Soymilk gelation: The determinant roles of incubation time and gelation rate

This study aimed to understand the soymilk gelation process concerning the fundamental elements that govern gel properties. The rheology, textural properties, water holding capacity, and microstructure of soymilk gels were compared as a matter of incubation time and gelling conditions. Rheological results showed that G' increased as long as incubation prolonged. Temperature, coagulant concentration, polyacidic basic salts, and soybean cultivars all altered the gelation rate and consequently manipulated the gel properties. Time-temperature/rate superposition principle was applied to the soymilk gelation process itself, where the increment of G' in terms of t/t(0) was independent from kinetic factors. Incubation time and gelation rate are the basic determinants of the gel properties and they played equivalent roles in reaching a certain degree of gelation. Increasing either of them resulted in gels with hardened gel texture but deteriorated network fineness, water holding capacity and deformation-resistance. This study provided a fundamental reference to the quality control of tofu and relevant gel products.