When tofu whey is discarded as an untreated waste, it creates environmental pollution.
A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has successfully turned tofu whey into a tasty alcoholic beverage.
The beverage, named Sachi, is derived from tofu whey, a liquid that is generated from the production of tofu and is often discarded.
One of the most common methods of producing tofu is by curdling freshly boiled soya milk, cooling it, and pressing it into a solid block. During the pressing process to remove excess water, tofu whey is generated.
However, when tofu whey is discarded as an untreated waste, it creates environmental pollution as the protein and soluble sugars in the whey could contribute to oxygen depletion in the waterways.
In contrast, upcycling tofu whey can be a means of generating economic returns for businesses. So, the NUS researchers came up with a zero-waste approach of converting the by-product of tofu into a Made-In-Singapore alcoholic beverage named Sachi which means bliss.
The entire process, from making the tofu to transforming it into Sachi, takes approximately three weeks.
