Improvement of the Off-flavor of Soy Protein Isolate by Removing Oil-body Associated Proteins and Polar Lipids.

The precipitate formed by ultracentrifuging a defatted soybean extract at 200,000×g for 50 min at pH 7.5 was composed of particles of 100-200 nm in diameter and enriched with 34-kDa, 24-kDa and 18-kDa proteins. An SDS-PAGE analysis showed these proteins to migrate to a position identical to that of oil-body-associated proteins (OBAPs; Herman, Planta, 172, 336-345, 1987).(1)) They were recovered in the precipitate of soy protein with 30-40% saturated ammonium sulfate in the presence of 10 mM 2-ME. The lipid composition of the precipitate by a TLC analysis showed that most of the polar lipids in the soybean extract had been condensed in the fraction, suggesting the association between OBAP and the polar lipids. Removal of OBAP and the polar lipids from the soybean extract by conventional centrifugation (10,000×g for 10 min) in the presence of 30 mM Na2SO4 and 30 mM CaCl2 at pH 2.8 was achieved with concomitant improvement of the volatile off-flavor. A soy protein isolate (SPI) prepared from such a soybean extract contained far fewer volatile off-flavor compounds than normal SPI did.