Soy flavor and its improvement.

A highly characteristic and often undesirable flavor associated with soy protein materials largely explains the slower-than-expected progress over recent years in the development of high-protein foods based on soya. Apart from the inherent flavor of the bean, different flavors are produced on processing and on storage. Major problems are the absence of an attractive positive flavor, the presence of off-flavors of several kinds, the tenacious binding of such flavors to the soy protein molecules, and the difficulties of removing and/or masking these unacceptable qualities. This review provides a reappraisal of current literature evidence relating to each of these aspects and summarizes published patents of processes for soy flavor improvement.