 
MS 146: Cereals and pulses – Methods of sampling as grain; 
 
ISO 605: Pulses — Determination of impurities, size, foreign  odours, insects, and species and variety — 
Test methods  
 
ISO 711: Cereals and cereal products — Determination of mois ture content (Basic reference method);  
 
ISO 712: Cereals and cereal products — Determination of mois ture content — Routine reference method;  
 
ISO 16050: Foodstuffs — Determination of aflatoxin B 1, and the total content of aflatoxin B 1, B 2, G 1 and 
G2 in cereals, nuts and derived products — High per formance liquid chromatographic method;  
 
AOAC Official Method 2001.04: Determination of Fumonisins B1 and B2 in corn and c orn flakes — Liquid 
chromatography with immunoaffinity column cleanup.  
 
 
3 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS 
 
For the purpose of this draft standard, the followi ng definitions shall apply: 
 
3.1 
soya bean  
whole mature dry seeds of varieties ( Glycine max  (L.) Merr.) 
 
3.2 
colour 
soya beans may be yellow, green, brown or black 
 
3.3 
damaged/defective grains 
soya beans and pieces of soya beans that are badly ground-damaged, badly weather-damaged, diseased, 
frost-damaged, germ-damaged, heat-damaged, insect-b ored, mould-damaged, sprout-damaged, stinkbug- 
2 
 stung, or otherwise materially damaged. Stinkbug-st ung kernels are considered damaged kernels at the r ate 
of one-fourth of the actual percentage of the stung  kernels 
 
3.4 
foreign matter 
any extraneous matter than dry soya beans or other food grains comprising of: 
 
a. “inorganic matter” includes metallic pieces, sha le, glass, dust, sand, gravel, stones, dirt, pebble s, lumps 
or earth, clay, mud and animal filth etc.; 
 
b. “organic matter” consisting of detached seedcoat s, straws, weeds and other inedible grains etc. 
 
3.5 
immature 
immature damaged soya beans are characterized by a green exterior appearance in conjunction with green  
discolouration penetrating the cotyledon. Examinati on of the cotyledons is determined by cutting the s oya 
beans in cross section. For grading purposes, immat ure damaged soya beans are considered as part of th e 
“Total Damage” grade specification. Soya beans that  are green in appearance and have no discolouration  of 
the cotyledon or just a halo of green around the ou tside of the cotyledon are to be assessed against t he 
overall colour of the sample 
 
3.6  
poisonous, toxic and/or harmful seeds 
any seed which if present in quantities above permi ssible limit may have damaging or dangerous effect on 
health, organoleptic properties or technological pe rformance such as Jimson weed — dhatura ( D. fastuosa  
Linn and D. stramonium  Linn.) corn cokle ( Agrostemma githago  L., Machai Lallium remulenum  Linn.) Akra 
(Vicia species), Argemone mexicana , Khesari and other seeds that are commonly recogni zed as harmful to 
health 
 
3.7 
rancid  
soya beans in various stages of rancidity are chara cterized by a deep pink discolouration on the seed coat 
and varying degrees of discolouration of the cotyle don 
 
3.8 
splits 
broken soybean seeds that are less than three-quart ers of the whole seed, and cotyledons that are loos ely 
held together by the seed coat 
 
 
4 QUALITY REQUIREMENTS 
 
4.1 General requirements 
 
Soya beans shall meet the following general require ments/limits as determined using the relevant stand ards: 
a) shall consist of grain that consists of 50 perce nt or more of whole or broken soya beans ( Glycine max  
(L.) Merr.) that will not pass through an 8/64 roun d-hole sieve and not more than 10.0 percent of othe r 
grains for which standards have been established; 
b) shall be hard, clean, wholesome, uniform in size , shape, colour and in sound merchantable condition ; 2 
c) shall be safe and suitable for human consumption ; 
d) shall be free from abnormal flavours, obnoxious smell and discolouration. 
e) shall be free from micro-organisms and substance s originating from micro-organisms or other poisono us 
or deleterious substances in amounts that may const itute a hazard to human health. 
 
 
  
3 
 4.2 Specific requirements 
 
4.2.1 Grading 
 
Soya beans shall be graded into three grades on the  basis of the tolerable limits established in Table  1 which 
shall be additional to the general requirements set  out in this standard. 
 
4.2.2 Ungraded soya beans Table  
 
These shall be soya beans which do not fall within the requirements of Grades 1, 2, and 3 of this stan dard 
but are not rejected soya beans. 
 
4.2.3 Reject grade soya beans 
 
This comprises soya beans which have objectionable odour, off flavour, living insects or which do not 
possess the quality characteristics specified in Ta ble 1. They cannot satisfy the conditions of ungrad ed soya 
beans and shall be graded as reject soya beans and shall be regarded as unfit for human consumption.  
 
