Soybean ultrasound pre-treatment prior to soaking affects β-glucosidase activity, isoflavone profile and soaking time

Ultrasound may convert conjugated isoflavones into their corresponding aglycones, the best form for absorption in the human body. However, ultrasound may also influence the activity of endogenous β-glucosidase. Therefore, the present work evaluated the effects of soybean ultrasound pre-treatment by applying the Box-Behnken design prior to soaking, a step that is important for industries to prepare certain soy products. Furthermore, a multi-response optimisation is provided. The best conditions for soybean ultrasound pre-treatment were established as temperature, X1 = 55 °C; exposure time, X2 = 5 min and ultrasound intensity, X3 = 19.5 W cm−2. Under these conditions, soybeans with higher contents of aglycones were obtained and β-glucosidase activity was kept as high as possible. A second experiment was conducted and confirmed that ultrasound pre-treatment results in a lower soaking time (2 h) to achieve the highest moisture content, lower hardness as well as increased content of aglycones.