Gulkirpik Ece, Donnelly Annette, Nowakunda Kephas, Liu Keshun, Andrade Laborde Juan E
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States.
Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States.
Front Nutr. 2023 Apr 20;10:1067621. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1067621. eCollection 2023.
One key approach to achieve zero hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is to develop sustainable, affordable, and green technologies to process nutritious food products from locally available sources. Soybeans are an inexpensive source of high-quality protein that may help reduce undernutrition, but it is underutilized for human consumption. This research evaluated the feasibility of a low-cost method developed initially at the United States Department of Agriculture to produce soy protein concentrate (SPC) from mechanically pressed soy cake and thus create a more valuable ingredient to improve protein intake in SSA.
The method was initially tested in the bench scale to assess process parameters. Raw ingredients comprised defatted soy flour (DSF), defatted toasted soy flour (DTSF), low-fat soy flour 1 (LFSF1; 8% oil), and LFSF2 (13% oil). Flours were mixed with water (1:10 w/v) at two temperatures (22 or 60°C) for two durations (30 or 60 min). After centrifugation, supernatants were decanted, and pellets were dried at 60°C for 2.5 h. Larger batches (350 g) of LFSF1 were used to examine the scalability of this method. At this level, protein, oil, crude fiber, ash, and phytic acid contents were measured. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), hexanal concentration and peroxide value were measured in SPC and oil to evaluate oxidative status. Amino acid profiles, protein digestibility, and protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) were determined to assess protein quality.
Bench scale results showed accumulation of protein (1.5-fold higher) and reduction of oxidative markers and phytic acid to almost half their initial values. Similarly, the large-scale production trials showed high batch-to-batch replicability and 1.3-fold protein increase from initial material (48%). The SPC also showed reductions in peroxide value (53%), TBARS (75%), and hexanal (32%) from the starting material. SPC's protein digestibility was higher than the starting material.
The proposed low-resource method results in an SPC with improved nutritional quality, higher oxidative stability, and lower antinutrient content, which enhances its use in food-to-food fortification for human consumption and is thus amenable to address protein quantity and quality gaps among vulnerable populations in SSA.
在撒哈拉以南非洲地区（SSA）实现零饥饿的一个关键方法是开发可持续、经济实惠且环保的技术，以利用当地可得资源加工营养食品。大豆是一种廉价的优质蛋白质来源，可能有助于减少营养不良，但在人类消费中未得到充分利用。本研究评估了美国农业部最初开发的一种低成本方法的可行性，该方法可从机械压榨的豆饼中生产大豆浓缩蛋白（SPC），从而创造一种更有价值的成分，以提高SSA地区的蛋白质摄入量。
该方法最初在实验室规模进行测试，以评估工艺参数。原料包括脱脂大豆粉（DSF）、脱脂烘焙大豆粉（DTSF）、低脂大豆粉1（LFSF1；含油8%）和LFSF2（含油13%）。将面粉与水（1:10 w/v）在两个温度（22或60°C）下混合两个时长（30或60分钟）。离心后，倒出上清液，将沉淀在60°C下干燥2.5小时。使用较大批次（350克）的LFSF1来检验该方法的可扩展性。在此规模下，测量了蛋白质、油、粗纤维、灰分和植酸含量。在SPC和油中测量硫代巴比妥酸反应物质（TBARS）、己醛浓度和过氧化值，以评估氧化状态。测定氨基酸谱、蛋白质消化率和蛋白质消化率校正氨基酸评分（PDCAAS），以评估蛋白质质量。
实验室规模的结果显示蛋白质积累（高出1.5倍），氧化标志物和植酸减少至初始值的近一半。同样，大规模生产试验显示批次间重复性高，相对于初始原料蛋白质增加了1.3倍（48%）。SPC相对于起始原料的过氧化值也降低了53%，TBARS降低了75%，己醛降低了32%。SPC的蛋白质消化率高于起始原料。
所提出的低资源方法生产出的SPC具有改善的营养质量、更高的氧化稳定性和更低的抗营养成分含量，这增强了其在用于人类消费的食品强化中的应用，因此适合解决SSA地区弱势群体中蛋白质数量和质量的差距。
