The equivalence test of functional properties and sensory characteristics of transgenic and nontransgenic soybean-based soy flour

Abstract

In Indonesia, approximately 70% of soybeans are imported to fulfill domestic demands. Most of the imported soybeans are transgenic soybeans or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). The soybeans are judged to have a better grain quality, are relatively uniform in grain size and colour and are more readily available. One of the local soybeans in Indonesia having the potential to compete with the imported soybean quality is Grobogan soybean. One of the processed soybean products having good potential to be developed is soy flour. This study was conducted to determine the effect of the soybean variety types (imported transgenic, imported nontransgenic and local grobogan) on functional properties and sensory characteristics within the produced flour. The soy flour production process began with the soybean washing and soaking phase, followed by boiling, dehulling, drying, milling using a pin disc mill and sifting using a size 60 mesh. The soy flour was subjected to analyses of the functional properties and sensory characteristics. The local grobogan soy flour has a water absorption capacity (2.66 g/g), oil absorption capacity (0.91 g/g), foaming capacity (107.14%), emulsion capacity (100%) and PDI (11.63%) equal to those of the imported soy flour (transgenic and nontransgenic). The local grobogan soy flour is even superior in the foam stability and emulsion stability parameters. The local grobogan soy flour also has a more preferable score in all of the sensory attributes tested (colour, texture, aroma and overall) than those of imported soy flour (both transgenic and nontransgenic), even though they were not significantly different statistically, which is as good as the flour made from imported soybeans.