Adding whole soya bean products to a portfolio has many benefits for food producers. But how easy is it to upgrade your soya line, and what’s the best way to implement such a change?
Whole soya is a win-win
Whole soya bean products have numerous benefits. From a customer perspective, they’re a high-protein, high-fibre, and low-calorie alternative to regular soya products, while their rich, creamy taste and smooth, pleasant mouthfeel mean they’re also perceived as being premium products. And for producers, using the whole soya bean doesn’t just give you a 100% yield (traditional extracted soya gives a 60% yield) – it also eliminates okara as a by-product and therefore reduces waste, making it both cheaper and more convenient.
What’s more, making the switch to whole soya production need not involve purchasing a completely new line – upgrading your existing line is a relatively straightforward process, and one that’s very cost-effective. It’s all about reducing the particle size of the suspended solids while maintaining a low operational cost.
A simple bypass and a high-shear treatment
Whole soya production needs no change to your initial raw material – you can still start from the same whole or dehulled beans – nor in the first production step, grinding the beans with water. But whereas the resulting mixture would then usually pass to a decanter for the removal of the okara, you can simply add some valves to bypass this step and go to fine grinding instead.
“To further reduce the particle size, you’d have a grinder of some kind, or a high shear mixer and a homogenizer,” says Ola Funkquist, Technical Line Solution Manager for plant-based products at Tetra Pak. “After the high-shear treatment, the resulting wholesome soya slurry is then simply added back into your existing line before being used as a base for various plant-based products.”
There are, says Funkquist, two slightly different ways of approaching this fine grinding stage. “We have a micro cut grinder which, if you opt for that solution, will be placed before the deactivation module,” he says. “But we also have inline high shear mixers, which are integrated with the homogenizer after the deactivation unit.”
Funkquist notes that customer requirements determine which solution fits best, but adds that “both solutions are validated and perform to reduce the particle size to a low level.”
The heat is on
The only other change required to produce whole soya products comes at the very end, and the final heat treatment. “You have a homogenizer at the end of the process flow – a downstream aseptic homogenizer – and this would run at a higher pressure than for traditional extracted soya products,” says Funkquist. “This is to further reduce the particle size of whole soya products – it reduces them to a degree that’s acceptable for the majority of markets.”
Just one day of disruption
Of course, there’s a capital investment cost to adding the fine grinding step, but as the upgrade allows the production of both traditional extracted soya and whole soya products, it gives customers an excellent opportunity to broaden their portfolio, improve nutritional profiles, decrease their environmental footprint, and increase margins due to the inclusion of the whole bean. And as you can install everything next to your existing line and simply connect it when ready, downtime for the upgrade is just a day or less.
Further considerations
As a more stable product, whole soya often does not require the addition of any emulsifiers or stabilisers, further reducing ingredient costs and simplifying the mixing process. But one thing that does require careful consideration is your line’s control system, and how easy it is to add to while maintaining full automation. “The automation part of the upgrade needs to be integrated with the existing control system,” notes Funkquist, “and the magnitude of the automation integration depends on the age of your existing system. We have delivered soya extraction systems for decades, so many lines have been around for some time.”
Such issues are just one reason why Funkquist recommends choosing an end-to-end supplier with extensive experience with whole soya. “It’s all about specialist know-how,” he says. “With our expertise, the particle size will be reduced sufficiently without any issues regarding high wear and tear in the system. That’s where we provide guidance – it ensures an optimal solution based on each customer’s specific requirements.”
