Influence of Fine Bubble Processing on the Characteristics of Soybean Beverages

: Soybean beverages are popular due to health consciousness of consumers, but soybean beverages, which have a high viscosity or a grassy smell, are less favored. Fine bubble processing for soybean beverages has attached much attention because of its ability to control their viscosity. However, it is not clear how fine bubble processing for soybean beverages affects consumer preferences. In this study, the effect of fine bubble processing on the drinkability of a soybean beverage was examined. As a result, it was found that fine bubble processing for soybean beverages affected the evaluation of drinking such as “mellowness”, “unique/peculiar”, and “ease of drinking”. From principal component analysis, drinking sensation of soybean beverages was expressed by two main components: “tasting” and “rich”. From the comparison between the unprocessed and processed samples, fine bubble processing made soybean beverages tastier and lighter.