Physicochemical characteristics and production of whole soymilk from Monascus fermented soybeans

Abstract: Monascus fermented soybeans (MFS) were prepared by solid state fermentation. MFS showed higher solubility than the unfermented control within the acidic pH region but showed the opposite trend at pH 7 and 9. Although the emulsifying activity index of MFS was lower than that of the control, MFS had significantly higher emulsion stability at pH 7 and 9. Significant protein hydrolysis took place during fermentation, and the proportion of peak area less than 1.35kDa was greatly increased in MFS. Whole soymilk prepared from MFS contained monacolin K (475μg/g), and was enriched in isoflavone aglycones. Neither homogenisation nor pasteurisation caused significant changes in the isoflavone and monacolin K contents of the Monascus fermented soymilk. Total phenol content and ABTS radical scavenging activity were significantly higher in the Monascus fermented soymilk than in the control soymilk. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]