María Orosa

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María Orosa

Born María Ylagan Orosa

November 29, 1893

Taal, Batangas, Captaincy General of the Philippines

Died February 13, 1945 (aged 51)

Malate, Manila, Commonwealth of the Philippines

Education University of the Philippines Manila

University of Washington

María Orosa e Ylagan[1] (November 29, 1893 – February 13, 1945) was a Filipina food technologist,
pharmaceutical chemist, humanitarian and war heroine.[2] She experimented with foods native to the
Philippines, and during World War II developed Soyalac (from soybeans) and Darak (from rice bran),
which she also helped smuggle into Japanese-run internment camps which helped save the lives of
thousands of Filipinos, Americans, and other nationals.[3]
 Contents

• 1Early and family life

• 2Career
• 3Death and legacy
• 4List of works
• 5References
• 6Further reading

Early and family life[edit]

Maria Orosa (Historical Park and Laurel Park, Batangas Provincial Capitol Complex).

Born on November 29, 1893 in Taal, Batangas, Maria Orosa was the fourth child among eight of
Simplicio A. Orosa and Juliana Ylagan-Orosa. Although her father died when she was a child (and
she helped her mother in the family's general store),[4] many of her siblings also became
distinguished in the Philippines. Her elder brother, Engr. Vicente Ylagan Orosa Sr., became
Secretary of Public Works and Communications, and later Chairman of the Peoples Homesite and
Housing Corporation (PHHC) during the administration of President Ramon Magsaysay. Her brother
Dr. Sixto Ylagan Orosa Sr. became a pioneering doctor, and her nieces and nephews included
banker Sixto L. Orosa, Jr., Philippine National Artist in Dance Leonor Orosa Goquiñgco,
businessman José R. L. Orosa, award-winning cultural journalist Rosalinda L. Orosa, and her
biographer Helen Orosa del Rosario.
As a government-sponsored scholar, Orosa earned bachelor's and master's degrees in
pharmaceutical chemistry, and an additional degree in food chemistry from the University of
Washington.[3] She worked in fish canneries in Alaska during summer breaks from college.

Career[edit]
Although offered a job as an assistant chemist by the Washington state government, Orosa returned
to the Philippines in 1922. She initially taught home economics at the Centro Escolar University, then
transferred to the Philippine Bureau of Science's food preservation division. Orosa wanted to help
the Philippines become self-sufficient, as well as to empower Filipino families. She organized 4-
H clubs in the islands (which had more than 22,000 members by 1924), as well as traveled into the
barrios to teach women how to raise chickens, preserve local produce and plan healthy meals.
Orosa invented the palayok oven to enable families without access to electricity to bake, as well as
developed recipes for local produce, including cassava, bananas and coconut. Her banana
ketchup became a favorite condiment and cooking ingredient in the islands. She also developed
wines and calamansi nip, a desiccated and powdered form of a citrus fruit also used to make
reconstituted calamansi juice, banana ketchup, and in other recipes. Orosa ultimately became head
of the Home Economics Division and organized its Division of Food Preservation. Using both her
local and technical knowledge, Orosa also made culinary contributions and taught proper
preservation methods for native dishes such as adobo, dinuguan, kilawin and escabeche.
During World War II, Orosa used her food science background to invent Soyalac (a protein-rich
powdered soybean product) and Darak (a rice bran powder rich in thiamine and other vitamins which
could also treat beri-beri).[3] She also became a captain in Marking's Guerillas, local Filipino forces
organized by Marcos V. Augustin Marking[5] which helped U.S. forces fight the occupying Japanese
troops, including by using carpenters who had inserted Soyalac and Darak into hollowed bamboo
sticks which they took to the civilians imprisoned at the University of Santo Tomas in the capital as
well as Japanese-run prisoner of war camps in Capas and Corregidor. The powders saved the lives
of many starving imprisoned guerillas and U.S. soldiers.[3] Her "Tiki-Tiki" cookies (made using Darak)
also saved many civilian lives during wartime food shortages.

Death and legacy[edit]

Although family and friends urged "Tia Maria" 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
first in her government office during an American bombing raid, then the hospital to which she had
been taken was bombed and another shrapnel shard pierced her heart, killing her
instantly.[3] The American Red Cross gave Orosa a humanitarian award for her food-smuggling
efforts.[4] Her niece Helen Orosa del Rosario in 1970 published Maria Orosa: her life and work, which
also included 700 of Orosa's recipes.
The Philippines has officially recognized Orosa's contributions. Her home province Batangas
installed a bust and historical marker. A street in Ermita, Manila (where the Philippine Court of
Appeals is located), is named after her, as is a building in the Bureau of Plant Industry. During the
65th anniversary of the Institute of Science and Technology, she became one of 19 scientists
receiving special recognition. On November 29, 1983, the National Historical Institute installed a
marker in her honor at the Bureau of Plant Industry in San Andrés, Manila. In commemoration of her
centennial anniversary, the Philippine Postal Corporation issued a postage stamp in her honor. Her
hometown of Taal, Batangas also celebrated the 125th anniversary of her birth on November 29,
2018.

List of works[edit]
• The history and chemistry of norsphenamine (1921)
• Preservation of Philippine foods (1926)
• Rice bran: a health food and how to cook it (1932)
• Roselle recipes (1931)
• Soy beans as a component of a balanced diet and how to prepare them (1932)
• Preserve the national culture in local food (1932)
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References[edit]
 1. ^ Y is replaced by e before maternal surnames that begin with /i/ immediately followed by a
consonant.
2. ^ MARIA Y. OROSA (1893–1945). Pioneering Food Technologist and Inventor Archived 4 July 2010
at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e "She Invented Banana Ketchup & Saved Thousands of Lives. Why Have We
Never Heard of Her?". Food52. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/305892/freedom-fighter-maria-y-orosa-life-saving-darak-
cookies/
5. ^ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86601727/marcos-v_-marking

Further reading[edit]
• Davidson, Alan. (2003). Seafood of South-East Asia: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes (2nd
ed.). Ten Speed Press. pp. 279–295. ISBN 1-58008-452-4.
• 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.