Influence of particle size on protein extractability from soybean and okara

Nitrogen Solubility Index (NSI) of okara was 38 which was only about half of soybean (71). Maximum protein recovery of 97.0% and 93.4% was achieved with soybean and okara flour from their respective fine fractions (<75 μm) in a three-step-sequential extraction. Recovery of protein from unclassified primary ground flour of soy and okara was much lower compared to their corresponding fine fractions (particle size <75 μm). Secondary grinding of coarse fraction improved the overall protein recovery to an extent of 3.3% in okara and to a much larger extent of 6.8% in soybean. Results showed that a two-step sequential extraction with respective solid-to-solvent (w/v) ratios of 1:20 and 1:10 was suitable in terms of protein recovery. Protein recovery from soy granules and okara flakes improved by 30.6% and 6.9%, respectively with the introduction of primary and secondary grinding steps indicating the benefits of the proposed approach for practical applications.