There are provided sterile dehulled soybeans bearing bacteria of 300
cells/g or less, and a method for producing efficiently sterilized full
fat soy flour using the sterile dehulled soybeans. The full fat soy flour
is classified into three kinds: the first one in which deodorization is
carried out without damaging available ingredients characteristic of
soybeans such as water-soluble proteins and digestion and absorption
efficiency is high due to inactivation of a digestion inhibiting enzyme;
the second one in which enzymes are alive; and the third one in which all
enzymes are inactivated. The method comprises: (a) a sorting step where
foreign matters are removed from starting soybeans to obtain sorted
soybeans; (b) a dehulling step where germs and hulls are removed from the
sorted soybeans to obtain sterile dehulled soybeans; (c) a
partially-inactivating steaming step where the sterile dehulled soybeans
are steamed for 60 to 300 seconds by hot water or steam heated at a
temperature of 70 to 125.degree. C. so as to deodorize the sterile
dehulled soybeans and inactivate a digestion inhibiting enzyme; (d) a
desiccating step where the steamed sterile dehulled soybeans are
desiccated to a predetermined water content; (e) a pulverizing step where
the desiccated sterile dehulled soybeans are pulverized; and (f) a
classifying step where the pulverized sterile dehulled soybeans are
classified into only soy flour having a predetermined grain size or less.