BACKGROUND: Soybean is believed to have good nutraceutical potential which is important for human health. Yellow soybean (YS) is generally used for the production of soymilk and other products, while black soybean (BS) is less explored. During the production of soymilk, residue, called okara is generated which is reported to have a good amount of nutrient content. Studies are generally performed with YS while BS is less explored. The present work is a comparison of the nutraceutical potential of BS and YS and their okara, mainly in terms of proximate, minerals, antinutrients, and isoflavone content and bioactivity of all types of samples in terms of antioxidant and antimicrobial activity.RESULTS: Compared to raw soybean, protein content decreased significantly in both types of okara. Phytochemicals like ascorbic acid, catechin, quercetin, and gallic acid were significantly (P < 0.05) high in BS residue in comparison to respective raw soybean. Among isoflavones, daidzin and genistin were found significantly varying among all the samples, and glycitin and glycitein were not present in YS. CONCLUSION:The nutraceutical potential and antimicrobial activity were comparative for both the raw beans and their okara, while the phytochemical contents and antioxidant activity were higher in the case of BS and its okara.

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The soybean seed is used for the preparation of protein rich tofu. Along with protein, it is also rich in many other nutrients including carbohydrate, crude fibre, carbohydrate, fat, minerals, and isoflavones. Antinutrients are also present in tofu, although the concentration is less that the raw grains. The nutrient content is affected by the tofu preparation method used starting from selection of suitable soybean seed, seed soaking, sprouting, soymilk production and coagulation using different types of natural and artificial coagulants. These procedures also affect the textural properties of the tofu and their shelf life.

Background: The Himalayan Echinochloa frumentacea (barnyard millet) is believed to be a nutritionally rich crop but remains underutilized. It is generally used after removing its seed coat (SC) through dehulling, and for making some food items, it is roasted before cooking. Such pre-cooking processes, such as dehulling, roasting, and then cooking affect the nutraceutical potential of raw grains and food items prepared. Results:The effects of processing techniques are determined in terms of variation in proximate properties, antinutrients, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. The processing methods significantly (p < 0.05) affected the nutraceutical potential of the processed form of barnyard millet. While comparing the nutritional properties of raw and dehulled barnyard millet, it was found that the SCs are nutritionally very rich, which are generally either discarded or become part of cattle feed. Vitamin C, E, alkaloids, and oxalate content were found to decrease after roasting. Cooking had decreased the carbohydrate, fat, vitamin C, vitamin E, alkaloid, oxalate, and iron content in both food types in comparison to the pre-cooking stage of the millet samples, while tannin content was found to have increased. Conclusion:In this work, the variation in the nutritional parameters and phytochemicals of barnyard millet was studied during the processing steps, such as dehulling, roasting, and cooking. Roasting had shown a lesser impact on the selected nutritional properties of uncoated seeds, while cooking had changed some of the nutritional properties. The SC was also found to be nutritious, so it needs to be explored further for its efficient utilization.