Optimisation of microwave treatment for reducing enzyme activity of soya bean

Traditional heat treatment processes as blanching, boiling, steaming are generally using to decrease of antinutrient compounds in legumes. Application of microwave heating for food processing provides potential advantages over conduction heating methods in food processing, in terms of their uniform product heating at reduced surface temperatures, retention of product quality and improvement of process efficiency. It is a characteristic feature of the microwave that it ensures homogeneous operation in the whole volume of substance. The large penetrating depth and the selective absorption are other features. Authors have been investigating the effect of microwave energy for reducing enzyme activity in whole soybeans. This application has been appeared in the literature, however, without searching for the optimal physical parameters. All the experiments were carried out by Labotron 500 vacuumable microwave equipment. The experiments studied here were designed carefully to find the optimum conditions for the treatment. The paper shows the results and the description of the statistical methods by which the evaluation becomes more efficient and informative requiring fewer measurements. These laboratory-scale results can be easily extended to factory-scale as well.