The Applied Food Science department at ITE has successfully recycled soya pulp waste into healthy snacks. -- ST PHOTO: RAJ NADARAJAN
THE students at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) have come up with a novel and tasty way of recycling soya bean pulp - by turning it into crackers.
And this nutritious snack may hit store shelves next year if talks to commercialise it go smoothly.
Soya bean pulp, or okara, is formed from ground soya beans used to make soya bean milk and beancurd, and it is rich in protein and fibre.
This by-product has long posed problems for manufacturers here because several tonnes of it are generated daily and the companies, unable to find an alternative use, have to pay to dispose of it.
Dr Lionel Lau, director of the school of applied and health sciences at ITE, said: 'We saw potential to develop a product that would provide a solution for the food industry.'
He added that food science laboratories here have tried to incorporate okara in bread and cookies but with limited success because of its coarse texture.
