Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether soybean as raw material for processed foods could be affected in texture by an exposure to high-humidity air containing ultrafine water particles. Soybean was kept to stand in a new type refrigerator named Shinki store-box, which could be supplied the high-humidity air containing water microclusters. This high-humidity air was generated by the separation in a cyclone of microscopic water drops which was formed by cracking and splitting water in air flow. The Shinki store-box humidified soybean much faster than other conventional ones of high-humidity being provided by evaporation-condensation system. And a scanning electron microscopic observation revealed a morphological change of the tissue of soybean. Storing in the Shinki stimulated soaked soybean in sucking water even at a lower temperature. Boiled soybean after an exposure to the high-humidity air was found to get softer than convention-ally treated soybean in terms of rheological factors. An application of the high humidity air to soybean processing was discussed.
