Selected odor compounds in cooked soymilk as affected by soybean materials and direct steam injection

Soy odor is a major concern in the consumption of soymilk by Western consumers. The objectives of this study were to determine selected soy odor compounds as affected by soybean materials and direct steam injection and to determine if the steam-injection method affected overall cooked soy aroma of the soymilk and compared to the soymilk cooked by a traditional indirect method. Five varieties of soybeans with or without lipoxygenases were processed by direct-steam injection for up to 20 min at 100 degrees C. Eight selected odor compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography after extraction using a solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) method. Hexanal, hexanol, 1-octen-3-ol, 1-octen-3-one, and trans-2-nonenal decreased whereas 2-pentylfuran and trans-2, trans-4-decadienal increased by boiling up to 20 min. The results showed that soybean variety was a significant factor to affect odor compositions. Direct steam injection cooked soymilk resulted in lower odor contents than a traditional indirect cooking method. The advantage of having a low odor composition in the heated soymilk products made from lipoxygenases-null soybean varieties could be attained by using normal soybean materials with direct steam injection.