Soy Protein

Nutritional Function of Soy Protein

Soybean is rich in protein, and its content is more than twice that of wheat, rice, and other cereal crops, usually between 40% and 50%. The storage protein is the main body of soy protein, accounting for more than 70% of the total protein, mainly including 7S globulin (conglycinin) and 11S globulin (glycinin), and other storage proteins, such as 2S, 9S, 15S Equal content is less. In addition to a storage protein, soy protein also contains some biologically active proteins, such as β-amylase, cytochrome c, phytohemagglutinin, lipoxygenase, urease, Kunitz trypsin inhibitor, and Bowman-Birk trypsin inhibitor, etc. Usually, in order to improve the digestibility of soybean products, these inhibitors will be removed or inactivated by special means during processing. In addition, different types of soy protein products on the market are usually accompanied by substances such as isoflavones, saponins, and lecithin.

In terms of amino acid content, soy protein is currently the only plant protein reported to contain 9 essential amino acids required by the human body and the content meets the needs of the human body. The rate-corrected amino acid score is a method to measure protein quality.) Like casein and egg protein, it reaches the maximum evaluation value1. From the perspective of amino acid requirements, the essential amino acid content of soy protein can meet the daily requirements of the human body whether it is for preschool children between 2 and 5 years old or for adults. However, for infants, the addition of appropriate amounts of threonine, methionine, lysine, and tryptophan can effectively improve the protein efficiency ratio (PER) and net protein ratio (NPR) of soy protein.

The food that the modern population needs should not only cause appetite, but also have no adverse side effects, and be rich in nutrients. Among the existing food groups, there is no other crop that meets the above-mentioned conditions and has abundant sources of raw materials than soybeans. Drinks made with soy protein are hailed as "green milk" by nutritionists. Soy protein has a significant lowering effect on people with high cholesterol. The content of arginine in soy protein drinks is higher than that in milk, and the ratio of arginine to lysine is also reasonable; the lipids and linoleic acid are extremely rich and contain no cholesterol, which can prevent cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. . Rich in lecithin, it can remove excess sterols from the blood, and is known as the "vascular scavenger".