A Comprehensive Review on Harnessing Soy Proteins in the Manufacture of Healthy Foods through Extrusion

The global development of livestock production systems, accelerated by the growing demand for animal products, has greatly contributed to land-use change, greenhouse gas emissions, and pollution of the local environment. Further, excessive consumption of animal products has been linked with cardiovascular diseases, digestive system diseases, diabetes, and cancer. On the other hand, snacks, pasta, and bread available on the market are made from wheat, fat, salt, and sugar, which contribute to the risk of cardiovascular diseases. To counter these issues, a range of plant protein-based food products have been developed using different processing techniques, such as extrusion. Given the easy scalability, low cost of extrusion technology, and health benefits of soy proteins, this review focuses on the extrusion of soy protein and the potential application of soy protein-based extrudates in the manufacture of healthy, nutritious, and sustainable meat analogs, snacks, pasta products, and breakfast cereals. This review discusses the addition of soy protein to reformulate hypercaloric foods through extrusion technology. It also explores physical and chemical changes of soy proteins/soy protein blends during low and high moisture extrusion. Hydrogen bonds, disulfide bonds, and hydrophobic interactions influence the properties of the extrudates. Adding soy protein to snacks, pasta, breakfast cereals, and meat analogs affects their nutritional value, physicochemical properties, and sensory characteristics. The use of soy proteins in the production of low-calorie food could be an excellent opportunity for the future development of the soybean processing industry.