ABSTRACT
Soymilk, an aqueous extract of soybeans, is thought to have been developed in China by Liu An King about 164 B.C. Soymilk has been used in China as a spicy hot breakfast soup or as a warm, sweetened beverage. Although the preparation of soymilk is referred to as far back as 164 B.C., fermented soymilks and other legume milks have been introduced in recent times. A series of papers was published by Angeles and Marth, de-scribing the growth and activity of lactic cultures in soymilk. Gehrke and Weiser conducted one of the earliest studies on the growth and bio- chemical activities of different microorganisms grown in soymilk. In 1974 Wang et al.21 reported the preparation of yogurt-like product from soymilk. The product prepared by fermenting soymilk with the L. acidophilus is white in color, has a sour but not harsh flavor and a smooth custard-like texture.
