Varietal evaluation of soybean for tofu making

Tofu is a soybean curd precipitated from hot soymilk with a coagulant, followed by molding and pressing to remove whey. An initial survey reveals that soy processors in Punjab do not prefer varieties of soybean from Punjab for processing into milk and tofu. Three varieties viz. SL 958, SL 744 and SL 525 were procured from department of Plant breeding, PAU, Ludhiana and Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Patiala. Control sample (locally available soybean, undescriptive variety) was procured from local soy processors for tofu making. Data is average of three replications. The yield of tofu was highest (1.55kg/kg) from SL 958 followed by control, SL 525 and SL 744 respectively. Organoleptically, overall acceptability score was 7.9, 6.9, 7.2 and 7.5 for tofu from varieties SL 958, SL 744, SL 525 and control, respectively. The values from hunter colorimeter, measuring lightness/darkness showed that varietal differences affected the colour of tofu.