Overview of Soybean Processing and Production
Traditional Soyfoods: Processing and Products1
PETER GOLBITZ2
Soyatech, Inc., Bar Harbor, ME 04609
ABSTRACT Although soyfoods have been consumed
for more than 1000 years, only for the past 15 years
have they made an inroad into Western cultures and
diets. Soyfoods are typically divided into two catego
ries: nonfermented and fermented. Traditional nonfer-
mented soyfoods include fresh green soybeans, whole
dry soybeans, soy nuts, soy sprouts, whole-fat soy flour,
soymilk and soymilk products, tofu, okara and yuba.
Traditional fermented soyfoods include tempeh, miso,
soy sauces, natto and fermented tofu and soymilk
products. This paper presents a brief overview of pro
cessing techniques used in the manufacture of tradi
tional soyfoods. J. Nutr. 125: 570S-572S, 1995.
INDEXING KEY WORDS:
•soybean •soymilk •tofu •tempeh •miso
•soy sauce
For more than 1000 years, people throughout Asia
have been consuming soybeans in a variety of tradi
tional soyfood products. Only for the past 15 years
have soyfoods begun to make a significant inroad into
Western cultures and diets.
There are many types of soyfoods available
throughout the world today. Some are produced
through the use of modern processing techniques in
large soybean-processing plants, whereas others are
produced in more traditional ways, owing their history
to Oriental processing techniques. These are the foods
that are usually referred to as traditional soyfoods.
These soyfoods are typically divided into two cat
egories: nonfermented and fermented. Traditional
nonfermented soyfoods include fresh green soybeans,
whole dry soybeans, soy nuts, soy sprouts, whole-fat
soy flour, soymilk and soymilk products, tofu, okara
and yuba. Traditional fermented soyfoods include
tempeh, miso, soy sauces, natto and fermented tofu
and soymilk products.
Westerners have adopted some of these foods
wholeheartedly, whereas others will undoubtedly take
more time to accept. The most popular soyfoods in
the United States now are tofu, soymilk, soy sauce,
0022-3166/95 83.00 ©1995 American Institute of Nutrition.
570S
miso and tempeh. Americans, known for their ability
to adapt foreign foods to their own tastes, have de
veloped a whole new class of "second generation"
soyfoods, which includes such products as tofu hot
dogs, tofu ice cream, veggie burgers, tempeh burgers,
soymilk yogurt, soymilk cheeses, soy flour pancake
mix and a myriad of other prepared Americanized
soyfoods.
Largely because of the great entrepreneurial spirit
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of many small American companies, sales of soyfoods
in the United States have been growing steadily since
1980 and are projected to reach the one billion dollar
level by the year 2000 (Golbitz 199la). Only recently
have larger food companies realized the potential of
the soyfoods market and begun distribution of soy
bean-based veggie burgers in American supermarkets
(Golbitz 1992).
This paper is intended to serve as a brief overview
of processing techniques used in the manufacture of
traditional soyfoods.
Soymilk
Soymilk is used as a base in a wide variety of prod
ucts, including tofu, soy yogurt and soy-based cheeses.
Soymilk is the aqueous extraction of whole soybeans.
Methods of soymilk production are shown in Fig
ure 1.
Particularly important was identifying and inacti
vating components primarily responsible for the un
desirable beany flavor in soymilk. The enzyme be
lieved to be responsible for creating soymilk's off-fla
vors is inactivated by using boiling water in the
grinding stage of production. The use of a hot water
1 Presented at the First International Symposium on the Role of
Soy in Preventing and Treating Chronic Disease, held in Mesa, AZ,
February 20-23, 1994. The symposium was sponsored by Protein
Technologies International, the soybean growers from Nebraska,
Indiana and Iowa and the United Soybean Board. Guest editors for
this symposium were Mark Messina, 1543 Lincoln Street, Port
Townsend, WA 98368, and John W. Erdman, Jr., Division of Nu
tritional Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801-3852.
2 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Soyatech, Inc.,
318 Main Street, PO Box 84, Bar Harbor, ME 04609.
 TRADITIONAL SOYFOODS: PROCESSING AND PRODUCTS 571S

PROCESSBEANYFLAVORSOLIDSYIELDPROTEIN
DSBALKALINESCAKBLANCH(101yc10-20
or
shelf life of refrigerated tofu and aseptic packaging
allowing some tofu to be stored for 1 year at room
temperature. Shown in Figure i are the basic steps
used to produce tofu.

