Patent ID: 7108881

Claim:
A method of preparing a soy-containing fermented product, said method comprising: (1) preparing a mixture of deflavored soy milk material and an effective amount of a starter culture; and (2) fermenting the mixture to form the soy-containing fermented product; wherein the deflevored soy milk material is prepared by a method comprising: (a) obtaining a soy milk composition containing soluble soy proteins, flavoring compounds, and insoluble materials; (b) solubilizing the soy proteins by adjusting the soy milk composition of (a) to a pH in the range of about 9 to about 12 and releasing the flavoring compounds; (c) passing the pH-adjusted soy milk composition of (b) adjacent an ultrafiltration membrane having a molecular weight cutoff up to about 50,000 Daltons, while maintaining the pH in the range of about 9 to about 12, under suitable ultrafiltration conditions wherein the flavor compounds pass through the membrane, thereby deflavoring the soy milk composition and retaining substantially all of the solubilized soy proteins; and (d) recovering the solubilized soy proteins retained by the ultrafiltration membrane, wherein the recovered solubilized soy proteins is the deflavored soy milk material.