Recent advance in modification strategies and applications of soy protein gel properties

Soy protein gel can be developed into a variety of products, ranging from traditional food (e.g., tofu) to newly developed food (e.g., soy yogurt and meat analog). So far, efforts are still needed to be made on modifying the gel properties of soy protein for improving its sensory properties as animal protein-based food substitutes. Furthermore, there is always a need to regulate its gel properties for designing novel and tailored products of soy protein gels due to the fast-growing plant protein-based product market. This review gave an emphasis on the latest modification strategies and applications of gel properties of soy protein. The modifying methods of soy protein gel properties were reviewed from an aspect of composition or processing. Compositional modification included changing protein composition and gelling conditions and using additives, whereas processing strategies can be achieved through physical, chemical, and enzymatic treatments. Several compositional modification and processing strategies have been both proven to alter the gel properties of soy protein effectively. So far, soy protein gel has been applied in the field of food and biomedicine. In the future, more mechanistic studies on the modification methods are still needed to facilitate the full application of soy protein gel.