Tempeh
MIN)J1GR1fNDCOOKTO

GRINDICOOK(100°C10 TOXIRIRHYIN
Tempeh is a fermented soyfood and is unique in its
WATERWIT)OXÕ1OUTGENrCOOK(100°C10-20

texture, flavor and versatility. It originated in Indo

nesia, where today it is still the most popular soyfood
H,01rCOOK(130<4°CSEC)COOL
ICOOK(100°C20 (Winaro and Reddy 1986). Tempeh, while not as pop
MIN)\

82°CHOMONONE89%95%RHHC(t)SBIamFLSUID
ular as tofu in the United States, lends itself easily to
MIN)IFILTERIMPROVED65%83%ILLINOIS(3)SB
MINFILTER|GRIND|FILTER'ccOKSTRONG61%(55-65%)73% being used as a meat alternative because of its chewy
texture and distinct flavor. As a result, a wide variety
of tempeh-based meat analogues are available.
FILTERNONE86%90%PROSOYA(5)SBSOAKOVER,MIGHTfCOLDGRINDIN
FILI•ERNONE75%80%
Tempeh is a cake of cooked and fermented soybeans
held together by the mycelium of Khizopus oligo-
sporus. Figure 3 shows the basic processing steps used
to produce tempeh. Tempeh can then be further pro

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cessed or packaged and pasteurized for distribution.
(70-80%)CORNELL(2)SBSOAK1IHOT
YIELDTRADITIONAL(1)SBSOAK!COLD\

Miso
FIGURE 1 Methods of soymilk production. SB, cleaned
soybeans; DSB, dehulled, cleaned soybeans; RHHC, rapid Miso, a white, brown or reddish-brown soybean
hydration hydrothermal cooking. Reprinted with permission
from Chen 1989. paste, is another fermented soyfoods product. Made
from fermented soybeans, and sometimes in combi
nation with wheat, barley or rice, this salty paste is a
and sodium bicarbonate blanch before grinding also treasured soup base and flavoring ingredient used
reduces off-flavors. The application of modern dairy throughout Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and
processing technologies to the process deodorizes the China (Ebine 1986).
soymilk, adds whatever flavors are desired and pack
ages the product in sterilized, long-life packages. These
innovations were crucial to the development of today's
Clean
soybeanst8-12
soymilk products (Shurtleff and Aoyagi 1984).
hr.tGrind
Tofu
W^torWater

Tofu appeared in American supermarkets around *Cook

1980. Supported by many micro- and megatrends, tofu coldDefoamer,
hot or
was seen as one of the foods that marked the beginning -^~100-1
slurry, 10:1 water. beans optional2-3%
of a major shift in food-buying habits. Tofutti, an ice min.t6-8%
10°C,10

cream substitute made with tofu, proved to Americans

that a soybean-based food product could actually taste solids170-85°CfRemove

good. In the short span of just 2 years, Tofutti gained

national distribution and was mentioned in scores of beans^
by wt. of
major news articles and magazines. Tofutti's accep
~t0.05 supernatant
tance proved to others marketing tofu and tofu prod Whey

ucts that if you wanted to sell soyfoods to American

consumers, you have to give them what they want: ice min.iCut
to 0.2 psi, 15-20

cream, hot dogs and burgers. Because tofu is relatively

bland and can act as a functional food ingredient, it water5°C,
tofu; cool in
min.1Package
60-90
has ended up in hundreds of prepared food products
(Golbitz 199 la). refrigerate2-4°CWater^
and

