Abstract
The aim of this study is to analyze the composition of tofu whey and spray-dry it into flour, so as to provide the basis for recycling this by-product of tofu manufacture. The results showed that tofu whey contain 3.19% of total solids, including 3.12% of soluble solids; 1.19% of carbohydrate, including 0.45% of reducing sugar, 0.26% of oligosaccharide and 0.48% of polysaccharide; 0.47% of protein; 0.49% of crude fat; 0.54% of total ash, including 0.048% of calcium, 0.042% of magnesium, 0.032% of sulfate ion and 0.060% of chloride ion; 0.20% of saponin and 0.04% of isoflavone. Tofu whey can be prepared into flour by the spray-drying method. The whey flour contained 5.55% of moisture, 23.60% of protein, 18.22% of polysaccharide, 13.67 % of oligosaccharide, 3.86% of saponin, 0.98% of isoflavone and 1.2% of calcium. This study suggested that tofu whey is rich in functional or nutritional ingredients and is worth recycling. Spray-drying whey into flour is a potential way for treatment of tofu whey, especially for those small and medium-sized factories.
Highlights
Soybean is one of the most important legumes and the consumption of soy foods is increasing around the world due to its nutritional value and potential health benefits to humans
The objective of this study was to determine the principal components of tofu whey and its flour prepared by spray drying and explore the recycling way of tofu whey
Materials: The tofu whey was supplied by Zhengzhou New Agricultural Energy Food Industry Co., Ltd. (Zhengzhou, China)
Summary
Soybean is one of the most important legumes and the consumption of soy foods is increasing around the world due to its nutritional value and potential health benefits to humans. One type is to extract protein, oligosaccharide, isoflavone from tofu whey by the methods of membrane separation, freeze concentration, or foam fractionation (Zhao et al, 2006; Benedetti et al, 2015; Belén et al, 2013; Li et al, 2014; Liu et al, 2015). Another is to utilize tofu whey to produce kojic acid, gamma-aminobutyric acid, astaxanthin, lactic acid, vitamin B12 and biohydrogen, or using tofu whey as the cultivation medium of microalgae and Lactobacillus (Hongyang et al, 2011; Ounis et al, 2008; Xiao et al, 2015; Dianursanti et al, 2014; Zheng et al, 2010; Lay et al, 2013; Yu et al, 2015; Liu and Liang, 2014). Most of tofu whey is still treated as wastewater in many factories, which have aggravated burden of the industry on sewage treatment and wastage of this resource (Penas et al, 2006)
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