Biotransformation of soy whey into a novel functional beverage by Cordyceps militaris SN-18

Yiqiang Dai,Lixia Wang,Xiudong Xia,Jianzhong Zhou,Mingsheng Dong

doi:10.1186/s43014-021-00054-0

Abstract

Soy whey, a liquid nutritional by-product of soybean manufacture, is rich in proteins, oligosaccharides and isoflavones. Soy whey can be used to produce functional beverages, instead of discarding it as a waste. In this study, unfermented soy whey (USW) and Cordyceps militaris SN-18-fermented soy whey (FSW) were investigated and compared for their physicochemical and functional properties by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and DNA damage assay. Results show that C. militaris SN-18 fermentation could increase the contents of essential amino acids, total phenolic and flavonoid and isoflavone aglycones and eliminate the oligosaccharides in soy whey. Furthermore, C. militaris SN-18 could significantly enhance the ABTS radical scavenging ability, reducing power and ferric reducing power of soy whey, and its fermented products could prominently attenuate Fenton reaction-induced DNA damage. These findings indicate that soy whey can potentially be converted into a novel soy functional beverage by C. militaris SN-18 fermentation.Graphical abstract

Highlights

Soy whey, a by-product of soybean production, can be produced in large quantities when tofu is pressed to remove excess moisture
Fermentation of soy whey C. militaris SN-18 was obtained from the Food Microbiology Laboratory, Nanjing Agricultural University
In contrast to our result, the pH value of soy whey fermented by kombucha and lactic acid bacteria showed a continuous decrease due to the continuous production of acetic and lactic acids (Tu et al 2019; Xiao Wang et al 2015)

Summary

Introduction

A by-product of soybean production, can be produced in large quantities when tofu is pressed to remove excess moisture. It reported that 8.95 kg soy whey could be produced when the traditional craft is applied to processing 1 kg soybean (Tu Tang, Azi Hu & Dong 2019). Soy whey is employed as a potential resource for various purposes. It is used for the recovery of magnesium ions and for the separation of isoflavone aglycones, proteins and oligosaccharides (Chua & Liu 2019; Liu Zhang Wu. Wang & Wang 2013). The soy-derived food consumption is somewhat limited by the presence of non-digestible food

Methods

Results

Conclusion