María Orosa e Ylagan (November 29, 1892 – February 13, 1945) was a Filipina food technologist, pharmaceutical chemist, humanitarian and war heroine. She experimented with foods native to the Philippines, and during World War II developed Soyalac (a nutrient rich drink from soybeans) and Darak (rice cookies packed with vitamin B-1, which could also prevent beriberi disease), which she also helped smuggle into Japanese-run internment camps which helped save the lives of thousands of Filipinos, Americans, and other nationals. She introduced to the public the well-known banana ketchup.
Orosa completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry, as well as an additional degree in food chemistry. She was then offered a position as an assistant chemist for the state of Washington before returning to the Philippines in 1922 to focus on addressing the problem of malnutrition in her homeland. She invented many types of food to minimize the need of imported products to feed Filipinos. She took advantage of the abundant natural resources of the Philippine islands such as native fruits, crops and vegetables to make the Philippines self-sufficient.
During World War II, Orosa joined Marking's Guerrillas to fight for Philippines freedom. She invented over 700 recipes during her lifetime, including Soyalac and Darak, which saved thousands of lives during the war. She also invented a process for canning goods for the guerrilla warriors fighting for the liberation of the Philippines. Without her food inventions, thousands of people would have died in internment camps, hospitals, and on the streets.
Although her family and friends urged her to leave Manila for her hometown as American, Filipino, and Japanese forces battled to control the city, Orosa refused, insisting that, as a soldier, she needed to remain at her post. On February 13, 1945, Orosa died of shrapnel wounds after being hit in her government office during an American bombing raid. The hospital to which she had been taken was later also bombed, causing a shrapnel shard to pierce her heart and kill her instantly. The American Red Cross gave Orosa a humanitarian award for her food-smuggling efforts. Her niece Helen Orosa del Rosario in 1970 published Maria Orosa: Her Life and Work, which also included 700 of Orosa's recipes.
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