Soymilk, a beverage extracted from soybean protein, is a favorite among Eastern andWestern consumers.However, the heavy beany flavor and light aroma of traditional soymilk affect the enjoyment of this beverage (Lei and Boatright 2001).
Many researchers are dedicated to exploring methods and technologies to eliminate the beany flavor in soymilk. Among these technologies, hot water blanching and grinding is the most simple and effective.
Beany flavor could be reduced by grinding soaked soybean with hot water (Wilkens and others 1967; Kobayashi and others 1995; Endo and others 2004).
Blanching with hot water is effective to eliminate the beany flavors because hot water has been observed to inactivate lipoxygenase, which is the important enzyme to generating soymilk flavor (Macleod and Ames 1988; Gardner 1989).
The flavor compounds in soymilk are extremely complex and difficult to define, thus requiring thorough research based on combined analytical and sensory approaches (Suratman and others 2004).
Although many researchers focus on the beany flavors of soymilk blanched and ground with hot water, the influence of these treatments on non-beany aromas is not clear.
In this study, key beany and non-beany flavor compounds of traditional soymilk are identified first.
Then the LOX activity and the balance change in beany and non-beany flavor compounds in soymilk produced with hot water above 80 ◦C are investigated.