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Harmful compounds of soy milk: characterization and reduction strategies

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Abstract

Soymilk is a plant based product which is a rich source of nutrients. However, various harmful compounds including allergens, anti-nutritional factors, and biogenic amines (BAs) exist in soybeans that may be transferred into soymilk. These compounds cause difficulties for consumers from mild to severe symptoms. Soymilk production is considered as a critical step in quantity of harmful compounds in final product. Common steps in soy milk manufacturing include soaking, grinding, and heating process. Allergens contents could be decreased by heating alone or in combination with structural modifiers and fermentation. BAs could be reduced by optimizing fermentation process and using suitable strains, especially BAs degradable types. Soaking, grinding and heating of soybeans in water are considered as effective methods for inactivation of antinutritional factors. Isoflavones are soy phytochemicals, which potentially leads to breast cancer in some women, can be converted to less bioavailable forms during processing. Other treatments such as high hydrostatic pressure and irradiation are also effective in harmful compounds reduction. Combination of the processes is more effective in harmful compounds removal. Considering the increasing trends in soymilk consumption, this review is focused on introduction of harmful compounds in soymilk and investigating the effects of processing condition on their concentration.

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Abbreviations

BA:

Biogenic amines

WHO:

World Hygiene Organization

U.S. FDA:

United States Food and Drug Administration

SPI:

Soybean protein isolates

PUV:

Pulsed ultraviolet

MAO:

Mono amine oxidase

NaCl:

Sodium chloride

PI:

Protease inhibitors

UHT:

Ultra-high temperature

ER:

Estrogen receptors

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Acknowledgements

This study is related to a project of Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. We also appreciate the “Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety” in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences for their support of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Sciences and Technology, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Neda Mollakhalili-Meybodi, Masoumeh Arab & Leila Zare

  2. Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Neda Mollakhalili-Meybodi

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  1. Neda Mollakhalili-Meybodi
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  2. Masoumeh Arab
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  3. Leila Zare
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NMM had the idea for the article. LZ and MA performed the literature search and data analysis. All authors drafted and/or critically revised the work.

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Correspondence to Masoumeh Arab.

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Mollakhalili-Meybodi, N., Arab, M. & Zare, L. Harmful compounds of soy milk: characterization and reduction strategies. J Food Sci Technol 59, 3723–3732 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-021-05249-4

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