Purdue Students Create Soy Snack in First Food Competition from Indiana Soy Checkoff

For the Indiana Soybean Alliance, it’s all about moving that pile of soybeans. The Student Soybean Innovation Competition at Purdue has been working to create new uses for soybeans for the past 31 years. This year’s event added a new soy-based food innovation track, which was won by a high-protein snack called Soy Straws.

Purdue students Anna Hicks, Rong Yang and Sara Thomason were the creators. Hicks, a senior in Purdue’s Food Science program, explains what Soy Straws are.

“We created a product inspired by Chinese egg biscuits, but we did a lot of adaptations to them to make them reach the salty requirements and also make them dairy and gluten free. We’re also partially inspired by products like Takis, veggie rolls, and the Costco coconut rolls, because we noticed none of the protein products we could find on market had that roll shape that was crispy and the hollow middle. So, we created that structure, and then we seasoned it with flavors like garlic, ginger, sesame, and gluten free soy sauce to kind of create that fun flavor.”

Hicks tells Hoosier Ag Today they were interested in joining the competition because soybeans are a big part of Indiana’s culture. They’re all from the Midwest so they see soybeans all around, and proteins are a fun area to work in.

“My next degree isn’t with soybeans, but I think when I enter research and development, if I’m looking for a protein source to add, or finding I’m having issues with texture, or I’m really trying to get that high protein goal, I will definitely turn to soy. Soy oil was also really easy to work with. We started working with coconut oil, but soy oil was so much easier to work with. I think soy has just so much potential within product formulation. It was a really cool experience.”

Hicks and her teammates, who call themselves The Edemamas, won $5,000 for winning the first-ever Student Soy Food Competition. For more information about the Indiana Soybean Alliance’s investment in soybean innovation, visit their website.