Effect of extraction methods and UHT treatment conditions on the level of isoflavones during soymilk manufacture

The objective of this study was to compare the effect of hot and cold grinding as well as the effect of direct and indirect ultra high temperature (UHT) treatment conditions on the level of isoflavones during the manufacture of soymilk. Soymilks were manufactured from dehulled soybeans by hot grinding or cold grinding processes. After inactivation of lipoxygenase at 85 °C, the resulting slurries were decanted and supernatants were held at 120 °C for 80 s to inactivate the trypsin inhibitor. The decanted soya bases were cooled and subjected to different temperature/time regimes by direct and indirect UHT treatments. Samples were drawn at different points in the processing operation and a reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography method was used to determine the concentration of isoflavones. Results showed that hot grinding caused a higher extraction of isoflavones into the soymilk than the cold-grinding process. However, direct or indirect heating in the UHT process did not significantly influence the concentration of isoflavones.