Soy protein ingredients prepared by new processes—Aqueous processing and industrial membrane isolation

The production of food ingredients from undefatted soybeans by aqueous processing and isolation of protein from soy flour by ultrafiltration membranes has been demonstrated adequately during the past decade. These relatively new techniques offer significant advantages over conventional soy processing methods. Aqueous processing requires no petroleum‐based solvent and consequently provides increased safety and flexibility of operation (because start‐up and shutdown are safe and easy). It also provides opportunities for removal or deactivation of undesirable constituents of raw materials with appropriate water‐soluble chemicals. It is, however, less efficient in oil extraction, and demulsification is required to recover clear oil when emulsions form. Ultrafiltration processes recover protein directly from soy flour extracts and thereby avoid generation of the whey which results from the conventional isoelectric precipitation. These processes have the advantages of increased isolate yield (as whey proteins are recovered in the isolate), and produce products having enhanced functionality and nitrogen solubility. The two processing techniques have subsequently been combined to obtain a single procedure with the advantages of each. Extracts from undefatted soybeans have been membrane processed with and without separating the oil to produce a variety of new soy protein ingredients.