Maria Orosa y Ylagan was a Filipino food technologist, pharmaceutical chemist, humanitarian and war heroine. She experimented with foods native to the Philippines and formulated food products like calamansi nip, a desiccated and powdered form of calamansi that could be used to make calamansi juice, and a powdered preparation of soya-beans called Soyalac, a "magic food" preparation which helped save the lives of thousands of Filipinos, Americans, and other nationals who were held prisoner in different Japanese concentration camps during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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With her knowledge of local food properties, Orosa also made contributions in the culinary realm and taught proper preservation methods for native dishes such as adobo

Adobo (Filipino cuisine)

Adobo is the name of a popular dish and cooking process in Philippine cuisine that involves meat or seafood marinated in a sauce of vinegar and garlic, browned in oil, and simmered in the marinade....

, dinuguan

Dinuguan

Dinuguan Dinuguan Dinuguan (also called dinardaraan in Ilocano, tid-tad in Pampanga, sinugaok in Batangas, rugodugo in Waray, and sampayna or champayna in Northern Mindanao...

, kilawin and escabeche

Escabeche

Escabeche is a typical Mediterranean cuisine which refers to both a dish of poached or fried fish that is marinated in an acidic mixture before serving, and to the marinade itself...

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Facts:

Born on November 29, 1893 in Taal

Taal, Batangas

Taal is a 4th class municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 51,459 people in 8,451 households.It is the Balisong and Barong Tagalog Capital of the Philippines...

, Batangas

Batangas

Batangas is a first class province of the Philippines located on the southwestern part of Luzon in the CALABARZON region. Its capital is Batangas City and it is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and Laguna to the north and Quezon to the east. Across the Verde Island Passages to the south is the...

 and died on February 13,1945, Maria Orosa was the fourth child among eight of Simplicio Orosa y Agoncillo and Juliana Ylagan.

Tribute

In commemoration, a street in Ermita, Manila, as well as a building in the Bureau of Plants and Industry has been named after her. As part of celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of the Institute of Science and Technology, she was one of the 19 scientists conferred an award. On November 29, 1983, the National Historical Institute installed a marker in her honor at the Bureau of Plant Industry in San Andres, Manila.

Works by Maria Y. Orosa

• The history and chemistry of neoarsphenamine (1921)
• Preservation of Philippine foods (1926)
• Rice bran: a health food and how to cook it (1932)
• Roselle recipes (1932)
• Soy beans as a component of a balanced diet and how to prepare them (1932)

Further reading

• Orosa, Maria Y. and Helen Orosa del Rosario. (1970). Maria Y. Orosa, Her Life and Work (Helen Orosa del Rosario, Ed.). [Quezon City:] R. P. Garcia Pub. Co.