There have been some recent innovations in tofu

processing that have helped to support continued
market growth. These have primarily been in pack FIGURE 2 Flow chart for regular tofu production. Re
aging, with pasteurization adding 30-60 days to the printed with permission from Shurtleff and Aoyagi 1979.
572S
Soybeans
Dohull
(mechanical or by soaking)
Soak @ 1Op°Cfor 30 min -*-
in acidified water
(w/lactic or acetic acid to pH 4.3-5.3
I table proteins (HVP). Within the naturally fermented
Cook in soak water for 90 min @ 100°F
I
Drain and dry soybeans
Inoculate and bag Rhizopus oligosporus
Incubate
@ 35-38°Cand
75-78% relative humidity
for 18 to 24 hours.
Refrigerate
FIGURE 3 Flow chart for tempeh production. Reprinted
with permission from Winaro and Reddy 1986.
There are many types of miso available in the
United States today, from sweet white miso to the
more savory dark miso. Miso, sold extensively in nat
ural food stores and Oriental markets, has developed
a following among New Age cooks and health enthu
siasts who savor its rich flavors and believe in its pur
ported healthful benefits.
To produce miso, whole soybeans are soaked in wa
ter and cooked until tender. The cooked soybeans are
dusted with Aspergillus oryzae—afungal starter—and
shaped into koji nuggets. This can be done in combi
nation with either rice or barley. These nuggets are
incubated, during which time the fungus matures on
the soybeans causing them to become white and fuzzy.
Enzymes and nutrients produced during this stage are
essential to later stages of fermentation. The mature
nuggets are mixed with salt and water in fermentation
vats, resulting in the formation of a paste. During ag
ing, the miso's flavors and aromas are acquired. When
the miso is fully ripened, it is blended, pressed and
packaged (Ebine 1986).
SUPPLEMENT
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is probably man's oldest prepared season
Hulls ing. Processed similarly to miso except that the paste
produced is pressed to yield a liquid, this savory sea
soning sauce is widely used in both Oriental and
Water
American cuisine (Nunomura and Sasaki 1986).
There are two basic types of soy sauce: fermented
soy sauce and soy sauce made from hydrolyzed vege
category, there are many types of soy sauce, with shoyu
and tamari being the most popular. For the most part,
Water
defatted soybean meal or grits are used to produce soy
sauce, with some specialty products being made from
whole soybeans. HVP soy sauce is made from soy pro
teins hydrolyzed into amino acids by using acid hy
drolysis and blended with sugars, color and other fla
voring ingredients into a sauce that somewhat resem
bles naturally fermented soy sauce (Nunomura and
Sasaki 1986). Soy sauce is also available in flavored
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forms, catering to Americans' needs for convenience,
ease of use and versatility (Golbitz 199la).
In many Asian countries soyfoods play a major role
in people's diets. Estimates are that the annual per
capita consumption of soybeans, directly and indi
rectly as soyfoods, in China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan
and Taiwan are 3.4, 6.3, 9.0, 10.8 and 13 kg, respec
tively (Golbitz 1991b).
LITERATURE CITED
Chen, S. (1989) Principles of Soymilk Production, Food Uses of
Whole Oilseeds and Protein Seeds. American Oil Chemists So
ciety, Champaign, IL.
Ebine, H. (1986) Legume-Based Fermented Foods. CRC Press,
Inc., Boca Raton, FL.
Golbitz, P. 1199 la) Practical Aspects of Marketing Soya Products
and Other Ready to Eat Soyfoods. American Soybean Association,
Brussels, Belgium.
Golbitz, P. (1991b) Soyfoods Consumption in the United States
and Worldwide, A Statistical Analysis. Soyatech, Inc., Bar Harbor,
ME.
Golbitz, P. (1992) The Meat Alternative Market and Industry in
the United States. Soyatech, Inc., Bar Harbor, ME.
Nunomura, N. & Sasaki, M. (1986) Legume-Based Fermented
Foods. CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL. •
Shurtleff, W. & Aoyagi, A. (1984) Soymilk Industry & Market.
Soyfoods Center, Lafayette, Calif. CA.
Shurtleff, W. & Aoyagi, A. (1979) Tofu & Soymilk Production,
The Book of Tofu. Vol. II. Soyfoods Center, Lafayette, CA.
Winaro, F. G. & Reddy, N. R. (1986) Legume-Based Fermented
Foods. CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL.