By Navodita Maurice
Soy milk also referred to as soy drink or soy beverage is a beverage obtained from soybeans. It is a stable emulsion of oil, protein and water obtained by soaking and grinding soybeans in water. Soy milk contains about same proportion of protein as present in cow's milk. Soy milk contains 3.5% protein, 2% fat, 2.9% carbohydrate and 0.5% ash. Soy milk can be prepared in home with traditional kitchen tools or with soy milk machine. The coagulated protein obtained from this milk can be used to make tofu in the same way as dairy milk is used for making cheese.
The oldest evidence of production of this milk comes from China dated around 25-220 AD. According to a popular tradition in China soy milk was first prepared by Liu An for the medicinal purposes but there is no historical evidence for this legend. Plain soy milk is unsweetened but the soy milk products are sweet in taste. Salted variety is prevalent in China. The drink is very popular in the hawker culture of Malaysia. In Malaysia this product is flavoured with white or brown sugar syrup. Consumers also add grass jelly to this product. Sellers of soybean milk also offer bean curd along with this product especially Penang. Yeo's, a drink manufacturer company in Singapore and Malaysia has started commercial production of this product in tin cans. The soy milk is slowly becoming popular in India. It was originally introduced in India in 1935 by Mahatma Gandhi. Now it is commercially manufactured in Tetrapacks by the company namely Staeta. In the West it is preferred over cow's milk. It is widely available in vanilla and chocolate flavours as well as unflavoured one are also available.
It is rich in proteins but contains low dietary calcium. It has little saturated fat but no cholesterol. It contains sucrose as the basic disaccharide, which breaks down into glucose and fructose. As it lacks galactose so it can easily replace breast milk in children with galactosemia. It is preferred over cow's milk as it contains lecithin and vitamin E. it also lacks casein and can be easily digested by lactose intolerant individuals. It contains less saturated fat than cow's milk. It also contains isoflavones that have a beneficial effect on health. It also helps in reduction of low density lipoprotein and triglycerides.
It can be made from whole soybeans. The beans are soaked in water overnight or for three hours depending upon the temperature of water. Then they are allowed to undergo grinding with enough water generally in the ratio of 10:1. The product obtained is allowed to boil for about 15-20 minutes in order to improve the flavor. In many cultures it is now preferred to make dishes which were earlier prepared by using cow's milk.
Navodita Maurice
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