Soy molasses is brown viscous syrup

Syrup

In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but showing little tendency to deposit crystals...

 with a typical bittersweet flavor. A by-product

By-product

A by-product is a secondary product derived from a manufacturing process or chemical reaction. It is not the primary product or service being produced.A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be considered waste....

 of aqueous alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 soy protein

Soy protein

Soy protein is a protein that is isolated from soybean. It is made from dehulled, defatted soybean meal. Dehulled and defatted soybeans are processed into three kinds of high protein commercial products : soy flour, concentrates, and isolates. Soy protein isolate has been used since 1959 in foods ...

 concentrate production, soy molasses is a concentrated, desolventized, aqueous alcohol extract of defatted soybean

Soybean

The soybean or soya bean is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses...

 flakes.

The term "soy molasses" was coined by Daniel Chajuss, the founder of Hayes Ashdod Ltd., which first commercially produced and marketed soy molasses in the early 1960s. The name was intended to distinguish the product from “soybean whey” or “condensed soybean solubles”, the by-products available at the time from soy protein isolate and acid washed soy protein concentrate production.

Manufacture

The alcohols are removed from the liquid extract by evaporation and the distillation residue is an aqueous solution of the sugars and other soy solubles. This solution is concentrated to viscous honey-like consistency to yield soy molasses.

Composition

Typically, soy molasses contains 50% total soluble solids. These solids consist of carbohydrates (60%), proteins and other nitrogenous substances (10%), minerals (10%), fats and lipoids (20%). The major constituents of soy molasses are sugars that include oligosaccharide

Oligosaccharide

An oligosaccharide is a saccharide polymer containing a small number of component sugars, also known as simple sugars...

s (stachyose

Stachyose

Stachyose is a tetrasaccharide consisting of two α--galactose units, one α--glucose unit, and one β--fructose unit sequentially linked as galgalglcfru. Stachyose is naturally found in numerous vegetables and plants.Stachyose is less sweet than sucrose, at about 28% on a weight basis...

 and raffinose

Raffinose

Raffinose is a trisaccharide composed of galactose, fructose, and glucose. It can be found in beans, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, other vegetables, and whole grains. Raffinose can be hydrolyzed to D-galactose and sucrose by the enzyme α-galactosidase , an enzyme not found in the...

), disaccharides (sucrose) and minor amounts of monosaccharides (fructose and glucose). Minor constituents include saponins, protein, lipid, minerals (ash), isoflavones, and other organic materials.

Use

Soy molasses is used as a feed ingredient in mixed feeds as pelleting aid, added to soybean meal (e.g. by spraying it into the soybean meal desolventizer toaster), mixed with soy hulls, and used in liquid animal feed diets. Soy molasses can be used as a fermentation

Fermentation (food)

Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...

 aid, as a prebiotic

Prebiotic (nutrition)

Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth and/or activity of bacteria in the digestive system in ways claimed to be beneficial to health. They were first identified and named by Marcel Roberfroid in 1995. As a functional food component, prebiotics, like probiotics,...

, and as an ingredient in specialized breads.

Soy molasses is an important commercial and biological product, and a source of phytochemicals and soy sugars.