Chemical, physical and sensory characteristics of soymilk as affected by processing method, temperature and duration of storage

Soymilk was produced from hot-water-blanched wet-dehulled beans (BWD), unblanched wet-dehulled beans (UWD), and toasted dry-dehulled beans milled into flour with particle sizes of less than 500 μm (TDF) and more than 500 μm (TDL). Each extract was stored at 29 ± 1 °C, 10 ± 2 °C and −3 ± 1 °C for up to 42 days, respectively. The effects of processing method, storage temperature and storage duration on the proximate chemical composition, physicochemical and sensory attributes were studied. Results showed that TDL and TDF gave rise to higher composition and physicochemical properties than BWD. Samples stored at −3 ± 1 °C were most stable in sensory attributes, especially for BWD followed by TDF. Statistically, the main factors and their interactions were found to effect significant differences in the composition, physicochemical and sensory characteristics of the test soymilk, at different confidence levels. On the whole, the most affected parameters were protein, fat, fibre, viscosity and flavour, while the least affected included moisture, carbohydrates, specific gravity and mouthfeel.