Effect of Different Types of Coagulant on the Yield, Physicochemical and Sensory Properties Tau Fu Fah

Introduction: The soybean is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses. Soybeans are an important source of vegetable oil and protein worldwide. The beans contain significant amounts of alpha-linolenic acid, omega-6 fatty acid, and the isoflavones genistein and daidzein which claim able to fight against breast cancer, prostate cancer, menopausal symptoms and heart disease (Ruiz- Larrea et al., 1997). In daily life, we take soya bean drink and Tau Fu Fah, and we use tofu, tow-kua, fu-chok and tofu-pok in our cooking. Tau Fu Fah is a Chinese dessert made with an extra soft form of tofu. It is also referred to as tofu pudding. It is usually served either with a clear sweet syrup alone, with ginkgo seeds suspended in the syrup, or in a sugar syrup infused with pandan. In Malaysia, however, the most popular kind is served in hot and sweet ginger water, with some customers preferring to buy only the ginger water as it is believed to contain medicinal properties. The processing step of making Tau Fu Fah is in a similar fashion as making tofu, except for variations in the water such as bean ratio, the type and concentration of coagulants, the way a coagulant is added, and the amount of whey being pressed out (Catharina Ang et al., 1999). Tau Fu Fah is specially made by using thin soymilk and a reduced amount of coagulant, normally calcium sulfate (CaSO4) or glucono-d-lactone are used commercially. Coagulation of soymilk with salt (eg CaSO4) or acid (glucono-d-lactone) produces a soy protein gel which traps water, soy lipids, and other constituents in the matrix. Different coagulant produces Tau Fu Fah with different textural and flavour properties (Poysa & Woodrow, 2002). The texture of Tau Fu Fah should be smooth, tender, homogenous, and semi-solid gel like.
Calcium Sulphate is the most widely used tofu coagulant. It comes from translucent, crystalline, white stone named gypsum, a hydrate form of calcium

References: 1. Catharina Ang, Y. W., Liu, K. S. & Huang, Y. W. (1999). Asian Foods: Science & Technology. (pp. 160). CRC Press Publisher. 2. Golbitz, P. (1995). Traditional soyfoods: Processing and products. The Journal of Nutrition. 3 4. Kao F. J, Su N.W & Lee M.H (2003) Effect of Calcium Sulfate Concentration in Soymilk on the 5 6. Molamma P. Prabhakaran, Conrad O. Perera , Suresh Valiyaveettil(2005), Effect of different coagulants on the isoflavone levels and physical properties of prepared firm tofu, Food Chemistry 99 (2006) 492–499 7 8. Obatolu V. A (2008), Effect of different coagulants on yield and quality of tofu from soymilk, Europe Food Res Technology (2008) 226:467–472 9 10. Poysa, V. & Woodrow, L. (2002). Stability of soybean seed composition and its effect on soymilk and tofu yield and quality. Food Research International, 35 (4), 337-345. 11 12. Ruiz-Larrea, M., Mohan, A., Paganga, G., Miller, N., Bolwell, G., 1997. Antioxidant activity of phytoestrogenic isoflavones. Free Radical Res. 26, 63–70. 13. Styono, A. (1994). Effect of Phytic acid on The Texture of Tofu and The Precipitation Reaction in Tofu Making. Indonesian Food and Nutritional Progress, 1994, Vol.1 , no.2 14 17. Wang, H. L., Swain, E. W., & kwolek, W. F. (1983). Effect of soy bean varieties on the yield and quality of tofu. Cereal Chemistry, 60(3), 245-248 18 19. Yung-Ho Chang , Hui-Jen Su , Sy-Yu Shiau(2008), Rheological and textural characteristics of black soybean touhua (soft soybean curd) prepared with glucono-d-lactone, Food Chemistry115(2009)585-591 Appendix: