Crossword Genius

Thus ending in barley, a protein (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

soya

'protein' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'thus ending in barley a' is the wordplay.
'thus' becomes 'so' (synonyms).
'ending in' says to take the final letters.
The last letter of 'barley' is 'y'.
'so'+'y'+'a'='SOYA'

(Other definitions for soya that I've seen before include "Legume" , "Animal-substitute (bean)" , "Plant seed, meat substitute" , "source of protein" , "nutritious bean" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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