Soybean Research

Development of soy protein isolates for specific food industry applications from soybeans with novel protein profiles
Dr. Susan Tosh, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

The increasing recognition of the health benefits of soy protein has resulted in tremendous growth in the soy food sector in North America. The Canadian soybean industry has an opportunity to capture a significant segment of the soy required for this expanding market if it can produce cultivars which facilitate the incorporation of soy protein as functional ingredient in foods.

Production and consumption of soy milk and soy beverages continue to rise, but these markets are not significant compared to the potential incorporation of soy protein as a food ingredient in mainstream foods. To achieve this goal we need to have a competitive edge over commodity soybeans and soy protein ingredients. Commodity soy protein ingredients currently available from large US suppliers, although inexpensive, generally have low solubility and poor processing functionality especially when compared to egg or milk proteins.

The efforts of this research project will be directed at creating a value-added opportunity for Ontario soybeans through the identification of genetic variability that will have excellent functional properties for specific food applications. The development of a soy processing industry in Ontario will enable the domestic soybean industry to continue to move away from competing globally on a commodity level towards the development of value-added markets and provide farmers with an opportunity to grow high value, identity preserved soybeans.

The identification of more functional germplasm has the potential to add value to food manufacturers by reducing cost. We will develop a differentiated array of highly characterized, function-specific soy proteins for the Canadian food industry. Using breeding lines with specific protein subunit composition, we will identify the role played by the different subunits in the functional properties of the soy protein isolates. This would be the most efficient way to produce low cost ingredients with improved functionality.

In addition to improved functionality in specific processes, these novel varieties have the potential to be commercialized because of their health benefits. The soybean lines high in 7S proteins may have advantages in weight reduction diets and the 7S fraction has been shown to be the most active protein fraction in reducing blood cholesterol levels.