A SMALL-SCALE METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SOYMILK AND SILKEN TOFU

Interest in traditional Asian foods such as tofu and soymilk has devel oped in the USA during the past few years. Lacking, however, is a smal l scale, rapid test that will permit plant breeders and food technolog ists to evaluate the potential of various soybean [(Glycine max L. (Me rr)] cultivars and breeding lines to produce these foods. A procedure Is described in which 80 g of ground soybean is used to make silken to fu, Glucono-delta-lactone serves as the coagulant in the procedure, Th e method results in tofu whose characteristics are reproducible among different preparations, and whose quality compares favorably with impo rted Japanese silken tofu that is available commercially in the USA. T o evaluate the method, soymilk and tofu were made from 182 experimenta l, public, and private soybean cultivars grown in Indiana in 1990. Dif ferences were observed among cultivars for soymilk yield, tofu whitene ss, and texture (tofu fracturability and hardness), Significant correl ations were found between soybean protein content, soymilk protein con tent, and tofu fracturability. The same correlations have previously b een established in the literature based on comparisons of material mad e by traditional large scale manufacturing methods, A correlation betw een soymilk solids content and fracturability was also observed when t he ratio of water used to process the ground soybean was varied, The s mall scale method will be useful to evaluate soybean lines from breedi ng programs.