Soy Beverage Production Using Nitrogen Purging and Cavitation

The patent uses nitrogen gas to create an inert atmosphere throughout the processing system, including sparging nitrogen through the soybean slurry, maintaining nitrogen atmosphere in holding tanks and piping, and processing the beverage in a nitrogen-purged environment. This prevents oxidation during processing while achieving sterilization through heat treatment in the absence of oxygen, thereby avoiding the formation of undesirable colors and flavors that occur in conventional aerobic processing.

The patent implements a system where soybean hulls that are separated during processing are not discarded but recovered and reused. The hulls are collected and added back to the processing system to be ground and incorporated into subsequent batches of soybean slurry, ensuring that all protein and fiber components are utilized in the final beverage product and eliminating waste generation.

The patent employs natural biochemical processes occurring during the nitrogen-purged soaking and holding of soybeans to eliminate unpleasant odors without requiring external enzyme additives. The controlled anaerobic environment allows natural enzymatic activity within the soybeans themselves to break down compounds that cause off-odors, achieving odor reduction through the soybeans' own biochemical processes rather than through costly external enzyme treatments.

The patent utilizes controlled thermal processing parameters in the nitrogen-purged environment to denature and inactivate trypsin inhibitors in the soybeans. By maintaining specific temperature ranges and processing times under anaerobic conditions, the trypsin inhibitors are destroyed while preserving the nutritional proteins and other beneficial compounds, thereby improving digestibility without sacrificing nutritive content.