FDBusiness.com

In response to growing demand for YASO^®, an innovative and highly versatile, specially sprouted soya raw material, Hungarian food ingredients company Fitorex Group is building the world’s first high-yield, industrial scale controlled sprouting process for soya beans with a unique patented composition.

YASO^® is non-GM whole soya, sprouted, pasteurised and packed ready for use in food manufacture. It brings a completely new, whole soya dimension to the use of soya as a food ingredient. Much of the food ingredient soya used in Europe is a by-product of the soya oil industry (soya meal, concentrates, isolates) and the nutritional value has been degraded in the process, according to Fitorex. In contrast, YASO^® enhances the nutritional value of soya through a patented special sprouting process.

YASO^® is currently being used in a wide range of foods including meat-free, bakery, snack, pasta, functional foods and meat industry applications. As a source of highly digestible complete protein and a good source of fibre combined with no cholesterol and low carbohydrate, it is well suited for specialist diets, particularly for diabetics, weight loss management and people with difficulty in swallowing.

Indeed, the unique raw material offers a wide range of product development opportunities within the ‘healthy’ foods segment. It is an ideal ingredient for free-from foods (free from gluten, lactose, cholesterol and chemicals); better for you products (low carb, with vitamins, with omega 3.6 content); and naturally healthy products (100% natural; non GMO, no added chemicals).

During the natural process of germination, enzyme stores in the soya bean activate and increase its nutritional value to provide for strong growth into a healthy plant. The nutrients that increase significantly include isoflavonoids, betacarotene, vitamin C, vitamin E and dietary fibre. Carbohydrates and proteins are also converted into less complex forms. Thanks to these natural processes, YASO^® has better taste, can be easily digested and does not cause flatulence. At the same time carbohydrate content decreases.

Years of dedicated research in co-operation with Budapest University of Technology and Economics have equipped Fitorex to interrupt the sprouting process just at the point where the nutrient values reach their peak and offer this uniquely, nutrition-packed form of soya to the food industry.

Work started on the green-field site in March 2012. When it is completed in August 2012, the plant will be BRC accredited and will employ 30 people, producing 240 tonnes of YASO^® per month. With a growing number of pan-European food and food service companies adopting YASO^® in their formulations and recipes, Fitorex is already working on plans for building an extension to its factory in 2013.