Soy research fights food poisoning

The latest use for soy could fight food poisoning. University of Guelph researchers are using soy extracts – isoflavones and peptides – to prevent the growth of microbial pathogens that cause food-borne illnesses.

Extracting natural agents from soy could benefit the food industry by replacing synthetic additives currently used to protect foods. The extracts have been found to combat common microbes and reduce bacterial contamination in food.

“It’s an ideal solution,” says Suresh Neethirajan, University of Guelph engineering professor and director of the BioNano Laboratory. “Soy is a safe, common food that’s been consumed for thousands of years and now we can use it to make the food we eat safer by preventing harmful bacterial growth.”

Safer with soy

Neethirajan and his research team have found soy extracts can be more effective in fighting against bacteria, including Listeria and Pseudomonas pathogens, than current synthetic chemicals commonly used to preserve foods.

“And we know it’s safer than the current chemical products being used; after all, we’ve been eating soy for thousands of years,” he says.

Already consumed in everyday food products, soybean derivatives are can be found in food including baked goods, canned foods, cheese, cooking oils, ice cream, and meat alternatives.

Soy isoflavones and peptides are extracted from soy flour and tested extensively using microfluidics and high-throughput screening to run millions of tests. This process creates the new, inexpensive, safer and highly effective method for isolating soy extracts to enable fighting microbial pathogens and harmful bacteria in food supplies.

Naturally healthy

“Studies have shown heavy, continued use of current chemical antimicrobial agents can cause strains of bacteria to become resistant and making them ineffective,” says Neethirajan, explaining they also kill all bacteria – good and bad.

“Using this soy alternative in food products will only target pathogenic or bad bacteria, leaving the good, healthy bacteria in foods that aid in digestion and help us properly process the food we eat,” he adds.

Because the soy extracts have the ability to selectively inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria compared to beneficial bacteria, some health issues commonly associated to the synthetic-based food preservatives will be eliminated, notes Neethirajan.

Neethirajan and his team at the University of Guelph’s BioNano Laboratory have been working on this research for four years.