Okara, which is used in the production of tofu and soy milk, is rich in dietary fibers (DFs) and phytochemicals such as soy isoflavones and soyasaponins. Despite its nutritive value, okara is scarcely used as a food source, as the DFs in okara are mostly insoluble. Thus, improving the physicochemical properties of okara for various food applications is of great importance. Here, okara were atomized using a wet-type grinder (WG) that is used to produce nanocelluloses (NC). We treated 2 wt% okara with the WG by different passages (1, 3, and 5 times). The particle size distribution (PSD) and viscosity of WG-treated okara decreased and increased, respectively, with different passages. The five time-WG treated okara also dispersed in water homogeneously after 24 h, whereas untreated okara did not. The breaking stress and strain of soybean-protein-isolate gels increased upon the addition of WG-treated okara. This effect increased as the number of WG treatments increased. These results suggest that NC technology can improve the physicochemical properties of okara and is useful in the development of protein gel-based foods.
Effects of using soybean protein emulsion as a meat substitute for
chicken breast on physicochemical properties of Vienna sausage