Table 1: Specific requirements for soya beans 
 
S/No.  Characteristic  Maximum limits Methods 
of test Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3  
1 Moisture, % (m/m) 13.0 13.0 13.0 ISO 711 
ISO 712  
2 Test weight kg/h (g/0.5L) min. 70(357) 68(347) 66(3 37) 
ISO 605  3 Foreign matter, % m/m 1 2 3 
4 Inorganic matter, % m/m 0.1 0.3 0.5 
5 Broken/split grains, % m/m 1 2.5 5 
6 Pest damaged grains, % m/m 0.3 0.8 1.5 
7 Rotten & diseased grains, % m/m 0.2 0.5 1.0 
9 Heat damaged grains %m/m 0.1 0.2 0.5 
10 Contrasting colours, % m/m 2 3 5 
11 Immature/shrivelled grains, % m/m 0.1 0.2 0.5 
12 Filth, % m/m 0.1  0.1  0.1  
13 Total defective grains, % m/m 2 3 5 
14 Total aflatoxin (AFB1+AFB2+AFG1 +AFG2)), 
ppb, max 10 
ISO 16050  
15 Aflatoxin B1 only, ppb, max 5 
16 Fumonisin, ppm, max 2 AOAC 
2001.04  
 
 
5 CONTAMINANTS 
 
5.1 Heavy metals 
 
Soya beans shall comply with those maximum limits e stablished by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for  
this commodity. 
 
5.2 Pesticide residues 
 
Soya beans shall comply with those maximum pesticid e residue limits established by the Codex Alimentar ius 
Commission for this commodity. 
 
5.3 Mycotoxin limits 
 
Soya beans shall comply with those maximum mycotoxi n limits set in table 1 above, and those establishe d 
by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for this commo dity when tested according to ISO 16050.  
4 
 6 HYGIENE 
 
6.1 It is recommended that the product covered by the p rovisions of this draft standard be prepared and 
handled in accordance with the appropriate sections  of the MS 21 and other Codes of practice relevant to 
this product established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. 
 
6.2 When tested by appropriate methods of sampling and examination, the product: 
 
a) shall be free from microorganisms in amounts whi ch may represent a hazard to health  and shall not 
exceed the limits stipulated in Table 2; 
b) shall be free from parasites which may represent  a hazard to health, and 
c) shall not contain any substance originating from  microorganisms, including fungi, in amounts which may 
represent a hazard to health. 
 
Table 2: Microbiological limits 
 
S/No.  Type of micro -organism  Limits  
1 Yeasts and moulds, max. per g 10 4 
2 Staphylococcus aureus  per 25 g Absent  
3 Escherichia coli , max. per g Absent  
4 Salmonella,  max. per 25 g Absent  
 
 
7 PACKAGING 
 
7.1  Soya beans shall be packed in suitable packages wh ich shall be clean, sound, free from insect, 
fungal infestation and the packing material shall b e of food grade quality. 
 
7.2  Soya beans shall be packed in containers which wil l safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, technologica l 
and organoleptic qualities of the products. 
 
7.3  The containers, including packaging material, shal l be made of substances which are safe and 
suitable for their intended use. They shall not imp art any toxic substance or undesirable odour or fla vour to 
the product. 
 
7.4 Each package shall contain soya beans of the same t ype and of the same grade designation. 
 
7.5 If soya beans are presented in bags, the bags shall  also be free of pests and contaminants. 
 
7.6 Each package shall be securely closed and sealed. 
 
 
8 LABELLING 
 
In addition to the provisions prescribed in MS 19, each package shall be legibly and indelibly marked with the 
following: 
a) product name as “Dry Soya beans”; 
b) variety; 
c) grade; 
d) name, address and physical location of the produ cer/ packer/importer; 
e) lot/batch/code number;  
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 f) net weight, in kg;  
g) the declaration “Food for Human Consumption” 
h) storage instruction as “Store in a cool dry plac e away from any contaminants”; 
i) crop year; 
j) packing date; 
k) instructions on disposal of used package; 
l) country of origin; 
m) a declaration on whether the soya beans were gen etically modified or not. 
 
 
9 METHODS OF ANALYSIS AND SAMPLING 
 
Sampling for testing as required in this standard s hall be done according to MS 145 and MS 146. 
  
ICS 67.060           DMS 244:2016  
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE MALAWI BUREAU OF STANDARDS              CERTIFI CATION MARK SCHEME 
The Malawi Bureau of Standards is the 
standardizing body in Malawi under the aegis 
of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.  Set up 
in 1972 by the Malawi Bureau of Standards 
Act (Cap: 51:02), the Bureau is a parastatal 
body whose activities aim at formulating and 
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Under this scheme, manufacturers who 
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the consumer of the commodity’s reliability.