TVP is mostly made from defatted soybean meal using high-temperature extrusion cooking.
Step 1: Prepare raw soy material
- Clean, crack and dehull whole soybeans.
- Extract soybean oil by mechanical pressing or solvent extraction.
- The leftover solid is high-protein defatted soy flakes.
- Grind the flakes into fine defatted soy flour (50–70% protein content).
Step 2: Mix and hydrate
Blend soy flour with clean water to reach 15–35% moisture. Optional additives: starch, salt, natural colors and spices.
Step 3: High-pressure extrusion (the key step)
- Feed the wet mixture into a twin-screw extruder.
- The material is kneaded under high heat (140–200°C) and strong pressure.
- Soy proteins unfold and rearrange into long fibrous strands.
- The hot paste is forced through a shaped metal die.
When the material exits the die, pressure suddenly drops, so the mixture expands and forms a porous, meat-fiber structure.
Step 4: Cut, cool and dry
- Rotary blades cut the extruded material into crumbles, chunks or strips.
- Cool the pieces quickly.
- Dry thoroughly in hot air ovens until moisture falls below 10%.This makes TVP dry, lightweight and shelf-stable for more than 12 months without refrigeration.
Step 5 (optional): Post-processing
Toast, add flavors or vitamins, then sieve and pack the final dry TVP product.