Now, crunchy and spicy soya snacks to boost nutrition in Bangalore children

Soya, although an inexpensive and complete vegetable protein, doesn't find too many takers because of its bland taste, but University of Illinois scientists have joined forces with an Indian foundation that can get the high-protein soya snack which they have developed for 1.2 million hungry kids.

Despite being one of the world's top five soya producers, India exports most of the crop. That's unfortunate because 24% of India's population is undernourished, and protein deficiency is a great concern.

Soo-Yeun Lee and her colleagues experimented with nine soya snack recipes which were then put up for consumer taste tests.

Snacks that were crunchy, salty and/or spicy, and contained umami, cumin, and curry flavours received high preference from participants.

Participants thumbed down snacks with rougher, porous textures and wheat flavour and aroma.

The final formulation included chickpea flour, a staple in Indian cuisine that provides a preferred texture and flavour, and spices such as cumin and red chilli pepper.

The scientists began working with Bangalore's Akshaya Patra Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that runs one of the largest school meal programmes in the world.

"A free school lunch is a powerful incentive for Indian children to attend school," Lee said. "When families are living in poverty, parents often keep their kids at home because they are more valuable doing  household chores or selling goods on the streets.

"I'd have to say that our attempts to make a soy snack that appealed to Indian tastes were pretty successful," she said.