Fuji Oil Co., Ltd.

A water-soluble lentil polysaccharide (SLPS) extract was obtained from lentil fiber, at pH 10, after heating at 120 °C for 90 min, with a recovery as high as 16.5 %. SLPS had a weight average molecular mass of 1975 kg/mol, and contained 47 % glucose, 42 % arabinose, and 7 % uronic acid. Objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of SLPS to be employed as a natural emulsifier, by measuring its interfacial properties, as well as emulsifying capacity on a model emulsion system. Acidic emulsions were prepared with 5 % oil and 5 % SLPS and their particle size distribution was evaluated by light scattering and complementary microscopy, to determine their stability. SLPS showed the ability to reduce interfacial tension at oil/water interfaces, and the emulsions were stable under acidic conditions. Two different molecular weight fractions (SLPS-H and -L were investigated), and while the high molecular weight fraction (SLPS-H; 1567 kg/mol) was effective at stabilizing interfaces, emulsions prepared with low molecular weight fraction (SLPS-L; 2.3 kg/mol) showed aggregation and coalescence of oil droplets. Addition of pectinase caused aggregation of the droplets as measured by dynamic light scattering, demonstrating that adsorbs on the surface of oil droplets, and prevents aggregation of the oil droplets.

As one of the constituent materials of plant-based meat, a heat-induced gel was prepared from the aqueous paste (protein-to-water ratio: 0.30-0.35) of an acidic precipitate from soy flour called AP-SF. Among the broader pH range of 4.5-7.5, heat-induced gels prepared from the AP-SF paste adjusted to a pH range of 5.0-5.5 exhibited the similar breaking load (617 gf) and displacement (5.22 mm), to that of heat-induced gels prepared from minced beef, breaking load (667 gf) and displacement (6.45 mm). The results of two experiments, that is, the addition of fractionated protein components (7S, 11S, polar lipid-associated protein (PLAP), and oil body-associated protein (OBAP)) to the original AP-SF gels and the examination of a correlation between the breaking load of AP-SF gels and the protein composition of soybean cultivars used for the AP-SF preparation suggested that 7S globulin has an ability to effectively increased the breaking load of AP-SF gels. In globulins that contribute to gelation, the correlation between the content of 7S and 11S and the breaking load is 0.75 and 0.50, respectively, and the correlation coefficient of 7S is much higher than that of 11S. Analysis using dithiothreitol (DTT)-free SDS-PAGE confirmed that homodimers of the α' and α subunits of 7S globulin play a dominant role in the heat-induced gelation via the formation of intermolecular disulfide bonds with themselves or other protein components.

A review.Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is an annual plant of the legume family that is ancestral to the Glycine bean (Glycine soja Sieb. and Zucc.).Soybeans are a key component of "Japanese cuisine", which has been registered as a UNESCO Heritage of Intangible Differentiation and has become an essential part of the Japanese diet.Despite being an important crop in Japan′s food culture, the self-sufficiency rate of Japan′s domestically produced soybean crop has declined considerably to ∼24% for use in food products and ∼6% for combined nonfood uses.Although domestic consumption of processed soybean products such as tofu has been increasing annually, imported soybeans have been used as raw materials.From the food security perspective, improving the self-sufficiency rate by promoting the development of soybean varieties that are internationally competitive and of superior quality is a prominent issue.Therefore, the Soybean Subcommittee of the 70th Anniversary Meeting of the Japanese Society for Food Science and Technol. invited Dr.Yohei Nanjo of the Crops Research Division of the National Institute of Agrobiol. Science in 2023 to give a presentation on the current state of soybean breeding and its future outlook.