Brazil is the second largest soybean producer in the world, representing 25% of the total world production. Soy has become an important agricultural commodity in the Brazilian economy, because of the application of soy ingredients in a variety of market products and due to their functional properties, as well as biological and health benefits. Consumption of soybean has been linked to cholesterol reduction and prevention of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases, cancer, diabetes and obesity. The health benefits of soy are attributed to the presence of bioactive compounds such as isoflavones, saponins, lunasin and others. It is possible to improve the nutritional value of soybeans when the seeds are submitted to certain processes such as germination. Germination can cause significant changes in the biochemical characteristics of seeds and during this process storage proteins can be degraded by proteases, improving their digestibility; antinutritional factors can be reduced and oligosaccharides hydrolyzed. © 2012 American Chemical Society.