Effects of drying and sterilization on the quality and shelf life of semimanufactured soybeans

Abstract

Traditionally, soybeans are soaked in water for a dozen of hours in soymilk processing. To make instant soymilk, soybeans were semimanufactured (SM) by using different dehydration and sterilization methods, and their effects on the product quality and shelf life were investigated. Results indicated that the instant soymilk made from the SM soybeans using hot-air drying and combined sterilization method exhibited the highest quality. The shelf life of the SM soybeans was determined to be 80 days at 25 °C and 180 days at 4 °C, based on their rehydration ratio, microbial load, and browning index. The SM soybeans only need to be rehydrated for 10 min before being prepared as soymilk, which is ve..