Soybean: Bioactive compounds improved by germination, fermentation and enzymatic hydrolysis

The growing of soybean as a crop began by the year 2800 BC, but in recent years has been gaining attention since it is considered a functional food. Its consumption has been linked to the prevention of cancer, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases, cholesterol reduction and obesity. The main components responsible for the protection of health are the bioactive compounds such as peptides, lunasin, lectins, Bowman-Birk inhibitors, isoflavones, saponins and others. The germination and fermentation processes can promote the increase in nutritional value, by improving the protein digestibility and the value of the protein efficiency ratio, decreasing the antinutritional factors in legumes, such as the proteolytic and lectin inhibitors and causing the hydrolysis of oligosaccharides (stachyose and raffinose) present in soybeans, which are the cause of flatulence. The fermentation processes promote the conversion of isomers of the glycosylated isoflavones into aglycones and the formation of low molecular weight peptides (<20 kDa), improving the nutritional and functional properties. The germination process in combination with alcalase hydrolysis presented a notable antioxidant capacity and a significant inhibition on inflammatory markers.