Researchers Make World’s First Alcoholic Beverage Using Tofu Whey

The world’s first alcoholic drink made out of tofu whey has been created thanks to the efforts by the research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS). They have named the beverage Sachi and begun work on it about a year ago.

Alcohol With Health Benefits

We’ve seen benefits of consuming whiskey, beer and even red wine but Sachi, the new tofu whey alcohol is also packed with antioxidants called isoflavones says a report by Science Daily. The Associate Professor LIU Shao-Quan and his student Mr CHUA Jian-Yong from the Food Science and Technology Programme at the NUS Faculty of Science are the reason behind the beverage.

“The traditional way of manufacturing tofu produces a large amount of whey, which contains high levels of calcium and unique soya nutrients such as isoflavones and prebiotics. Hence, disposing tofu whey is wasteful. Very little research has been done to transform tofu whey into edible food and beverage products. I had previously worked on alcohol fermentation during my undergraduate studies in NUS, so I decided to take up the challenge of producing an alcoholic beverage using the whey. The drink turned out to be tasty, which is a pleasant surprise,” said Mr Chua as he talked to the publication.

Creation of Booze From Waste

People in households discard yoghurt whey which is packed with protein and so is the tofu whey while tofu is being processed. This leads to environmental pollution as this whey is untreated waste but now it may just have another use thanks to the discovery of Sachi. “The health benefits associated with soy products, coupled with changing preferences towards vegetarian diets, have fuelled the growth of tofu production. As a result, the amount of tofu whey has also increased proportionally. Alcoholic fermentation can serve as an alternative method to convert tofu whey into food products that can be consumed directly. Our unique fermentation technique also serves as a zero-waste solution to the serious issue of tofu whey disposal,” explained Assoc Prof Liu.

To make the beverage, Chua took three months during which he perfected the unique recipe to make the alcoholic beverage under the guidance of Liu. Chua started off by making fresh soya milk and then made tofu out of it. He then collected the whey and added sugar, acid and yeast to it and left it to ferment into an alcoholic drink. Chua along with the beverage came up with a fermentation technique so that not a single drop of tofu whey would be wasted.

Image Source: New Atlas